The Ecumenical Catholic Communion considers itself to be part of the one, holy, catholic church. The Roman Catholic Church says "no," it is a heretical group. There is only one, holy, Catholic Church, and that's the Roman one founded by the apostles and Peter and all those guys and that has been in business since the first century.
Heh, heh. Nice mythology, but not true. Heh, heh.
Sts. Clare & Francis is an ECC church in Webster Groves, Missouri. It is led by Frank Krebs, a former Roman Catholic priest, and by Jessica Rowley, 26, who was ordained as a Catholic priest about a year ago.
ECC churches welcome all people, but is especially attractive to those who have been "marginalized" by the Roman Church -- divorced folks who've remarried as well as gays and lesbians.
Pastor Rowley was raised a devout Roman Catholic, attending Catholic schools in Chicago. She received an Master's of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Eden is an established, highly-respected seminary, and though affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ denominations, has a thoroughly ecumenical approach.
Her husband is a pastor of the United Church of Christ.
Pastor Rowley gained a certain notoriety when she became pregnant last year. She was, many said, the very first pregnant Catholic priest. She gave birth to a son, Finn, on November 21, 2008. She and her husband said at the time they planned to baptize Finn in both the Catholic and UCC churches.
Rowley does not belong to the association, Roman Catholic Womenpriests. She doesn't claim to be a Roman Catholic. She is not tied to the Vatican. As a result the St. Louis Archbishop is leaving her alone. Archbishop Raymond Burke excommunicated two other women who were ordained as Roman Catholic priests last year.
He doesn't care about Rowley as he doesn't consider her to be a "true" Catholic. There is only ONE Catholic church, says a spokesman for the St. Louis Archdiocese. The ECC is not truly "Catholic," and thus the Roman Church doesn't really care what they do. "To be Catholic, authentically," saith the spokesperson, "is to be in union with the Pope and the bishops of the Catholic Church."
Of course it is. Furthermore, if too many people defy the authority of the Pope and his skirted Cardinals, chaos could result. More women would want to ordained. Lay people might want to have a real say in the organization and operation of the Roman church. Priests might even get married (legally). Pretty soon folks would have the gall to get divorced and come right back to take Holy Communion. All the gay priests would insist on coming out the closet.
"Jesus Christ, what a mess that would be!" saith an anonymous cleric wandering vaguely down a a long, narrow Vatican hallway.
Ain't religion wunnerful?
Oh, here's what one loving Catholic Christian said about the Rev. Rowley: "...this woman is neither catholic nor priest is more of an animal trying to celebrate the Holy Eucharist in front of the divine."
And another: "She is Not A Catholic Priest Period..."
Read more here. And here.
1 comment:
I think the Roman hierarchy can formulate or declare any rules it wants, as their church has been set up. Those that do not like it can quit unless there is change from within. We are seeing old denominations split over many beliefs. That is their prerogative, of course. Rome was not happy with the original Jewish clerics and created a new religion. Luther was not happy with Rome and split. The various ethnic Orthodox churches were not happy with Rome and created their own churches. There are more than one Baptist group; more than one Lutheran group; more than one Mormon; more than one Jewish, many Islamic, etc. It is the way religion works. One wonders what God thinks of all this. We know that many men tell us they know what God wants and which religion is correct. I prefer to see people free to choose or to avoid joining any established religion. I think that was what Jesus and His early followers did. It took many years to decide what to accept and what to reject at many conferences. We have new religions formed every century somewhere. It is possible that none reflect what God wants or maybe all do.
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