American Morning
Roman Catholic women priests
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello, CNN
(CNN) – If the title makes you want to scratch you head, well, go ahead and scratch.
Catholicism, that's the Roman kind, has reserved its seats of power to men and men alone ever since Christ told Peter: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church."
Every Catholic leader from the Pope to the village priest is male. Women are permitted to be sisters, teach Catholicism in schools, and even assist in the Sunday Mass. But they can't actually preside over the Mass. Nor can they administer over most of the sacraments, which are reserved for priests and bishops.
Today, many Catholics are asking why? At a time when the church desperately needs more priests, why not allow women to preside over mass?
Some Catholic women aren't waiting for an answer from the Vatican - they say they've figured out a way around the traditional church and are leading Catholic congregations.
Gloria Carpeneto is one of them. She says she was ordained, thanks to an unnamed male bishop who secretly ordained the first female priests and bishops in 2002. Those women then ordained other women like Carpeneto, who says she is now able to hold mass every Sunday, in priestly robes, in front of small, but loyal congregations in Maryland.
"It struck me that I did not want to go to another faith tradition to be ordained," said Carpeneto. "It felt as though I had to leave my family to fulfill a call that I felt from God. And that didn’t feel right. And so the notion of being in the Roman Catholic Church within the Roman Catholic tradition meant a lot to me."
According to canon lawyers though, it is impossible for Carpeneto to be a priest. The "secret Bishop" was automatically excommunicated - or banned from participating in the Church - because he knowingly violated church law. And certainly the Vatican made that clear when it re-stated recently that ordaining women as priests was a grave offense – a crime on the same level as pedophilia.
It's something Carpeneto finds horrifying. "I thought to myself, I didn't like the notion of suddenly I'm in the swimming pool with people who had been accused of sexual abuse, crimes against children."
Father Joseph Tobin, appointed last month by Pope Benedict to oversee religious work worldwide, says the comparison was inadvertent and wrong. But, he added, the ordination of women is still a serious crime.
"The Catholic Church," he says, "has traditionally not arrived at a point where it believes it is the will of God. I have to accept that."
Despite that, the movement to ordain women priests is growing. That first group of seven women ordained in 2002 has grown. There are now five bishops, 47 priests, 10 deacons, and 16 candidates for formation to priesthood in the United States.
Andrea Johnson, who considers herself a Catholic bishop, is thrilled by the numbers and undaunted by the fact the Catholic Church considers these women - illegitimate.
"It's Catholicism that needs us," she said. "We need the voices of men and women. We need everyone to work together in community, and I think the more we do of that the healthier the Church will be."
Those who attend services at Carpeneto's church agree. Most are women, who want something more from their Catholic faith. They feel the Church should welcome divorced people and gays, too.
But, Madeleine Rothe, from Baltimore, doubts Pope Benedict will ever bend.
"I don't think he's open and that's a huge roadblock."
It's a kind of spiritual roadblock that Gloria Carpeneto is trying to remove and the Catholic Church is resisting. Watch
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Rene – God is a MAN? hahahahhahahahahhahahaha.
Our human minds cannot even begin to comprehend God. Our perceptions create who She/He is. God is neither purely male or female, white, black or asian, etc. etc. In God there is no schism. God is All. Jesus is an historical figure, and male, but that does not make him separate from women. Women were his among his most ardent followers. At his crucifixion, only the three Marys were present. So, puh-lease.
As someone who knows these women, I am biased – thank God. To Renee: I have a FULL brain, thank you, and I know that Andrea especially is a wonderful bishop, leader, wise woman. I can wrap my head around this and embrace it as the eschatological face of the Church, (the 'already but not yet' for those of you who have half a brain).
And Gloria is a particularily wise, brave and educated woman (holder of two masters and a PhD) who sacrificed nearly everything to do this. So she is not some misguided, theologically deficient woman who needs some, what did Lauren call it "proper spiritual and intellectual understanding of the Theology of the Body and the sexual difference/complimentarity that men and women posess..." "It's all a lack of formation... misinformed..." Lauren, both of these woman and practically all of the others have been well educated, formed in the Faith, worked for years for and in the Church and this is where it has come: God's call and it fits in with that 'formation'. But your guide is Fulton Sheen. I respectfully suggest that you read someone who is alive firstly and secondly has caught up with the times...
In the life of Christianity, someone had to be first. Christ was the first fruits of the fulfillment of the Law, was killed for it but God vindicated his message. Out of that, many other Christians have seen that and have answered that call. The Roman Chruch will, eventually. But the cynic in me and a person directly involved with it day to day will see it happen ONLY when it suits the men in charge, who see it as a move AFTER they let themselves marry (if they want to bring it out in the open) and they have limited the Sisters from being involved so that they can dictate its direction themselves.
Many must remain anonymous in this community as they would loose jobs, positions or credibility within their parishes if they were found out to be invovled in any way with any of the Roman Catholic Women Priest communities. That may actually be a good thing: shows that the POWER is afraid and is grabbing... no long now then...!
to rene: If God is a man, then "he" is not a woman, and thus not infinite but lacking something! God certainly rises above our categories.
How disappointing... Unfortunately, these women don't seem to be aware of how much the Church honors women. Maybe they haven't read Pope John Paul II's "Mulieris Dignitatem" (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women). The Church has always placed women as playing an integral role in the Church and society. However, our role as women is different than the role of men. If these women had a proper spiritual and intellectual understanding of the Theology of the Body and the sexual difference/complementarity that men and women possess – there would be no debate. Its all a matter of lack of formation in the faith. Most people who have a beef with the Church have either not been formed in the faith of have been misformed in the faith. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, "There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church."
Women priests .. it's like who was the crew of the Titanic after she hit the iceberg and they abandoned ship? The RC church has done itself in. It has a long history of abuses but it has managed to alienate =ALL European and N. American Catholics. So it can collect beans in Latin America and refugees in Africa and India. Even there it is perverted. Rome knows it and so do the hierarchy. So ... women priests. Why not?
Thank you for allowing the world to see that there is a Catholic church that follows the teachings of our founder, Jesus Christ. May we all continue to grow in love (and numbers), spreading peace and hope to all our brothers and sisters who have been marginalized, demoralized and rejected by church who values "laws" more than souls.
It comes down to questioning the will of Christ, which is the will of God. If you are daring enough to judge God's judgement, then this is a question for debate. Christ chose 12 male apostles, and many women disciples. Only the apostles were given the gift of the Holy Spirit and were therefore made "priests". NOT WOMEN. I believe that women are equals in every occupation on earth, EXCEPT the Christian priesthood, because I am not willing to question God's judgement. It is what it is, and it is not for us humans to ask why. Women have served the Christian community for the last 2 thousand years extremely and admirably well, as lay ministers, sisters, teachers, deacons, and other services to Christ. This does not make them any less servants than men, who as priests, also serve the Lord but in a different way. Certainly women are capable of learning the same instruction in seminary, writing good sermons, administering to the sick and counseling the troubled, and many of them do it better than the men. They can keep on doing all those things. But Jesus did NOT give them the responsibility of administering the sacraments. We may never know why, but I for one will not question this fact.
i'm sorry people, but i can not wrap my head around this. i put this right up up their with same sex marriages. anyone with half a brain knows god is a man as well as jesus. sooo ladies please stop making a mockery of the faith. if this should come to pass which i highly doubt what would your titel be MOTHER. for the love of god if you had a calling become a nun. you really think your going to change a 2000 yr plus tradition... good luck with that one . tsk, tsk tsk.
Women priests is meaningless. The Catholic church has destroyed itself (beginning with the Ecumenical Council in 1963 - or in 325 AD - take your pick). Child molestation, doctrinal messes, homosexual priests, exodus of members in US and Europe .. it's done (at least in civilized countries) .. maybe the 3rd world believes it
The Catholic church needs passionate priests – particularly in the States where there is such a shortage. The historical view that this position only belongs to men is a 'human' interpretation as it is just another example of exploiting power.
Keep in mind, per the bible, women were made from the rib of man.... The same make up that eventually made Peter 'the rock' is the same make up that all women come from as well. We are not that different are we???
God is calling these women... they are answering the Lord's call.... even when it is difficult to do so. This sounds familiar – just like the apostles were called, and they answered under difficult circumstances.
In my opinion, there is a role for women in the Catholic Church as leaders and priests. If Jesus was physically walking this earth today, I would imagine that he would be very welcoming of all his sheep to worship in his name and to lead others as priests if they are called BY GOD to do so.
In Him there is no male or female. Does the church follow Cardinal Neuman and others more than the simple words of the gospel?
This was a good segment. I am curious if anyone is taking the initiative to find out what the Vatican is doing regarding its current investigation of convents in the US as a way of identifying this movement. There seems to be an impression in Rome that much of this movement is potentially coming from the freedoms developed by convents over the years. These are female religious who have, in their devote calling to Christ, educated populations, taken care of the poor, disadvantaged and abused; and, brought care, comfort and justice into some for the most neglected areas in society. In doing so, they have built non-profit organizations that are powerful in their influence and span the globe.