Some 113 Catholic women religious have signed a letter addressed to the Vatican’s doctrinal czar pleading the case of Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois, who has been threatened with excommunication for his support of women’s ordination.
The letter, organized by the Detroit-based National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), is dated Dec. 12 and addressed to Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The nuns' letter says the Vatican's action "has diminished our Church."
They believe that "excommunications depend not on edicts or laws, but on compliance" by the faithful. If the faithful do not exclude or shun someone from the community, they are not excommunicated. The letter asserts that Bourgeois is not outside the community because they "embrace him wholeheartedly."
"In the first century, Christians resolved their disagreements about following traditions such as circumcision and kosher dietary laws by dialogue and discussion," said Sister Beth Rindler, speaking for NCAN. "We need to follow their example by promoting public discussion about the ordination of women," the Franciscan Sister said.
"We hope the excommunication is not issued," said Dominican Sister Donna Quinn, one of the coordinators of NCAN. "The medieval punishment of excommunication serves only to embarrass our Church in the eyes of the world and fuels further anger and resentment among the U.S. faithful."
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"Many of the signers have served the Church for more than 40 or 50 years. Many are prominent leaders in their fields," said Loretto Sister Jeannine Gramick, another NCAN coordinator. She pointed to Mercy Sister Theresa Kane, who made worldwide headlines when she asked Pope John Paul II to open all ministries to women on the occasion of his first visit to the U.S in 1979, and Dominican Sister Carol Coston, who founded Network, a Catholic social justice lobby. She also noted the signatures of Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, a prolific writer in the field of spirituality, Notre Dame Sister Ivone Gebara, a noted Brazilian feminist theologian, and Loretto Sister Maureen Fiedler, host of the public radio show Interfaith Voices.
The nuns' statement said they "join Fr. Roy Bourgeois and the majority of U.S. Catholics, who believe that women are called to priestly ordination in the Catholic Church." They "look forward to the day when Catholic women, following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, who announced the Resurrection to the male Apostles, will minister as full equals in our church."
The Women’s Ordination Conference, a Washington-based group, is circulating a petition with a similar message. It has more than 200 signatures.
Those signing the NCAN letter include the following:
| Jean Ackerman, OP
Louise Akers, SC Alice Baker, IHM Barbara Battista, SP Barbara Beesley, IHM Marlene Bertke, OSB Ruth Bockenstette, SC Mary A. Bodde, SC Mary E. Boesen, SL Mary Ellen Brody, RSM Julie Brown, RSM Mary Peter Bruce, SL Jeri Cashman, OP Joan Chicoine, IHM Joan Chittister, OSB Benita Coffey, OSB Carol Coston, OP Mary Ann Coyle, SL Mary Ann Cunningham, SL Beth Davies, CND Marie Cyril Delisi, IHM Kathleen Desautels, SP Jo Ann Dold, OP Maria S. Dowhaniuk, SFCC Suzanne Dunn, SFCC Gwen Farry, BVM Maureen Fenlon, OP Sheila Ferraz, SC Maureen Fiedler, SL Mary Kay Finneran, SC Arlene Flaherty, OP Victoria Marie Forde, SC Susan Fortier, OSB Ivone Gebara, CND Rita Clare Gerardot, SP Marian Gibbons, OP Joan Glisky, IHM |
Paula Gonzalez, SC
Jeannine Gramick, SL Joan Groff, SC Katrinka Gunn, SC Patricia A. Haire, CSJ Ann Halloran, OP Doris Hamerl, CSC Mary Harvey, RSM Eileen Haugh, OSF Joan Henehan, CSJ Grace A. Hogan, OP Margaret Hughes, IHM Ruth Hunt, SC Marion Irvine, OP Florence Izzo, SC Therese Jilk, OSF Deidre G. Jordy, SP Elizabeth Joyce, SP Theresa Kane, RSM Connie Kelly, SC Esther Kennedy, OP Betty Kenny, OSF Pamela S. Kobasic, IHM Kathy Komarek, OP Anna Koop, SL Linda Kors, CSC Janet Kramer, SOSF Marie LaBollita, SC Cita Lamb, SND Jean Ann Ledwell, OSU Janet Lemon, IHM Rose Annette Liddell, SL Denise Lonergan, SFCC Lystra Long, OP Marian McAvoy, SL Anne McCarthy, OSB Kathleen McClelland, RSM Bridget Mary Meehan, SFCC |
Virginia Miller, SP
Mary M. Miner, RSM Kate Moriarty, RSM Maureen Murray, RSHM Patricia Nagle, IHM Betty Olley, OP Michele Olley, OP Madonna Oswald, IHM Patricia Otillio, RSM Elizabeth Pardo, IHM Claudine Picard, RSM Katharine Pinto, SC Helen Marie Plourde, SSND Marie-Anne Quenneville, OSU Meg Quinlan, RSM Donna Quinn, OP Susan Rakoczy IHM Diane Rapozo, BVM Marie Regine Redig, SSND Roberta Richmond, IHM Carol L. Ries, SNJM Marie Romejko, SND Dolores Russo, SCH Christine Seghetti, RSM Gerry Sellman, SCMM Ann Shaw, CSC Maureen Sinnott, OSF Julie Slowik, IHM Rita Specht, RSM Florence Speth, SC Mary Sugrue, SC Lenore Sullivan, IBVM Maureen Tobin, OSB Susan Vickers, RSM Jacquie Wetherholt, CSJ Rebecca White, OSU Alice Zachmann, SSND Joanne Marie Zavadsky, SSND |
