The Irish Catholic priest, Rev. Tony Flannery, 66, who was suspended by the Vatican last year, said he was told by the Vatican that he would be allowed to return to ministry only if he agreed to write, sign and publish a statement agreeing, among other things, that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality.
“How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “If I signed this, it would be a betrayal not only of myself but of my fellow priests and lay Catholics who want change. I refuse to be terrified into submission.”
“I have been writing thought-provoking articles and books for decades without hindrance,” he said. “This campaign is being orchestrated by a secretive body that refuses to meet me. Surely I should at least be allowed to explain my views to my accusers.”
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote to an American priest,Roy Bourgeois, notifying him of his laicization, following his excommunication in 2008 over his support for the ordination of women.
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Saint Paul’s Joke – in his time, women had authority in the church; it didn’t matter if you were homosexual – if you needed to have sex, you had to marry; there wasn’t any mention of contraception or abortion – even though both were commonly practiced by Christian Gentiles.
All that mattered was adherence to the Law (Romans 2:27) – but that is denied by the Vatican and The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith … the latter would kill Jesus, if he he were to appear and seek to correct them.
Ah fun … a decade long countdown has begun.
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