The Lead

A Catholic church in rural Australia had graciously offered its sanctuary for the ordination service of several undisaffected Anglican ordinands. But when it was learned that some of the ordinands were women, the Vatican stepped in.

The Australian:

Sandhurst Bishop Joe Grech offered Bendigo Anglican Bishop Andrew Curnow use of the city's oldest Catholic church for the celebratory service because the Anglican cathedral is closed for repairs. Bishop Grech said yesterday that he had checked widely before offering St Kilian's, and had the approval of the Papal Nuncio (ambassador), Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto.

But he was ordered to withdraw the offer by a Vatican department - he did not want to say which - after a Catholic complained to Rome about the planned service.

...
Local Catholics criticised the decision and apologised to Anglicans in letters to the Bendigo Advertiser. Beryl Rokesky wrote: ''I was ashamed to call myself a Catholic … Contrary to what we were taught in Catholic schools, Catholics aren't the only ones who will end up in heaven.'' Peter Bugden wrote that the decision was evidence that the Roman Curia was concerned with power and control, and that Christianity had been usurped by Churchianity.

ENI has more:

Curnow told Ecumenical News International that he had been informed that the decision was entirely due to the presence of women in the ordination line-up. "It was felt that this would be sending the wrong signal regarding the ordination of women from a Catholic perspective," he said.
...
The dean of the Anglican cathedral, the Rev. Peta Sherlock, said the church had received many telephone calls from lay members of the Catholic Church "expressing sadness" that the ordination was not allowed to go ahead in the Catholic building.

More about Peta Sherlock in this news story from 2003.

As a guest of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity the Archbishop of Canterbury said recently "the major question that remains is whether in the light of that depth of agreement the issues that still divide us have the same weight – issues about authority in the Church, about primacy (especially the unique position of the pope), and the relations between the local churches and the universal church in making decisions (about matters like the ordination of women, for instance)."

Comments (6)

Since it was to be an Anglican ordination, then obviously it was "absolutely null and utterly void" anyway, so what difference would it have made if there were women among the ordinands? Why would hosting the invalid ordination of Anglican women be worse than hosting the invalid ordination of Anglican men? The Romans really need to get their act together. (Or do we really care?)

Posted by Bill Moorhead | December 2, 2009 8:55 PM

Very good point Bill!

Posted by Peter Pearson | December 2, 2009 9:27 PM

Ah, the illusion of control!

Posted by The Rev. Richard E. Helmer | December 2, 2009 11:42 PM

Many years ago, the church I was attending in Brookline, Mass burned down. The first people to offer us their building was a local Jewish synagogue. (And you thought there were deep theological divisions between us and the Roman Catholics!)

When our theology gets in the way of a simple act of human hospitality, we should know that we are on the wrong track.

Posted by Paul Martin | December 3, 2009 12:36 AM

Those Catholics are such rogues. You can't let them out of your sight.

n.b. this wasn't a theological decision. It was because the Catholic hierarchy is afraid the laity somewhere in the world will see this on TV and conclude that the Catholic Church is now ordaining women. The Catholic hierarchy tends to assume that the laity are not very smart. So far they haven't gone broke betting on that assumption.

Posted by Anthony Willard | December 3, 2009 4:43 AM

It is their church. Shouldn't they be able to use it as they wish, within healthy/legal reason. Need we cast stones? Does that really make us better? We have our own faults regarding women, gays and lesser things--too numerous to list.

[Dear first-time commenter: In future comments please note we ask for first and _last_ names on comments. Thanks - ed.]

Posted by jan | December 4, 2009 10:07 AM

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