Catholic Church roundup
Banning nun's book; Women in the priesthood; How priests accused of abuse can go undetected.
Bishops urge Catholic schools to ban a nun’s popular book - NYT
The bishops’ committee on doctrine said: “The book does not take the faith of the Church as its starting point. The author employs standards from outside the faith to criticize and to revise in a radical fashion the conception of God revealed in Scripture and taught by the Magisterium.”
Sister Johnson did not return a phone call but said in a statement that while she welcomed criticism, the bishops had radically misinterpreted her book and never invited her to discuss it.
Vatican decree reconciles woman who sought priestly ordination - Catholic News Agency
A former advocate of women's ordination, who later renounced her attempt to be ordained as a deacon and declared her adherence to Church teaching, announced that she has been fully reconciled with the Church following a decree from the Vatican. “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has lifted any canonical sanctions that I incurred by attempting ordination as a deacon,” wrote Dr. Norma Jean Coon, in an earlier letter in which she acknowledged that her actions had resulted in excommunication.
Maryknoll gives Father Bourgeois notice of removal from order - NCR
He has received a letter from his order giving him 15 days to “publicly recant” his support of women’s ordination or face dismissal from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
The letter, which is dated March 18, is signed by Maryknoll Fr. Edward Dougherty, the order’s superior general, and warns Bourgeois that his dismissal will also be forwarded to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith “with a request for laicization.” He has no intention of recanting by the deadline of the Saturday.
How priests accused of abuse can go undetected - NPR
Philadelphia may not be alone, says William Gavin, a former FBI agent who was hired by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to audit each of the 195 Catholic dioceses each year and make sure they're preventing and reporting sex abuse cases. "It was an audit in quotes," he says. "I think it was more of a program review than anything else." Gavin says he could ask whether a diocese is conducting background checks on priests and employees — but he was not allowed to look at records that would indicate whether there were any allegations against a priest.
(Does the firm that conducts background checks for The Episcopal Church have the power to look at records? - ed.)
While this is interesting, I wonder about the wisdom or propriety of posting this sort of news digest about our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters on a semi-official Episcopal Church website. How would we take it if the Vatican's or the NCCB's website had similar "Episcopal Church Roundup" digest? Just sayin'....
Posted by Eric Funston![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 31, 2011 12:18 PM
Episcopal Café is in no way official (semi or otherwise) - though sited at edow - they exercise no oversight- all of us who do the news choose our own stories. We often do stories on other churches - Methodists, Lutherans, etc. And I would like it if they did a TEC digest - currently we are so far off their radar it would be a compliment.
Posted by Ann Fontaine![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 31, 2011 12:23 PM
"The bishops are saying that the book does not adequately treat a Catholic understanding of God.” ... Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, the committee chairman, said in a statement that Sister Johnson might have avoided problems if she had sought approval from a bishop, known as an “imprimatur,” and made revisions before publishing her book.
Well, there you have it. If you try to Do Theology (while being Roman Catholic) and don't FIRST get an imprimatur, you're cruising for a smackdown.
[* Though in recent decades, even HAVING an (immediately post-Vat2 era) imprimatur is no guarantee God's Rottweiler wouldn't come after you later!]
JC Fisher
Posted by tgflux![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 31, 2011 2:36 PM
I thought Elizabeth Johnson's response to the bishops' statement was very classy.
http://witheology.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/elizabeth-johnsons-response/
Posted by Elizabeth Anderson![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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March 31, 2011 7:34 PM
I just find it horrifying that priests (or anybody for that matter) can still get away with abusing children. Will this ever end?
Please sign your name next time you comment. Thanks ~ed.
Posted by Apps 55753818692 1675970731 F785b701a6d1b8c33f0408![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 2, 2011 10:13 AM