by Dennis Sadowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has dismissed Roy Bourgeois from the priesthood because of his participation in the invalid ordination of a woman and “a simulated Mass,” the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers announced.
The order said in a statement the canonical dismissal came Oct. 4.
Citing Bourgeois’ participation in the invalid ordination in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 9, 2008, the Maryknoll statement said, “With patience, the Holy See and the Maryknoll Society have encouraged his reconciliation with the Catholic Church.”
“Instead, Mr. Bourgeois chose to campaign against the teachings of the Catholic Church in secular and non-Catholic venues. This was done without the permission of the local U.S. Catholic bishops and while ignoring the sensitivities of the faithful across the country. Disobedience and preaching against the teaching of the Catholic Church about women’s ordination led to his excommunication, dismissal and laicization.”
Bourgeois, 74, called his expulsion from the priesthood and the Maryknoll order “very difficult and painful.”
“The Vatican and Maryknoll can dismiss me, but they cannot dismiss the issue of gender inequality in the Catholic Church,” the statement said. “The demand for gender equality is rooted in justice and dignity and will not go away.”
The Church holds that it has no authority to ordain women. This year at his Holy Thursday chrism Mass at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the Church’s ban on women priests.
Bourgeois said “the exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women, our church and our loving God, who calls both men and women to be priests.”
Catholics “profess that God created men and women of equal worth and dignity,” he said. “As priests, we profess that the call to the priesthood comes from God, only God. Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God’s call to women is not?”
Bourgeois, whose statement was released via e-mail by the Women’s Ordination Conference, said his conscience “compelled me to break my silence and address” what he called “the sin of sexism in my church.”
The Maryknoll statement said, “Mr. Bourgeois freely chose his views and actions, and all the members of the Maryknoll Society are saddened at the failure of reconciliation. With this parting, the Maryknoll Society warmly thanks Roy Bourgeois for his service to the mission, and all members wish him well in his personal life.
“In the spirit of equity and charity, Maryknoll will assist Mr. Bourgeois with this transition,” the statement concluded.
Maryknoll spokesman Mike Virgintino declined further comment.
Bourgeois first gained the attention of Vatican authorities after participating in the attempted ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska sponsored by Roman Catholic Womenpriests Aug. 9, 2008, in Kentucky.
In a meeting with his Maryknoll superiors nine days after the ceremony, he received a canonical warning related to his role. At the time, then-Father Bourgeois said he hoped the issue was settled because he had no intention of participating in any other such event.