A married teacher is poised to become Italy’s first woman priest when she is ordained later this month in an Anglican church close to the Vatican.
Maria Longhitano, a member of the breakaway Old Catholic Church, says she hopes her ordination will break down “prejudice” in the Roman Church.
The event may energise the debate among Roman Catholics about the role of women, a BBC correspondent says.
[blockquote] Maria Longhitano, a member of the breakaway Old Catholic Church, says she hopes her ordination will break down “prejudice” in the Roman Church.[/blockquote]
Sounds like a rationalization to commit sin.
[blockquote] The event may energise the debate among Roman Catholics about the role of women, a BBC correspondent says.[/blockquote]
Doubtful unless there has been a major theological breakthrough showing the Church has authority to ordain women. Until such time, Rome has spoken.
Next week, I’m becoming the Editor of [i]The New York Times[/i]. Those presently working for the paper may not realize it yet, but it’s happening, whether they like it or not. I will be their Editor, and they will pay me the salary I’m entitled to!
Right…because the real issue in the Roman Catholic Church is that they are just plain prejudiced against women. The Protestants complain about “Mariolotry” — seeming to place a woman on the same level as God, and of course there have been great women in the Church for 2,000 years, and of course there are countless Catholic schools and hospitals and missions started and run by women, but the Catholics basically just don’t like women! But once they get energized by seeing how great Father Maria is, they will definitely come around. Oh…and married priests would help too. Because once those priests got married they would like women more and probably want them to be priests too so it could be like a family thing.
I don’t recall where I first read it, but I always liked the saying “The Old Catholics are neither.”
Those interested in learning more about the Old Catholics, please consult these two articles from Touchstone, the first (1999) by me, and the second (2004) by the late Dr. Laurence Orzell, whose unexpected early death in May 2005 was a great loss to the PNCC and a sad loss to me:
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=12-01-021-f
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=17-04-056-r
I must say, though, that I have the impression that there are actually more “Italian Anglicans” than there are “Italian Old Catholics,” and that the latter have been characterized more by political “anti-Vaticanism” than by any kind of religious devotion. They have been under the oversight in recent years of the Swiss Old Catholic Church (a body technically named the “Christ Catholic Church” and which claims some 20-25,000 members and some 40 clergy). The better part of a decade ago the then CCC bishop shut down the principal Italian Old Catholic congregation because of its priest’s strident homosexual advocacy — but since that time the CCC has selected a new bishop and, with him, adopted the practice of “blessing” homosexual “life partnerships.”
Is she a real Old Catholic of the Utrecht union or a [i]vagante[/i]? Not that it matters much as both have tiny followings (usually of ex-RCs like her) and not that the mainstream media care really – just another spite-Rome story. Rome either doesn’t know this exists or doesn’t give it a second thought.
Timothy (#1),
I don’t see where [i]sin[/i] comes into it. Had you said a rationalization to break with [i]apostolicity[/i], fair enough.
Why is it “sinful” for a denomination that has existed apart from Rome (in one form or another) since 1703 to adopt its own policies with regard to women’s ordination? Why should anybody expect them to pay any more attention to what “Rome has spoken” on that subject than to what Rome said about the autonomy of the Diocese of Utrecht in the late 17th century? The Old Catholic “Communion” as a whole has recognized Anglican Orders since 1925, and (except for the Polish National Catholic Church) has not excepted Anglican women clergy. Several Old Catholic bodies have been ordaining their own women for nearly 15 years, so this is hardly big news.
Why would the Roman Church care? Just because it is in Italy? The fact that this woman is an Old Catholic doesn’t make her Roman Catholic. The Romans would simply see her as being someone who is not in communion with them attempting something that in their eyes can’t be done. No problem.
I think the point is that most people who read this article have never even heard of the Old Catholics, so to make the article more interesting the ordination is positioned as something that is going to “break down prejudice” and “energize debate” in the (somewhat larger) Roman Catholic Church. It’s not.
Absolutely pathetic. Can we have some RESPONSIBLE BALANCED journalism here?
Intercessor
Perhaps the newly minted Old Catholic female priest could go on a mission, say to Tehran or Islamabad, to convert the people there to her point of view? Or would it be too far away from her other job as a teacher? I should hope that Italy could find a replacement for her at the school, should she decide to go on a mission to Tehran or Islamabad, seeing as how missionaries of such courage in the face of prejudice and adversity are hard to find.
Any bit of totally unimportant news will do in the propaganda war the mass media is running against Christianity, the Christian moral Tradition, and Catholic Tradition.
Well…I think viewing this as some vast conspiracy propaganda war against the Church is way over the top. Journalists try to make their stories important and read-worthy. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t get published or read and then they wouldn’t have a job. This is a completely nothing story — a tiny splinter sect that nobody ever heard of that has been ordaining women for some time just ordained another one. Yawn. So…what angle can you possibly find to make it more interesting? Well…maybe it will somehow someway have some effect on the Roman Catholic Church. It won’t of course — but who can blame the journalist for bringing it up?
What Chris Molter said in #4.
Beyond which my only comment is that the so called Dutch Touch does not impress. The sacraments are not magic. Right words + matter does not = sacrament. They can play dress up all they want to. These people are heretics and there are no Mysteries outside the Church.