Postcards from the Planets Confusion and Dissent

First, from Fr. Richard McBrien, whose September 12th column in the National "Catholic" Reporter takes a mostly mundane gander at a recent study on the "state of Catholic parishes" produced by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown—until McBrien tries to awkwardly interject his support for priestettes into the stats:

Staffing of parishes yields some of the most compelling data. The estimated number of lay ecclesial ministers (that is, those who are paid and who work at least 20 hours per week) is approximately 38,000, or 2.1 percent per parish. Fourteen percent of these are vowed religious, while 86 percent are laypersons.

Overall, 80 percent are female–a statistic that has remained steady for many years and which makes the continued alienation of Catholic women a serious and growing pastoral problem.

The priest who sent me the link wryly notes: "I think we're supposed to acknowledge that women should be ordained so they're not alienated.  Oh, wait, they are the overwhelming number of people working in 'lay ministries' which proves that they are alienated from the church.  Oh, wait, that can't be right....now I am confused." Of course, it's McBrien who is confused, as he apparently thinks that 80% somehow indicates a minority. Of course, if 100% were women, then McBrien wouldn't be a priest. Hmmm.

The second postcard is from 84-year-old Adele Jones, writing on www.MySanAntonio.com about becoming something she can't become:

Today, in a beautiful ceremony in Falls Church, Va., I will be ordained a Roman Catholic woman priest.

Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan will be the ordaining bishop.

I realize the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize my ordination into the all-male priesthood.

Since the Catholic Church will not let the ceremony take place in a Catholic setting, it will be held at the First Christian Church. 

We'll use the same ordination rites that the Catholic Church uses for men.

My two sons and several friends will be there. I will be the first woman in San Antonio and in Texas to be ordained as a Roman Catholic woman priest. And I will be the oldest at age 84.

More than a year ago, the pope approved a new church law that called the ordination of women as priests a “grave crime.”

Hey, it's the Three D's of Dissent, a veritable hat trick of shame: delusional, disingenuous, and damning. But Jones at least provides further evidence that my use of the term "priestette" is completely accurate, even if deemed "intolerant" and "mean-spirited" by those who loathe the Magisterium and the authentic teachings of the Church. As I explained on this blog nearly a year ago:

In fact, I came up with the term "priestette" (I'm not aware of prior use, but may have missed it; as best I can tell, my first use of it was in a blog post titled, "PRIESTETTES! PRIESTETTES! GET YOUR PRIESTETTES HERE!", posted on February 10/2003, on the Envoy Encore blog) precisely because it is an accurate term. Consider that the suffix "-ette" can mean or imply the following:

• A smaller form of something. And, indeed, the "ordination" of women as Catholic priests is a small attempt to be or accomplish something that cannot actually exist.

• The female equivalent of something. Ditto. Fairly self-evident.

• An imitation or substitute of something. Bingo! This is actually the primary focus of the term "priestette"--the imitative quality that speaks to a lack of knowledge, or humility, or maturity. Or all three, as is often the case.

And, from the same post, a review of the inherently illogical nature of the priestette movement:

• The priestette's demand that their "ordinations" be recognized by the Church and they be accepted as Catholic priests. Put another way, they want the blessing and backing of the Church and her authority.

• When excommunicated for knowingly violating Church law in a grave manner, said preistettes brazenly "reject" the law and acts of the Church.

• They say their conscience is supreme without qualification, which is directly contrary to clear Church teaching, which describes their position as a "mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience" and a "rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching" (CCC, par. 1792; see this post for much more).

• If their conscience is supreme, without qualification, it logically must have greater authority than the Church, which means 1) they have no need for the Church (so why do they seek the Church's approval?) and/or 2) the Church's authority is seriously flawed, even morally bankrupt, which also begs the question: why bother to be recognized and accepted by such an institution?

• Put simply, these priestettes go on and on about their desire and need to be a Catholic priest, yet always demean and even denounce the authority upon which the priesthood rests. If they can indeed "reject" Magisterial authority, that same authority is, logically, powerless to ordain them in any real and meaningful way. This is akin to Dan Brown's claim that Jesus was a simple carpenter who had, by virtue of some unknown quality, power over his goddess wife, Mary Magdalene. Right. And I have a bridge in southern Utah that you should buy.

Read the entire post.

Comments

[Titus]

What's actually interesting in all of that stuff and nonsense is the reality of Fr. McBrien's statistic about lay participation in parish life. The fact that 80% of lay people running things in parishes doesn't point to alienation or marginalization of women, it points to alienation and marginalization of lay men, and indeed almost undoubtedly of all proper masculinity, whether displayed by a cleric or a layman, in parochial life. Find your own anecdotes to this effect: they won't be hard to come by.

[Joe]

What's really interesting is the nonsensical idea of ordaining an 84 yr old as a first time "priest."

[Ed Peters]

What's supremely interesting is that Carl can rummage through this stuff with some regularity, and not lose his mind.

[Sharon]

I agree with Titus about the dearth of lay Catholic men in parocial life. I have first hand experience in my own parish but when I view processions, bible studies, Masses on the Internet it is very obvious that men are in the decided minority. Everything I read sresses the fact that practising Catholic men are crucial to keeping their children as practising Catholics. What can be done to bring men back to an active role in the Church?

[Carl E. Olson]

Ed: The beauty of having multiple personalities is that I can afford to lose a mind or two on occasion. Besides, most of my posts are written by a crack staff of highly trained Jesuit ninjas. I'd say more, but I'm not allowed to, as you might imagine...

[Joe]

Ed: ROFLOL!

[Mary Cardwell]

My parish in New York might be considered strange in that about half our parish staff is male, including the music director, director of parish outreach, RCIA (A deacon and his wife), most bible studies are led by a deacon, with a MA in theology with a concentration in biblical studies.Of course our pastor is male, the school principal is female, along with the parish secretaries and financial administrator. And we have a very active Knights of Columbus chapter, along with a choir that is 35-40% male. But we do have girl altar servers, but we have slightly more boys than girls.
This staffing pattern does lead to men participating in parish life, as illustrated by men going to Mass on thier own, or our unique custom of having the fathers being responsible for little children at Mass. We do have a cry room, but it is not heavily used. Also when we have a concert at the parish, the whole family turns up from 6 years old to the over 80's. And the strangest thing is that I even see young teenage males come to Mass by themselves.

[Steve Cianca]

Mary,

Your experience parallels mine in my parish in Ohio, not exactly, but close enough. My belief is that the more men participate, the more other men are drawn in. On the other hand, with the altar servers, the more girls participate, the fewer boys do.

[Marlene Cross]

Call me naive but I don't understand changing instead of adhering to the doctrine we're supposed to be FOLLOWING.

[Wendi]

What can be done to bring men back to the practice of their faith? Strong men who practice their faith. As long as a man sees religion as a woman thing (which sadly many do) men will not lead.

Parish councils need to give way to strong priests who LEAD, assisted by strong deacons who lead.

I am blessed to have such in my parish and it shows.