Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Picked up by the Big Guys

Carl Olsen at Ignatian Insight picks up the story of Sr. Louise Akers here in Cincinnati.


I haven't weighed in at this point, but will do so now.

The issue at hand here, really, is not the question of women's ordination, that is a smokescreen at the deeper issue: authority.

Simply, anyone who teaches in the name of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, or any local Church for that matter, teaches with the authority of the bishop which he has diputed to him/her. A person does not teach in the name of the Church on their own authority, for if it is upon one's own authority, to quote Eduardo Verastagui, 'is junk.'

Archbishop Pilarczyk has simply rescinded Sr. Akers' authority to teach in this local church, and as Carl Olsen points out in the above link, he was bound by his conscience to do so.

3 comments:

Mary Hennessey said...

I personally think its about time.

Anonymous said...

It's about conscience -- Sister Louise's, not the Archbishop's.

Sister Louise wasn't silenced because she was teaching about women's ordination; she was silenced because she believes in women's ordination.

For the rest of us in ministry, it's a good thing that the Archbishop isn't psychic as well as oppressive.

Rachel said...

It's so irrational to think that someone should be allowed to be an official Catholic teacher even though she disagrees with official Catholic teaching. Would Planned Parenthood be expected to employ pro-life speakers? Would NOW be vilified if they fired Phyllis Schlafly? Should Obama have to rely on McCain campaign workers to get his message out?