The following article is available in its entirety at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/us/31cnccatholics.html?pagewanted=all

Catholic Group Based in Chicago Leads Protest Against Church

By DIRK JOHNSON, New York Times

It’s a long way from the Vatican to Roscoe Village, but a group based in that North Side neighborhood is leading a high-profile protest among American priests that challenges the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on ordination of women.

The group, Call to Action, an organization for reform-minded Catholics, has collected signatures of more than 150 priests — including 8 in Chicago — on a petition defending a liberal priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, who is being threatened with dismissal for his public support for ordaining women. In an increasingly conservative church, the rebellion has been hailed as a remarkable moment for liberals in the church. ________________________

August 8, 2011

Order Dismisses a Priest Trying to Ordain Women

NEW YORK TIMES

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, who refused to renounce his increasingly public campaign to see women ordained as priests in the Roman Catholic Church, has been notified of his dismissal by his religious order, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.

A letter to Father Bourgeois, signed by the superior general and the general secretary of the Maryknoll order in the United States, said the dismissal was necessary because of his “defiant stance” in opposition to church teaching.

“Your numerous public statements and appearances in support of the women’s priests movement continues to create in the minds of many faithful the view that your position is acceptable to our Church,” the letter said, adding that Father Bourgeois had caused the church “grave scandal.”

Father Bourgeois has gone further than any other priest in good standing to ally himself publicly with the growing women’s ordination movement. The group Roman Catholic Womenpriests claims to have ordained 120 women as priests and 10 as bishops in the last few years. The Vatican regards the ceremonies as illicit and invalid. Father Bourgeois participated in one such ceremony in 2008, and since then has given speeches around the country in support of female priests.

“They want two words: I recant,” Father Bourgeois said. “And they can’t get that out of me. For me, the real scandal is the message we are sending to women: you’re not equal, you cannot be priests, you’re not worthy.”

The case now moves to the Vatican for his formal removal from the priesthood, or laicization. Father Bourgeois said he had hired the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer known for testifying as an expert witness on behalf of victims suing the church in clergy sexual abuse cases, to represent him at the Vatican.

The order’s move, while expected, nevertheless surprised Father Bourgeois and some of his supporters who had hoped that the Maryknolls, often in the forefront of liberal causes, would stand with their fellow priest. More than 200 priests signed a petition to the Maryknolls saying that they supported his right to follow his conscience.

“I’m disappointed,” said Sister Beth Rindler, a coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns, a small group that has long called for women’s ordination. “I thought that with the support that Father Roy’s been receiving, maybe they would yield. It seems to me that the church is trying to teach that women are subservient to men, and I’m just surprised that they hold onto that.”

The following sample letter in support of Father Roy can be edited to fit your particular role and circumstances. 

Rev. Edward Dougherty, M.M.

Superior General

Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc. P.O. Box 303

Maryknoll, NY 10545

Dear Fr. Ed,

I am a priest …  writing you in support of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a credit to our Church and to the Maryknoll Society.

I have had a long association with Maryknoll through the years, contributing to or recommending Maryknoll to prospective vocations.

I am aware of the profound needs and injustices in Latin American societies, and the real actions of dedicated men and women of the church who help prepare the people to bring about needed changes in the difficult years ahead. For me, Maryknoll has always been where the church needs to be.

I remember Maryknoll fondly as a society steeped in a long faith tradition, and on the cut­ting edge of formation of men and women for the new Latin American church and society, to be born through commitment and struggle from the grassroots, challenging deeply embed­ded structures of injustice that have limited people's options for too long.

Fr. Roy Bourgeois is one of those prophetic hearts and voices, helping to keep that cutting edge sharp, focused and where it needs to be. Prophets are always controversial, difficult to manage. But we'd be lost without them. Maryknoll needs Fr. Roy Bourgeois, and our church needs Fr. Roy Bourgeois. With Roy around, complacency is never an option.

The ordination of women to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church is a controversial matter and may or may not happen. That is in God's hands. But we cannot deny the deep feelings of many passionately committed and faithful men and women in our church on this subject.

In your letter of July 27, 2011, to Roy, you mention that a reason for his potential dismissal from Maryknoll is the "grave scandal" he is giving to the people of God. I suggest that his dismissal for refusing to "recant" his decision of conscience would be a far graver "scandal" for believers in truth and justice.

You also refer to his "obstinate disobedience to (his) legitimate Superiors" in calling him to recant publicly on the issue of women's ordination, which he says he, in conscience, cannot do. Part 3, chapter 1 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1782, on the "judgment of conscience," states: "Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters."

I hope and pray that the Maryknoll Society will continue to stand with Fr. Roy, and not dis­miss him. He is a holy, faith-filled and very important priest for these troubled times, in our church and in the world.

Sincerely,

_______________________

Fr. Richard McBrien’s series, “Vatican II themes: The people of God,” is highly recommended.

Essays in Theology

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In Denver, Chaput fought bill on abuse

Phila.'s new archbishop said the church had been singled out unfairly.

August 07, 2011|By Jeremy Roebuck, Inquirer Staff

Five years ago, a handful of Colorado legislators sought to make it easier for victims of decades-old sex abuse to sue their tormentors and the organizations that protected them.

The Archdiocese of Denver fought back hard.

The state's Catholic hierarchy - through jeremiads delivered from the pulpit and alliance-building with municipal interest groups and teacher unions - turned an initially popular bill to extend the civil statute of limitations on sex crimes into something politically toxic. By the end of 2006, the bill was dead on the statehouse floor.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, then head of the state's largest archdiocese, stood at the center of that debate.

 http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-07/news/29861557_1_civil-statute-clergy-sexual-abuse-denver-archdiocese

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If you believe that faith and politics don’t mix, skip the last few articles. If, however, you believe that a society will be judged by how it treats the “least among us,” then these articles are mandatory reading.

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

BuzzFlash at Truthout proposed the other day that corporations should have their taxes increased to the highest possible level. But they could reduce those taxes dramatically: by proving that they have created jobs in any tax year and getting a tax credit for each new position.

There's only one very significant catch: the jobs must be created in the US, not overseas. If employers maintain their current workforce in America, they would also receive a tax credit. If businesses move jobs overseas, their taxes get raised higher depending upon the percentage of their workforce that is offshored.

Sounds like a sensible proposal. Create jobs in America and pay fewer taxes; move jobs overseas and pay higher taxes. Now this is where the rubber meets the road in determining who is really a domestic "job creator."

There is ample evidence that increased tax breaks for large corporations lead to two primary things: 1) expanding their workforce overseas, and 2) reducing their employees in the US and sitting on the profits. The stagnating unemployment crisis in the US is a testament to that.

An article in the Atlantic magazine from earlier this year provided ample evidence of this. Entitled "The Rise of the New Global Elite," it included the real "job creator" outlooks of the American global corporations. It noted the perspective of a US-based CEO:

The U.S.-based CEO of one of the world's largest hedge funds told me that his firm's investment committee often discusses the question of who wins and who loses in today's economy. In a recent internal debate, he said, one of his senior colleagues had argued that the hollowing-out of the American middle class didn't really matter. "His point was that if the transformation of the world economy lifts four people in China and India out of poverty and into the middle class, and meanwhile means one American drops out of the middle class, that's not such a bad trade," the CEO recalled.

Similar sentiments abound in the article. Thomas Wilson, the CEO of Allstate put it bluntly: "I can get [workers] anywhere in the world. It is a problem for America, but it is not necessarily a problem for American business ... American businesses will adapt."

No, large American corporations are not creating jobs in the United States to any great extent, nor will they in the future.

They should be taxed to the fullest extent possible until they start producing employment here in the USA.

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I Was Blind

By Simone Campbell, SSS, NETWORK's Executive Director

When we started the Mind the Gap! campaign a couple of months ago, we knew that the wealth and income gaps in our country were huge and growing. But I feel like the blind person in the Gospel! Remember the story in the Gos­pel of John: Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud, puts it on the person’s eyes, and says: "Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam." We are told that the name of the pool means ^-'the one who has been sent." The blind person follows his instruction and then sees.

I feel that I have been blind to the basic reality of the wealth gap, and now I can see. Every-where l look I see both references to and consequences of wealth disparity in our nation. Much of the main­stream media has mentioned the issue, but they really have not talked about causes and remedies. I believe that having had this insight, we, are sent to proclaim the message and work for solu­tions. But this is very difficult to do In Washington, D.C.

One thing we know is that "trickle-down” economics of the Reagan era and current D.C. Republicans has not benefited the middle class or people at the lower end of the income charts. Rather, this policy has helped shift income to the top. A significant reason for this wealth shift is the way that capital gains are handled. A capi­tal gain is the difference between the purchase price of an item (e.g., investments or real estate) and what, it is sold for. Rather than tax­ing capital gains at the regular income rate (35°o for the top bracket), most are taxed at 15%. The theory was that would encourage people to reinvest in the market. But many wealthy people get most of their income through such transactions and are not about to miss out by not investing. Thus the wealthy pay only a 15%^, interest rate on much of their income. This allows them to accu­mulate more wealth.

Another factor in the wealth shift is the "mortgage interest deduction" that allows homeowners to deduct from their taxable income the amount they pay on interest on mortgages up to $1 million for one or MORE homes. Such a deduc­tion is called a "tax expenditure" and there are MANY types of expenditures that benefit wealthy people more than the middle class or the working poor, who are more likely to be renters or have smaller mortgages.

"The scales fell from my eyes when the Obama administration announced some streamlining of union-organizing rules that requires a union election within a shorter period of time than previously set. Many businesses and Republicans pushed back and said that this would be a "job killer." But the truth is that unions were the primary reason that ordinary workers saw increased wages from 1948 through 1979. Il we are to address the wealth gap, we need to make sure that workers can bargain for fair wages for their hard work. After all, it is the work­ers who have allowed the CEOs and shareholders to accumulate wealth.

What I see now is that tax and labor laws, as well as many other laws, have gone into creating the great wealth gap in our country I also see that the gap undermines our health as a nation, our morale, our education system, our neighborhoods and our infrastructure. There are even greater racial disparities than I had imagined. It is so overwhelm­ing that I began to think that I would rather go back to being blind. But then I read the end of john’ Chapter 9, where Jesus challenges the Pharisees about who can see and their own blindness. I real­ized again that the faith challenge is to have our eyes opened to "inconv^,enient truths." These are truths that are not popular, but that mandate change. Hav­ing had our eyes washed in the pool we are sent to change policy, trusting in the experience of the one born blind. We will not he left orphan, but we must speak out for a new vision for our nation.

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Fairness conspicuously missing in deficit reduction legislation

By Thomas C. Fox (NCR)

Watching the politically manufactured debt ceiling debate draw to its sad conclusion, I think of the last stanza of T.S. Eliot's often quoted poem, "The Hollow Men" ... Not with a bang but a whimper... However you cut it, there is something quite disturbing -- and immoral -- about a debt reduction package that calls for cuts in critical services to the poor while at the same time calling for no sacrifice from the wealthiest elite in our nation.

Read More

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Published on CommonDreams.org

Five Scriptures You Won’t Hear at Rick Perry’s Prayer Event

by  Jim Rigby, pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX.

As a native Texan, I’m used to crazy religion and crazy politics. So, the announcement of Gov. Rick Perry’s plans for “The Response,” a prayer event scheduled for Aug. 6 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, was not a surprise.

But as a Presbyterian minister and community organizer, it’s part of my job to stand up for my neighbors. The use of the governor’s office to promote one religion in a country with such rich religious diversity is obviously unhealthy politics, but -- if one takes the Christian and Jewish scriptures seriously -- it is also unhealthy religion. Here are five rather important verses of scripture you aren’t likely to hear at “The Response”:

Don’t make a show of prayer

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray in public places to be seen by others… But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your heavenly parent, who is unseen.” (Matt. 6:5-6)

While Jesus never addressed the issues most important to some of this event’s co-sponsors, such as homosexuality and abortion, he did speak out against public displays of religion. Whatever Jesus meant by the word “prayer,” it seems to have been about the quiet and personal. The disciples had to ask Jesus how to pray, which is a pretty good indication that he wasn’t praying a lot publicly. What he did say about prayer carried a warning label: “Don’t rub it in other people’s faces.”

God doesn’t withhold rain because we’ve done something wrong

“God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt. 5:45)

Perry recently called Texans to pray for rain, which implies that God steers clouds toward the worthy. According to Right Wing Watch, one of the events co-sponsors has said the earthquake in Japan happened because the emperor had sex with the Sun Goddess. It may be a part of our lower nature to blame disasters on people we don’t like or understand, but Jesus taught that God sends rain on the just and unjust. Furthermore, he said our love should be equally nonselective.

I have chosen Christianity as my life’s religion, but when nonjudgmental love is taken out of its center, it becomes poisonous and predatory. The word “God” can be a helpful symbol for all the transcendentals of life, but the symbol becomes instantly pathological when used as a scientific explanation or political justification.

God doesn’t have favorites

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.” (Acts 10:34)

When the Bible says that God is not a “respecter of persons” it means that God doesn’t have a favorite country or religion. The idea that God wants Christians to be in charge of other people violates Jesus’ teaching that we are to take the lowest place. We are to change the world by humble persuasion and good example, not by messianic coercion. The assumption that Christianity and America are God’s two favorite things will be particularly ironic, as the prayer event falls on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

Worship by those who neglect the poor is offensive to God

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me… Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:21-24)

The prophet Amos chastised the religion of his day for praying to God while mistreating people. Texas leads the nation in citizens who are uninsured, who work for minimum wage, and who die from unsafe working conditions on construction sites. Our state has the widest gap between rich and poor of any in the union. If the governor wants to call us to repentance it should begin with our real sins against the poor not the imaginary sins dreamed up by his friends.

The heart of Christian ethics is being a good neighbor

When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) it was to teach humility to a rich young zealot who thought he was approaching moral perfection. The Samaritans were the scapegoats of the day. The rich young ruler would consider Samarians heretics and immoral people. Jesus used a merciful Samaritan as the example of ethical perfection. It is a lesson many Christians have yet to learn.

One sponsor of the event, the American Family Association, is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. The group’s director of analysis for government and policy is quoted by the SPLC as saying that Hitler was “an active homosexual” who sought out gays “because he could not get straight soldiers to be savage and brutal and vicious enough.” He also said Muslims should not be allowed in the military or be allowed to build mosques in the United States.

None of this analysis springs from malice. In fact, I must confess that I have a soft spot for Rick Perry. When the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in Texas was passed, I had the honor of pushing the wheelchair of Byrd’s mother into the governor’s office for the signing. I privately thanked Perry for his courage in standing up to all the groups who had fought against the bill; I knew he might pay a political price for signing the bill. Tears came to his eyes, and he said, “It’s the right thing to do.”

I can’t know what is in Perry’s heart, of course, but I do know the problem isn’t one politician but rather a nation that has embraced an unhealthy political arrogance undergirded by even unhealthier religious hubris. The “prayer” that is most needed at this time is for each of us, believer or not, to go into our own heart and find the humility and empathy that is at the core of righteousness, political and spiritual.