Milwaukee archbishop dismisses liturgy by women priests at CTA conference
Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan used his archdiocesan newspaper column in late August to deplore three “unfortunate issues” for his flock. First he declared that Marquette theologian Daniel Maguire’s two recent pamphlets that are pro choice on abortion and in favor of same sex marriage are against church teaching. Then he addressed the July 31 ordination of Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg — without using her name. (She had already been treated to his thoughts when a letter to all priests about her showed up in her own parish bulletin at Sunday Mass in Waukesha, a Milwaukee suburb.) Thirdly, he questioned the Catholic identity of CTA if its conference invites women priests to celebrate Eucharist. He writes:
“The second issue concerns the woman from our archdiocese who regrettably participated in a simulation of the sacrament of holy orders on a barge on a river in Pittsburgh. With the exception of a few inquiries from the media, the event has not generated a great deal of public comment, since most people seem to realize that her claims to ordination are groundless. People are saddened to see the sacraments, intended to be a source of unity, become an occasion for lobbying a personal agenda.
“My duty was to notify the Apostolic See (the Vatican) of this episode. When another group staged a similar event about four years ago — an episode now for the most part forgotten — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared the participants sadly to be separated juridically from the church.
“The third issue has to do with the "Call to Action" conference scheduled for Milwaukee this November. As you may recall, this group, based in Chicago, has been meeting in Milwaukee for decades. This group was actually initiated by the bishops 30 years ago, and started off asking some legitimate questions.
“But they have gotten way off track. In this case as well, I inquired some years ago what impact this annual meeting has on the archdiocese, and was told, almost none. Our Catholic people, I was advised, recognize that this is a group that has taken stands totally outside the bounds of church teaching.
“Unfortunately, as stated in the official program of this year's conference, the leadership of that group has decided to include in the program an invitation to invalidly ordained ‘priests and bishops’ to ‘celebrate a liturgy.’
“Here again it becomes my teaching responsibility to state clearly that such an action would make any claim of Catholic identity by the group to be misleading. Faithful Catholics attending these sessions would only promote division and disunity rather than genuine renewal in the church.
“People ask why I ‘allow’ Call To Action to meet in Milwaukee. This group, of course, hardly asks my permission, and pays little attention to what any bishop, including the Bishop of Rome, has to say.”