Women's ordination tied to justice in the church

Nov 7, 2009
by Thomas C. Fox

Sister of Charity Louise Akers addressed the Call to Action gathering in a plenary session Friday evening.

Akers last August was told by Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk to publicly disassociate herself from the issue of women’s ordination or lose her ability to continue making any presentations or teaching for credit in any archdiocesan-related institution.

Akers, who filled in for Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois whose father had taken ill, explained why it was she, not Pilarczyk, who was following church teaching, in their dispute about her ability to speak her mind. She cited a number of church documents, including the Vatican Council document on Religious Freedom (para 2) which reads:

The Vatican Council declares that the human person has the right to religious freedom. Freedom of this kind means that all people should be immune from coercion on the part of individuals, social groups and every human power so that, within due limits, nobody is force to act against their convictions in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others.

More to come...

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