In a CNS story Simon Caldwell reports on the following Equality Bills Law that could have a serious impact on the way the Church is to operate. This is worth some serious theological and legal attention. Discuss.LONDON (CNS) -- The Catholic bishops of England and Wales said they could be at risk of prosecution under a proposed law unless they accept women, sexually active gays and transsexuals as candidates to the priesthood.
They made their claims in a briefing for Catholic members of the House of Lords, Britain's upper political chamber, ahead of a scheduled Dec. 15 debate on the Equality Bill, which aims to stamp out discrimination in the workplace.
The bishops said the bill defines priests as employees rather than officeholders. Under the terms of the bill, the church would be immune from prosecution only if priests spend more than 51 percent of their time in worship or explaining doctrine. [For a woman to be a priest or someone living openly in a sexual relationship outside the confines of the sacrament of matriomony between one man and one woman would be against the doctrine of the Church. So, the priest living a holy chaste life and being a male only is teaching and explaining the doctrine of the Church 100% of the time while he does his job. A woman or any other form of sexual life lived out that is against Church teaching is not teaching the doctrine of the Catholic Church so they are disqualified from the job.]
According to the briefing, a copy of which was obtained by Catholic News Service Dec. 8, the government definition will, in effect, make it "unlawful to require a Catholic priest to be male, unmarried or not in a civil partnership, etc., since no priest would be able to demonstrate that their time was wholly or mainly spent either leading liturgy or promoting and explaining doctrine."
"The bill fails to reflect the time priests spend in pastoral work, private prayer and study, administration, building maintenance, etc.," the briefing said.
"This contentious definition was drafted without consultation and has been maintained by the government despite the concerns of the bishops' conference and representations made by most religious bodies in the U.K.," the briefing added.
The bishops asked Catholic lords to try to either strike out the contentious definition or widen it to protect priests and lay employees "whose credibility ... would be fatally compromised if their personal lives were openly at variance with the church's teaching."
In a Dec. 8 statement given to CNS, a government spokesman rejected the claims of the bishops, saying that an exemption "covers ministers of religion such as Catholic priests."
An amendment to the bill to protect the liberty of the churches was voted down in the House of Commons in November. The bill is likely to become law early next year.
Richard Kornicki, the bishops' parliamentary coordinator, told CNS in a Dec. 8 telephone interview that the bishops believe it is not possible to meet the criteria of the government definition of a priest.
According to legal advice received by the bishops, he said, this could lead to legal actions for sex discrimination if the church rejected women, married men, gays in civil partnerships or transsexuals who asked to join the priesthood.
"The government is saying that the church cannot maintain its own beliefs in respect of its own priests," he said.
Neil Addison, a Catholic lawyer who heads the Thomas More Legal Centre, which specializes in religious discrimination law, said that in the worst-case scenario the church could not only be sued but bishops could face imprisonment and unlimited fines and church assets could be sequestered. He said the bill would have the effect of making it impossible for the bishops to discipline clergy who wanted to live "alternative lifestyles."
Earlier, the bishops said the bill could force Catholic schools and health care institutions to remove crucifixes from their walls in case they offend
non-Christian employees.
How in the world have we arrived in such a state? Mary, pray for us!
6 comments:
"An amendment to the bill to protect the liberty of the churches was voted down in the House of Commons in November. The bill is likely to become law early next year."
Wow.
Over in the United States, there is staunch conservative Protestant opposition to joining with Catholics and the Orthodox in support of religious freedom as expressed in the Manhattan Declaration.
If the secular liberals come for the Catholics, what makes you think they won't come for Protestants as well?
How have we got in this situation? Easy in England the Church has failed to teach the fulness of the faith for so long many Catholics find it offensive when they encounter it. We have supped on relativistic homilies and the false spirit of Vatican II for too long. Our primates have seen the magisterium as impractical in its demands and have ensured obfuscation.
I remember a colleague who is a governor of a Catholic secondary school who was pro choice, when I showed her Evangelium Vitae she just disagreed with almost every line.
The Church in England is now being attacked by those who many saw as friends while Rome was seen as the annoying relative saying things that upset the friendship. There will be more to come until we mend our ways.
In your inline comment I think you have identified an argument to be used as a solution.
If I may edit it...
"[A] priest living a holy chaste life and being a male only is teaching and explaining the doctrine of the Church... A woman or any other form of sexual life lived out that is against Church teaching is not teaching the doctrine of the Catholic Church so they are disqualified from the job."
Therefore it is a genuine occupational requirement (if they stupidly see the Priesthood as an occupation), which all we have to do is justify. We can cite canon law and the process of laicisation in this regard.
As laity we must clean up our own acts. Our Lady is a strong defender in weakness, I find, and I need her desperately every day. We must pray for courage too, for ourselves and our children. On a brighter note, there are prophecies of revival in the UK, not the least one by Smith Wigglesworth in 1948, half of which is fulfilled already. Where sin abounds, how much more will grace abound. These aren't oosy gooshy comforting words, they are real! As real as the Biblically prophesied events unfolding around us!
Rosaries to the ready, if you haven't got one, get one, today! It is The Weapon, and the only one for these times, according to Our Lady of Fatima. It cleanses you from the inside out, if you pray it. In tests, eight out of ten compulsive recalcitrants prefer it.
Oh and as Lewis warned a would be convert:
"There will be a counter attack on you, you know, so don't be too alarmed when it comes. The enemy will not see you vanish into God's company without an effort to reclaim you.Lewis to Sheldon Vanueken, letter 15.04.51.
'For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12'
The late Fr. Malachi Martin(RIP), wrote that the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church is a precondition for the end of time as we presently know it and for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Pray for strength, for each other.
The "spirit" of Vatican II has come full circle.
This isn't coming from inside the Church but from outside. I don't see how it is the "Spirit of Vatican II" at all. It is the spirt of the age, and perhaps we could say it is from hell. But I don't think even most S of VII Catholics would approve of this. Some few might want the church to go this way on its own, but how many really want the government to dictate to it? Anyway, it wasn't primarily Catholics who passed this law, was it?
I think something like this might finally force the hierarchy to decide that they really want to be Catholic. Either that, or force them to give up all pretensions.
Clean out those priest holes! And start building new ones.
Susan Peterson
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