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Pope assails 'disobedience' among priests

Published on 06 April, 2012
Pope assails 'disobedience' among priests

ROME -- Striking the tone that once earned him the nickname "God's Rottweiler," Pope Benedict XVI in a stern Holy Thursday homily denounced "disobedience" in the Roman Catholic Church, chastising priests who sought the ordination of women and the abolition of priestly celibacy.

Referring to recent efforts by clerics in Austria and elsewhere, Benedict said that although such priests claim to act out of "concern for the church," they are driven by their "own preferences and ideas," and should instead turn toward a "radicalism of obedience" -- a phrase that perfectly captures the essence of the theologian pope's thought.

While there was nothing new in the contents of Benedict's message, it was one of the strongest -- and most direct -- speeches of a 7-year-old reign that has more often been dominated by a sexual abuse scandal, repeated tangles with other faiths and a Vatican hierarchy in disarray. It also showed Benedict, who at almost 85 has been showing his age, in fighting form as a defender of orthodoxy, favoring a smaller church of more ardent believers over a larger community that relies on what he sees as diluted doctrine.

The pope, who once led the church's doctrinal office, delivered his homily from a golden throne in St. Peter's Basilica on the day priests recall the vows they made when ordained. He was clearly referring to an Austrian group called Preachers' Initiative, which has issued a "Call to Disobedience," asking the church to allow the ordination of women, to remove the obligation of priestly celibacy and to permit priests to give holy communion to divorced Catholics who have remarried without an annulment.

The initiative was started in 2006 by the Rev. Helmut Schueller, former director of a Catholic aid agency, Caritas Austria, to combat a shortage of priests. Since then, more than 400 Austrian priests have endorsed him, according to news media reports, as well as priests in the United States and across Europe.

The Vatican fears that the initiative could cause a schism in the church. Schueller has called the Vatican an "absolutist monarchy" and said the church's resistance to change might lead to rupture anyway.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Schueller said he was surprised by Benedict's words.

"But I don't think they were very harsh," he said. "There was no threat or sanction implied in his words."

"I think that in the history of the Church, a lot has changed, even if not always voluntarily," Schueller said. "There has been new science, new technology, new practices. The teachings are always changing."

Allowing women or married men to enter the priesthood "is not a question of faith, but one of tradition," Schueller added. "It is not a matter of theology, but of history and tradition. And those are constantly evolving."

In his homily, Benedict made clear that reforms could go against church doctrine. He singled out "a group of priests from a European country" who had recently "issued a summons to disobedience."

They did this to the point of disregarding church teaching and encouraging "women's ordination, for which Blessed Pope John Paul II stated irrevocably that the church has received no authority from the Lord," Benedict said.

 

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