The Metropolitan Breakfast Club enjoyed a fascinating conversation this morning with a member of the Roman Rota, the highest administrative court of the Roman church. Fr. David Jaeger shared that the newly-elected Bishop of Rome is “resetting and rebranding the [Roman Catholic] church among the public,” attempting to dispel the image that the Roman church is “an angry presence, an ogre, a grim-faced nanny [that is] against practically everything.” He also shed light on the Roman church’s “increasing condemnation of the forces of progress.” Though typically long-winded, when asked about whether the Roman church would allow women to serve in ordained ministry in the foreseeable future, he condescendingly responded with a single word: “No.” Breaking a long, uncomfortable silence, he attempted to joke: “Some of my best friends are women. My mother was a woman!” And he suggested that the Roman church’s all-male priesthood is predicated “on another level, of symbolic representation.” That is, that ordained ministers in the Roman church must be men since, obviously, Jesus of Nazareth counted only men among his apostles. The fallacies of logic were evident to those in attendance, since such reasoning would lead one to ask, “Why, then, doesn’t the Roman church ordain woman, since woman served as deaconesses in the early Church (Rom 16:1)?” and “Why, then, doesn’t the Roman church allow for a married clergy, since Jesus obviously chose married persons as his apostles (Mt 8:14)?” When asked why some Roman bishops in the U.S. are “punishing legislators” [recall how Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Roman Diocese of Austin recently would not allow a Roman Catholic U.S. Congressman to speak on immigration reform in a Roman Catholic parish—yikes!], the monsignor responded that “as a general rule, the [Roman] church is not wanting to control or coerce consciences [since] this would be a dangerous policy.” And then he made clear his real mandate as a member of the Roman Rota, confessing, “I must back all bishops.” What an enlightening conversation it was with a Vatican “insider” about the present state of affairs in the Roman church! Thank you, friends of the MBC, for providing this enlightening opportunity for our community.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 04:52:45 +0000