On June 8, a crowd protested state education policies outside the Capitol, generating much media coverage. Nearby, outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a much smaller group demonstrated before the ordination of a young man. This group, of which I was one, was not protesting the ordination but the position of the Catholic Church prohibiting the ordination of women. This demonstration drew little media coverage.
I am a Roman Catholic and, sadly, my church will not permit women priests or deacons. I, along with many other Roman Catholics, have long been advocating for this. I have read the two official Vatican documents banning the ordination of women (by Pope Paul VI in 1976 and by Pope John Paul II in 2005). Both say it is "tradition" and the church is powerless to change. Pope John Paul II further stated the topic is "closed to discussion."
Those of us who advocate for the ordination of women refuse to accept the argument of tradition. That rationale is a cover for the sin of sexism. This is a matter of justice, fairness and equality. We ask, "How could anyone, clergy or layperson, dare to assert the calling from God to a woman is any less valid than it is to a man?"
Silence is the voice of complicity. We will not be silent or be silenced by fear or retaliation from our hierarchy. I am not a fallen-away Catholic; I attend Mass weekly and am involved in my church.
I am confident it is inevitable that women will be ordained in the Catholic Church, God willing, in my lifetime.
Richard M. Holmes
Loudonville