No, the bishop does have authority

No, the bishop does have authority

Another priest who doesn’t quite understand what it means to be a Catholic. This one is in Kenya and has broken away from the Church by breaking canon law and attempting marriage. He has set up a new church called the Reformed Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church and says 26 other priests have joined. Yet he also claims that his bishop has no power “to nullify my authority to exercise my priesthood.” Well, no, the sacrament of ordination makes an indelible mark, but the Church’s constant teaching has been that a priest’s ministry is only an extension of the bishop’s ministry and serves at the bishop’s pleasure. Additionally, a priest—especially who one violates canon law or commits an egregious sin—can be laicized, i.e. stripped of the priestly state and its perqs and duties.

Of course, none of that matters to this guy who has already gone his own way, although it might matter to Catholics who might be deceived by him.

And for whatever bluster he offers about the reason he abandoned the Church and created a schism, note that it all boils down to yet another person putting his pelvic functions ahead of his religious obligations. So often it’s sexual sin at the root of so many scandals.

Technorati Tags:, , , , , , ,

bk_keywords:priestly celibacy.

Share:FacebookX
1 comment
  • I know that. This is why I said the mark of the sacrament of ordination is indelible. But a priest does not have the right to exercise his ministry, under normal circumstances, without permission of the bishop.

Archives

Categories