Fr. Roy inspires Colorado Catholics
Fr. Roy Bourgeois, women's ordination advocate and social justice activist, frequently travels the country to speak. He's been hosted by many CTA chapters and is a great friend of ours. Last weekend, Fr. Roy was in Colorado for two events, one at Regis University and another sponsored by our Colorado chapter. "Catholic priests say that the call to be a priest comes from God. As a young priest, I began to ask myself and my fellow priests: ‘Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God’s call to women is not?’ Isn’t our all-powerful God, who created the cosmos, capable of empowering a woman to be a priest?" Fr. Roy has said, over and over, refusing to be silenced even after Vatican warnings and being officially dismissed from his Maryknoll community.
CTA leaders in Colorado worked with friends at a Boulder ecumenical community led by Rev. Sheila Dierks to spread the word and the event attracted about 80 people. MaryAnn, who's been a leader with CTA for many years, said she thought Fr. Roy was very well received and that many of the attendees learned a lot and were newly informed about the issues. "His talk included a short history of his time in the Navy in Vietnam, his call to be a priest, his love of the Maryknolls, his time spend in Bolivia, Guatemala, and El Salvador that spurred him to protest the U.S. School of the America’s training Central and South American military to oppress, torture, and even kill their people. He is so inspired by Christian people of all ages who have come by the thousands to protest outside the gates of Ft Benning, Georgia. Of course, he inspired them first! Roy then segued from the injustice of our government using tax dollars to school assassins, to the injustice in our church toward women and the LGBT community." Reported Marcie, the chapter leader for the area, "Roy really is a prophet, and like the prophets, he has suffered greatly by walking the talk."
Today is the World Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination, so make sure to take a few minutes to say a prayer and talk with others about the importance of women's equality in the Church. You can support Roy's prophetic work by getting a copy of his book, My Journey from Silence to Solidarity, for yourself, and then passing it on to a friend!
