Bishop issues statement condemning ordination of woman at Tempe church

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted issued a letter yesterday in response to the attempted ordination of a woman in Tempe last weekend.

“The attempted ordination of a woman is a grave offense against a sacrament and the structure of the Church,” Bishop Olmsted wrote, noting that the Catechism clearly says only a baptized man can validly receive Holy Orders.

A schismatic group in Tempe, known as the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, attempted the ordination. It was also reported in the news that Fr. Vernon Meyer, a diocesan priest, participated, according to the letter.

In July, the Vatican said in its updated list of “more grave crimes” against Church law that following the “attempted sacred ordination of a woman,” the cleric and the woman involved are automatically excommunicated and the cleric can be dismissed from the priesthood, according to Catholic News Service.

“The Church’s position on the Sacrament of Holy Orders, of course, does not mean that women are of any less value or dignity than men,” the bishop wrote. He added that women have always been instrumental in the Church and that they hold nearly half of diocesan administrative and professional positions.

Women currently hold the titles of chancellor and school superintendent in the Phoenix Diocese.

Bishop Olmsted directed related canonical questions for Fr. Chris Fraser, judicial vicar for the diocese, frfraser@diocesephoenix.org and encouraged Catholic to pray for all involved in “this divisive, scandalous act against the Catholic Church.”