Despite repeated warnings from the Catholic hierarchy, liberal Catholic activists continue to call for the ordination of priestesses in the Catholic church. Most of these left-wing Catholics are from an older generation that rose to some prominence during the sexual revolution of the 1960s, which followed the Second Vatican Council’s unprecedented reforms. Their mouthpiece, Call to Action, was founded in Chicago by Dan and Sheila Daley, a priest and nun who abandoned their vows and got married.
One priest, the conservative Rev. Anthony Branklin, characterizes Call to Action as “aging feminist nuns and their hangers-on clerics,” but evidently some younger female lay Catholics – probably feminists – are involved as well.
Although dissent in any large organization is unavoidable, as is a certain degree of heresy and apostasy in large religions, the United States offers a solution to all who are tired of their church: start a new one. There are hundreds – if not thousands – of variations on Christianity in the US, and there would be no bar to liberal Catholics starting their own offshoot, as some conservative Catholics have done. If they please, they can even set up a giant pink unicorn and have followers worship it — there are no restrictions so long as they do not commit crimes.
The problem for them, however, is that they want to keep the wealth and congregants and have their way with them rather than going through the trouble of convincing people that a feminist church is better than the traditional one. Perhaps they have seen the example of the Episcopalian Church in the US, which has withered on the vine following its adoption of liberal, anti-scripture values, and want to make sure they can seize the money and property before the flock inevitably disperses and heads for more Christian churches, or stops attending church at all.
The problem with churches that deviate from scripture and orthodoxy is that they seldom last many generations before they are abandoned. This is because they are built on hypocrisy rather than a solid foundation. When children raised in the church are told that the church is originally based on scripture that has no meaning in its contemporary incarnation, they wonder as adults: what’s the point of even attending if it’s all based on a falsehood?
Attempts to change very old traditions to suit temporary trends are often simply self-indulgent efforts on the part of people who can’t let go of their traditions, and then try to pick and choose those that suit them personally. If they get their way, they can and will wreck institutions simply to feel more comfortable about themselves and their lifestyles.
