Mary Alice Nolan
Mary Alice Nolan is planning to be “ordained” a “Roman Catholic” priest by a female bishop in October, even though it means she will be excommunicated – a punishment she says will be very upsetting to her. So why is she doing this?
The Marin Independent Journal is reporting on the story of the 64 year-old nurse who is planning to be “ordained” by a female bishop affiliated with the dissident group, Roman Catholic Womenpriests, next month.
When asked by a reporter why she wants to be a priest, Nolan said, “I want to start using inclusive language. When I say Mass, I want to invite everyone to the table. . . . I just thought instead of complaining about the lack of women leadership in the church, I would do something about it. So I’ve decided to take action to make a change.”
A nurse who specializes in end-of-life care, she’s hoping her “ordination” will now allow her to anoint the sick and “do their funerals.”
But this means automatic excommunication, the reporter reminded. How does she feel about that?
“It makes me very upset. It makes me very sad,” she replied, then added: “It’s an unjust punishment for an unjust law. It’s breaking canon law but ex-communication is an unjust punishment for wanting to serve people and it’s a shame actually.”
The shame in all of this is not that she’ll be excommunicated for violating the laws of the Church, but that she’s willing to forfeit reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ for the rest of her life just for the sake of “wanting to do something about the lack of women leadership in the Church.”
It’s hard to believe that she couldn’t find a better way to serve others in a Church founded by a God who allowed the salvation of the world to hinge upon the fiat of a woman, whose theologians refer to women as being the “archetype of mankind” and believe it is only women who can “save the peace of the world.” This is hardly a job description for second class citizens.
This same Church exalts the “feminine genius” and the unique qualities of womanhood like no other denomination on earth. Yes, her history is ripe with eras of gross discrimination against women, but we must remember what St. John Paul II taught about this sad circumstance: “When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation and domination, the Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ himself.”
In other words, men in the Church have made mistakes about the role of women, but the God who founded this Church did not. He knows exactly who we are – creatures who were created in His image – which means there’s not an inferior bone in our bodies. So if women aren’t permitted to be priests, this has nothing to do with us being less suited than men but everything to do with remaining faithful to our essential nature.
If Nolan wants to make a stand, why not make it on these eternal truths? Become a part of its transformation by being true to our authentic femininity rather than going back to the 1960’s when women thought the only way they could achieve “equality” was to take on traditional male roles? Don’t we know better now?
In an open letter to Mary Alice Nolan, Catholic writer Patti Maguire Armstrong encourages her to look to Mother Teresa as an example of how powerfully women can serve society without betraying their own essential nature – or the laws of the Church.
“You say that you want to minister to the dying. Mother Teresa—now St. Teresa of Kolkata–shared those ambitions,” Armstrong writes.
“Mother Teresa won countless awards including a Nobel Peace Prize. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, which now has almost 5,000 nuns, 430 brothers in addition to lay missionaries and priests that all combined operate 600 missions, schools, and shelters in over 120 countries.”
She goes on to advise: “Mary Alice, follow her example and work with the Church instead of against it.”
After all, as she correctly points out, “You will not be a priest. You will also not be a Catholic. So realize, Mary Alice, just like putting on a nurse’s uniform does not make someone a nurse, if you dress up in a clerical Roman collar, it will be like wearing a Halloween costume or dressing up like a rodeo clown—all pretend.”
Instead, she should take to heart the words of St. Teresa who once told an Indian journalist: “Nobody can be a better priest than Our Lady, and she remained only the handmaiden of the Lord.”
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
