Catholic Church Stands Firm, No Women Priests

There were a lot of articles that caught my eye in today's New York Times. I perused stories about space plumbers, the skeletons of three siblings found in their sister's home, "Tuba Man," and an earthquake drill in California - all were extremely interesting, but there was one other article that stood out most to me. "Catholic Priest Faces Excommunication" immediately drew me in. I'm a Catholic, and my uncle is a priest, so I wanted to hear more. Excommunication is fairly rare and very serious, so I wondered what this priest had done to face such a severe punishment.

The article began with a basic news summary lead. It then addressed several main points:

• what the priest, Rev. Roy Bourgeois, did to merit excommunication (he participated in the ordination of a woman as priest, a practice illegal in the church)
• how he feels about this (he is very upset, but said he "could not disavow his actions")
• the background of the priest (he has been a member of the Maryknoll religious order for 36 years and has also served as a missionary in Bolivia and El Salvador)
  
• other women have claimed ordination in the past (this woman was the 35th American woman to claim ordination; she's a part of a group called the Roman Catholic Womenpriests)
• what excommunication means (it is "the most severe ecclesiastical penalty," and the person is forbidden to receive or administer sacraments)
• what will happen now (the priest said he will try to appeal the Vatican's decision)
  

The story tied these points together in a linear way, so that it began at point A and ended at point F, in this case. Their order was very logical and made it easy for the reader to follow and understand the gravity of the situation.

I had no idea that any women were claiming to be ordained as Catholic priests before I read this article. I think this is incredibly interesting. The fact that there is even an organization for these women kind of astounds me. Personally, I agree with the priest in this story that women should have the right to be a priest if they want to. I think the fact that he stood up for his beliefs, even though it will likely cost him his priesthood, is noble. The Vatican gave him the option of formally recanting what he did, but he decided to stick with what he thinks is right.

I wonder what Rev. Bourgeois will do in the future, after he is excommunicated (if his appeal does not work). He has spent over half of his life in the church, and it will be a huge change to leave it. This article definitely lived up to my expectations, and after reading it I feel like I have actually learned a lot about my religion.