San Diego, Calif., Mar 31, 2011 / 01:55 am (CNA).- A former
advocate of women's ordination, who later renounced her attempt to be ordained
as a deacon and declared her adherence to Church teaching, announced on March
25 that she has been fully reconciled with the Church following a decree from
the Vatican.
“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has lifted
any canonical sanctions that I incurred by attempting ordination as a deacon,”
wrote Dr. Norma Jean Coon, in an online update to an earlier letter in which
she acknowledged that her actions had resulted in excommunication.
Dr. Coon said the bishop of her diocese, Bishop Robert H.
Brom of San Diego , had written to
inform her of the Vatican congregation's decision that
she “may now return to the full practice of our Catholic faith.” Under new
rules established in July 2010, attempts to ordain women now fall under the
jurisdiction of the doctrinal office, along with other offenses against the
priesthood and sacraments.
“I have been very touched at the remarkable support of my
actions and the prayers offered in my behalf during this trying time,” said
Coon. “I wish to thank all those who have prayed for me and for my family.”
On July 22, 2007 ,
Coon participated in an attempted ordination to the diaconate. The event was
led by Patricia Fresen, a former Dominican sister from South
Africa who claims to have been consecrated
as a bishop.
The Catholic Church holds that Fresen – who has been excommunicated
– is not a bishop, and that her attempts to ordain other women or men have no
sacramental validity.
In her earlier letter renouncing her “alleged ordination” to
the diaconate, Coon said she acknowledged “the authority of the Holy Father on
these issues of ordination,” including the judgment that Pope John Paul II
confirmed in his encyclical “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.”
In that encyclical, the Pope declared that “the Church has
no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women,” and stated
that this judgment was to be “definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
Coon had previously sought to become a priest through a
program offered by Fresen's group. But she reconsidered soon after
participating in one of the organization's liturgies. “I withdrew from the
program within two weeks of the ceremony,” she recounted, “because I realized I
had made a mistake in studying for the priesthood.”
Although the attempt to ordain women has no sacramental
effect, it is a serious offense from the perspective of moral theology and
canon law.
The Church regards a simulated ordination, and any
subsequent action in which a non-ordained person acts as a member of the
clergy, as a form of sacrilege.
Other Blog Posts on this issue: The Hermeneutic of Continuity Blog
Thank God for her humility and courage. The Catholic Priesthood is not something to be played around with. It is a Sacred Vocation for men alone and always will be that way. Let us pray for more people to return to the Truth.
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