Conscience and Excommunication:
Sometimes a Dilemma
On Aug. 9, 2008, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest for 36 years, preached the homily at an ordination Mass for a women priest in Lexington, Ky. On Oct. 21, 2008, Fr. Bourgeois was given 30 days to recant his position on women’s ordination or suffer the ultimate penalty of excommunication.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) issued this threat although Fr. Bourgeois was in good standing as a priest and has for 19 years exemplified Catholic support for social justice by organizing an annual protest against the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas, which reportedly teaches terror and torture tactics to military of other nations.
Fr. Bourgeois responded two weeks later, in a letter to the Vatican, that he believes his position to be a matter of justice and of conscience and cannot change it. He also traveled to Italy in an effort to meet and discuss his situation with officials there.
The study package below includes the VOTF response to the excommunication charge, materials for examining the Church’s teachings about conscience, and brief citations of Canon Law.
They are suitable for use in personal reviews or – even better – as a VOTF-led discussion group at your affiliate or in your parish.
VOTF letter to papal nuncio
VOTF press release
Excerpts from Catholic Catechism
Canon Law briefs
Fr. Bourgeois letter to Rome
Two other excommunications
Collaborative study tips
Questions for Study Session
