French woman invalidly ordained as ‘priest’

Lyon, France, Jul 4, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A French woman who invalidly had herself ‘ordained’ as a Catholic priest on Saturday, is now facing automatic excommunication for her actions, which fall squarely in opposition to Church teaching.

During a small ceremony held on a boat, Genevieve Beney, joined by other so-called female priests and bishops, pronounced herself a Catholic priest calling it a stand against the “obsolete” and “unjust” practice of the Church to ordain only men as priests.

In a statement read before boarding the boat, Beney said, "This is not a rupture with the Roman Catholic Church…If there is a rupture on my part, it is with a situation that I consider to be obsolete and unjust to women."

She added in an earlier interview that, "We consider ourselves Catholic…But we do not agree with the church law ... that says only a baptized male can be ordained as a priest."

Lyon’s Archbishop, Philippe Barbarin, implored Beney earlier in the week not to follow through with the “ordination” saying that it would “constitute a serious act of rupture in respect to the Catholic Church."

"There will be no truth to the words that will be pronounced," Barbarin added. "For many Catholics, this will be a source of useless injury and suffering."

Although many questions have been raised about Church action against Beney, Vincent Feroldi, a spokesman for the Archbishop said that no decree of excommunication would necessary in a technical sense, because of the fundamental violation of Church law Beney’s actions constitute.

The violation makes her automatically incapable of receiving the sacraments, he said.

Beney is also married, which many say, simply adds insult to injury in her disregard for Church teaching, as he Roman Catholic Church asks men who become priests to remain celibate.