Women Priests and Pedophilia are the same?

News today from Vatican City: “The Vatican issued revisions to its internal laws on Thursday making it easier to discipline sex-abuser priests, but caused confusion by also stating that ordaining women as priests was as grave an offense as pedophilia.” (From the New York Times)

Let’s see. Pedophilia causes lifelong damage to its victims and (when it is perpetrated by priests) often destroys the victim’s ability to relate to God. When God’s representative abuses you, faith in God is sometimes a problem.

Now to women. According to the tradition, a woman gave birth to the body of Christ. (Remember? Mary, Bethlehem, angels, shepherds, manger). Now it’s a problem when a woman stands before a gathering of God’s people and presides at a celebration of the Body of Christ. And this is associated with pedophilia?

We had a Reformation for a reason. If you are interested in a faith where women are celebrated and celebrate the Eucharist, and where it is an abomination to equate that with pedophilia, then we are here for you.

The Rev. John Paddock