An Australian Catholic priest Fr Greg Reynolds (60) has been excommunicated by Pope Francis
because of his views on women priests.
It is understood to be the first
excommunication of any kind to take place under this Pope since he
assumed office last March.
In a letter the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart said “the decision by Pope Francis to dismiss Fr Reynolds
from the clerical state and to declare his automatic excommunication
has been made because of his public teaching on the ordination of women
contrary to the teaching of the Church and his public celebration of the
Eucharist when he did not hold faculties to act publicly as a priest.”
Fr Reynolds told the US National Catholic Reporter (NCR) website he believed the excommunication also resulted from his support for the gay community. He told NCR
that in the last two years, he has attended rallies in Melbourne
advocating same-sex marriage and has officiated at mass weddings of gay
couples on the steps of Parliament, “all unofficial of course.”
He continued, concerning Pope Francis, “I am
very surprised that this order has come under his watch; it seems so
inconsistent with everything else he has said and done.”
A letter from Archbishop Hart
to the other priests in the archdiocese explained that Fr Reynolds’
excommunication was “because of his public teaching on the ordination
of women.”
Ordaining, supporting, or becoming a female priest has been
explicitly grounds for automatic excommunication since at least 2008,
following a declaration by Pope Benedict.
Pope Francis has repeatedly stated that his beliefs on the subject are aligned with that declaration.
He did not address the issue in his interview last week with Jesuit publications.
In
November 2010 Australian media reported that Fr Reynolds had devoted
his homily at three parishes over a weekend the previous September to
proclaiming it was God’s will to include women in the priesthood and
said denying women the right equalled “obstructing the work of the Holy
Spirit.”.
In August 2011 Fr Reynolds resigned his
position as pastor of two rural parishes and Archbishop Hart
subsequently removed his priestly faculties.
Fr Reynolds went on to
found Inclusive Catholics as a way “to minister to and with Catholic
people who share” his beliefs on women’s ordination and homosexuality,
according to the Inclusive Catholics website. He also continued to say
Masses and celebrate the Eucharist.
In August
2012 he he was involved in controversy when it was reported in
Australian media that a dog had received Communion at a recent service.
Fr Reynolds said at the time he was not aware of the incident with the
dog during the liturgy and only learned of it later.
In
a letter of August 10th 2012 Archbishop Hart wrote to him saying “as
your statements and actions are inconsistent of your resignation from
active priestly ministry and the consequent suspension of your faculties
to act publicly as a priest, I am forced to warn you that if this
stance continues, I will be forced to take further canonical action for
the good of the Church.”
The following month,
September 2012, Archbishop Hart said he would initiate canon law
proceedings against Reynolds for his dismissal from the clerical state.
However the Archdoicese has since said this did not happen but that
unknown people had contacted the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith (CDF), which then requested Fr Reynolds’ file from
Archbishop Hart.
The excommunication letter from the CDF, dated May
31st but not presented to Fr Reynolds until September 18th last,
accused him of heresy and determined he had incurred latae sententiae (automatic)
excommunication for throwing away the consecrated host or retaining it
“for a sacrilegious purpose.”
It also referred to his speaking publicly
against church teaching.
It read “Pope Francis,
Supreme Pontiff having heard the presentation of this Congregation
concerning the grave reason for action ... of [Fr Greg Reynolds] of the
Archdiocese of Melbourne, all the preceding actions to be taken having
been followed, with a final and unappealable decision and subject to no
recourse, has decreed dismissal from the clerical state is to be imposed
on said priest for the good of the Church,” and was signed by
Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect for the CDF.
In an impromptu press conference on July 28th last, aboard the papal plane on his return to Rome from World Youth Day in Brazil, Pope Francis said, “on the ordination of women, the Church has spoken and said no.
Pope John Paul II, in a definitive formulation, said that door is closed.”