UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 20, 2012
The circumstances surrounding the Vatican’s removal of longtime peace activist and priest Roy Bourgeois from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers are unclear, several canon lawyers say.
Additionally, it is ambiguous under what authority the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was able to dismiss the priest, the lawyers say.
Bourgeois, a member of Maryknoll for 45 years who had come under scrutiny for his support of women’s ordination, was dismissed from the order by the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation in October, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers announced in a press release Monday.
Central questions about the dismissal include whether Bourgeois was dismissed both from the order and the priesthood; if there are any options for appeal; and why his dismissal came from the doctrinal congregation and not the Vatican congregation that deals with religious orders.
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