An Imperfect Institution

To stand for what you believe in, especially when facing opposition from a major, universal institution, one must have unyielding courage, and Reverend Tony Flannery has just that.

Rev. Flannery, an Irish priest, disagrees with the Church teachings which condemn contraception and the "practice" of homosexuality, and believes that the women should have the right to be ordained. Because of these beliefs, he has been removed from the Vatican and is only allowed return to the ministry if he constructs a document, signs and publishes it, discrediting his beliefs. Stating that he will do no such thing, Rev. Flannery has planned to discuss the subject with the public.

In response, the Vatican's doctrinal office wrote to Rev. Flannery's religious superior telling him to remove him from his ministry and to make sure he no longer writes and publishes any more of his publications, and to order him not accept interviews to the media, while also directly threatening Rev. Flannery with excommunication.

After reading this article, I experienced two opposite emotions, surprise and expectation. I was first surprised when I read the title of the article, "Priest Is Planning to Defy the Vatican's Orders to Stay Quiet", for you don't see those words all in the same sentence everyday. Then, the further I read into the article, I experienced expectation, the expectation that the Church has very "religiously" held onto: being afraid and slow to change.

Rev. Flannery has stated his beliefs on subjects that the Church entirely disagrees with: women are not to be ordained like men, contraception is a sin, as well as practicing in the "sinful acts" of homosexuality. Honestly, I agree with his beliefs. With overpopulation becoming a very current and pressing issue, contraception seems to be a common and safe answer to turn to within the sexually active community. Homosexuality, too, is becoming more and more excepted among younger generations around the world, especially amount the Western-European, and Western-European influenced countries, who largely see no moral wrong with same-sex relationships. And with the subject of female ordination, I see no wrong. Are women not as capable as men at communicating the beliefs of the many to such believers? If not, then why not? I just think that the Church, especially under the more conservative rule of Pope Benedict XVI, is simply just "out of date", living by the written beliefs of 2,000 year-old, chauvinistic, Israeli men. I mean, why does the Church pick which doctrines it chooses to follow, even though all of them can be found in the Bible? Women can't be ordained, contraception can't be practiced, and acts of homosexuality are sins, yet we can wear more than one type of clothing, allow women to speak during a service, have tattoos, and be rape victims, all of which are either sins or punishable by death according to the Bible, all the while saying that it's "okay" to have slaves?

I commend Rev. Flannery for standing up for what he believes in and not succumbing to the opposition of the Church. If anything, he has sped up the process of the Church's eventual change in its doctrines and set a precedent for others, while also showing the Church that it's not always right. And you know what, that's totally understandable. The Church is an institution created by humans, imperfect creatures who strive for perfection. So naturally, the Church too is imperfect. Humanity as a whole still has a long way to go, and it's people like Rev. Flannery, with their unwavering courage, who are leading the way.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/world/europe/priest-is-planning-to-defy-vaticans-orders-to-stay-quiet.html?_r=0