You might think that an organization named for the patron saint of lawyers would have a better sense of what’s legit, and what isn’t.

But then again, maybe not:

The St. Thomas More Society of San Diego has invited “womanpriest” Jane Via to speak at a meeting on Friday, Aug. 3, even though Via is under interdict by San Diego Bishop Robert Brom, who last summer forwarded her case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome for further action, possibly a formal declaration of excommunication. (Via is seen in the photo on the left, in the middle, at her “ordination.” — GK)

The Via invitation has sparked internal discord among members of the St. Thomas More Society of San Diego, with some members objecting that inviting someone in open defiance of ecclesiastical authority is not in keeping with the group’s mission. A special meeting of the society’s board of directors was reportedly scheduled for Monday, July 30, to discuss the matter.

St. Thomas More, patron saint of attorneys, was ordered beheaded by King Henry VIII in 1535 after More refused to accept the king’s claim to be supreme head of the Church of England. “It is in the spirit of St. Thomas More that we strive to practice law in accordance with our Catholic faith, remembering that ‘in Christ Jesus the life-giving law of the Spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death’ (Romans 8:2),” says the web site of the St. Thomas More Society of San Diego.

Last year, the society invited pro-abortion state Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, to speak. Despite his pro-abortion voting record, Vargas persists in calling himself a Catholic. And this is apparently not the first time Via has been invited by the St. Thomas More Society. In 1985, while teaching at the University of San Diego, Via signed a statement challenging Church teaching on abortion published in the New York Times, and then Bishop of San Diego Leo Maher also placed her under interdict. “The Thomas More Society in San Diego had scheduled a speech by Jane Via… but later canceled — by order, she was told, of the bishop of San Diego, acting in response to instructions from Rome to silence her. Via was also told that she would not be able to speak at any public Catholic forum in the diocese until she retracted the statement,” says an article, “Catholics and Abortion: Authority vs. Dissent,” by well-known Church dissident Rosemary Ruether. The article was published on religion-online.org.

Via, 59, has maintained that when Bishop Maher died in 1991, the interdict died along with him.

California Catholic Daily has learned that invitations to Via’s Aug. 3 appearance acknowledged the controversial nature of the event, but asked members of the society to remain courteous and collegial.

Via, a deputy district attorney who also teaches part-time at the University of San Diego, a “Catholic” institution, claims she was ordained a priest on a boat in the St. Lawrence River on July 24, 2006.

Via, openly defying Bishop Brom, currently leads the Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community, which rents space for its meetings at a Methodist church in San Diego. She “celebrated” her first Mass at the community on July 30, 2006. According to the community’s web site, “Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community, founded and convened by a Roman Catholic womanpriest, welcomes all and reaches out to those who are marginalized… We are committed to the full equality of women and men in a transformed Roman Catholic Church and world…”

Of course, her “ordination” means that Via is excommunicated.

What part of “excommunicated” do the good people involved in the St. Thomas More Society not understand?