Whether Maryknoll priest Fr. Roy Bourgeois has been excommunicated or not remains a mystery. As I wrote here, the Vatican told him to recant for supporting women’s ordination–and attending one last July–and at last word he had gone to Rome to plead his cause.
Catholic World News and National Catholic Register think it’s a done deal.
The blowback certainly hasn’t died down, and today more than 100 nuns from 22 religious congregations released a letter to the Vatican protesting the threatened excommunication of Bourgeois. The letter was organized by the National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN).
The nuns’ statement said they “join Fr. Roy Bourgeois and the majority of U.S. Catholics, who believe that women are called to priestly ordination in the Catholic Church.” They “look forward to the day when Catholic women, following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, who announced the Resurrection to the male Apostles, will minister as full equals in our church.”
“In the first century, Christians resolved their disagreements about following traditions such as circumcision and kosher dietary laws by dialogue and discussion,” said Sister Beth Rindler, in other comments released by NCAN. “We need to follow their example by promoting public discussion about the ordination of women,” the Franciscan Sister said.
“We hope the excommunication is not issued,” added Dominican Sister Donna Quinn, one of the coordinators of NCAN. “The medieval punishment of excommunication serves only to embarrass our Church in the eyes of the world and fuels further anger and resentment among the U.S. faithful.”
Read the full text and list of signatories below…

December 12, 2008
Cardinal William Joseph Levada
Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio 11
00193 Roma, Italy
Dear Cardinal Levada:
The Vatican’s threatened excommunication of Fr. Roy Bourgeois because of his belief in the priestly ordination of women has diminished our Church.
As women religious who love our Church and who have served the People of God for decades, we support our brother Roy. As a Maryknoll priest for 36 years, he has followed the Gospel of Jesus in his ministry for peace and justice by speaking out against the war in Iraq and against the torture of countless human beings, aided and abetted by the U.S. government’s School of the Americas. He has been a prophetic voice for thousands in our society.
Roy is now a prophetic voice in our church because of his support for women’s equality in all Church ministries. Excommunications depend not on edicts or laws, but on compliance. We do not believe Roy is outside the community and we embrace him wholeheartedly. Like Roy, we know women who testify that they are called to priesthood. We know that Jesus did not discriminate in calling both women and men to ministry. And we know that our church needs the gifts of everyone called.
So we join Fr. Roy Bourgeois and the majority of U.S. Catholics, who believe that women are called to priestly ordination in the Catholic Church. We look forward to the day when Catholic women, following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene who announced the Resurrection to the male Apostles, will minister as full equals in our church.
Sincerely,
Jean Ackerman, OP
Louise Akers, SC
Alice Baker, IHM
Barbara Battista, SP
Barbara Beesley, IHM
Marlene Bertke, OSB
Ruth Bockenstette, SC
Mary A. Bodde, SC
Mary E. Boesen, SL
Mary Ellen Brody, RSM
Julie Brown, RSM
Mary Peter Bruce, SL
Jeri Cashman, OP
Joan Chicoine, IHM
Joan Chittister, OSB
Benita Coffey, OSB
Carol Coston, OP
Mary Ann Coyle, SL
Mary Ann Cunningham, SL
Beth Davies, CND
Marie Cyril Delisi, IHM
Kathleen Desautels, SP
Jo Ann Dold, OP
Maria S. Dowhaniuk, SFCC
Suzanne Dunn, SFCC
Gwen Farry, BVM
Maureen Fenlon, OP
Sheila Ferraz, SC
Maureen Fiedler, SL
Mary Kay Finneran, SC
Arlene Flaherty, OP
Victoria Marie Forde, SC
Susan Fortier, OSB
Ivone Gebara, CND
Rita Clare Gerardot, SP
Marian Gibbons, OP
Joan Glisky, IHM
Paula Gonzalez, SC
Jeannine Gramick, SL
Joan Groff, SC
Katrinka Gunn, SC
Patricia A. Haire, CSJ
Ann Halloran, OP
Doris Hamerl, CSC
Mary Harvey, RSM
Eileen Haugh, OSF
Joan Henehan, CSJ
Grace A. Hogan, OP
Margaret Hughes, IHM
Ruth Hunt, SC
Marion Irvine, OP
Florence Izzo, SC
Therese Jilk, OSF
Deidre G. Jordy, SP
Elizabeth Joyce, SP
Theresa Kane, RSM
Connie Kelly, SC
Esther Kennedy, OP
Betty Kenny, OSF
Pamela S. Kobasic, IHM
Kathy Komarek, OP
Anna Koop, SL
Linda Kors, CSC
Janet Kramer, SOSF
Marie LaBollita, SC
Cita Lamb, SND
Jean Ann Ledwell, OSU
Janet Lemon, IHM
Rose Annette Liddell, SL
Denise Lonergan, SFCC
Lystra Long, OP
Marian McAvoy, SL
Anne McCarthy, OSB
Kathleen McClelland, RSM
Bridget Mary Meehan, SFCC
Virginia Miller, SP
Mary M. Miner, RSM
Kate Moriarty, RSM
Maureen Murray, RSHM
Patricia Nagle, IHM
Betty Olley, OP
Michele Olley, OP
Madonna Oswald, IHM
Patricia Otillio, RSM
Elizabeth Pardo, IHM
Claudine Picard, RSM
Katharine Pinto, SC
Helen Marie Plourde, SSND
Marie-Anne Quenneville, OSU
Meg Quinlan, RSM
Donna Quinn, OP
Susan Rakoczy IHM
Diane Rapozo, BVM
Marie Regine Redig, SSND
Roberta Richmond, IHM
Carol L. Ries, SNJM
Marie Romejko, SND
Dolores Russo, SCH
Christine Seghetti, RSM
Gerry Sellman, SCMM
Ann Shaw, CSC
Maureen Sinnott, OSF
Julie Slowik, IHM
Rita Specht, RSM
Florence Speth, SC
Mary Sugrue, SC
Lenore Sullivan, IBVM
Maureen Tobin, OSB
Susan Vickers, RSM
Jacquie Wetherholt, CSJ
Rebecca White, OSU
Alice Zachmann, SSND
Joanne Marie Zavadsky, SSND