Fr Roy Bourgeois 1938 Leo R Sandy Roy

Fr. Roy Bourgeois 1938 - Leo R. Sandy

� Roy Bourgeois (born January 27, 1938 in Lutcher, Louisiana) is an American activist, a laicized Roman Catholic priest, and the founder of the human rights group School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) � He is the 1994 recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award and the 2011 recipient of the American Peace Award and also has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

� Ordained to the priesthood in 1972 in the Roman Catholic Church's Maryknoll society of apostolic life's Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (The Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America), Bourgeois was canonically dismissed forty years later, on October 4, 2012, from both the Maryknolls and the priesthood, because of his participation on August 9, 2008, in what was, according to the Roman Catholic Church, considered an invalid ordination of a woman and "a simulated Mass" in Lexington, Kentucky

� Bourgeois was born in Lutcher, Louisiana. He grew up in a Catholic working-class family, and attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in geology � After graduation, Bourgeois entered the United States Navy and served as an officer four years. He spent two years at sea, one year at a station in Europe, and two tours of duty during one year in Vietnam, during the first of which he was injured and received the Purple Heart

� After military service, he entered the Maryknoll Society in 1966; then entered the seminary of the Catholic missionary society of Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Glen Ellyn, (Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America), and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1972 � 1972– 1975 Fr. Bourgeois began the work of his priesthood in La Paz, Bolivia aiding the poor. In 1975 he was accused of, and was arrested for, attempting to overthrow Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer, a 1958 graduate of the School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, in Columbus, Georgia. Bourgeois was eventually deported from Bolivia and returned to the United States

� 1980 Fr. Bourgeois moved to a Catholic Worker house in Chicago where he continued his work with the poor. He became an outspoken critic of US foreign policy in Latin America after four American churchwomen were (three of them nuns, and two of them personal friends of Bourgeois) were brutally raped and murdered by a death squad consisting of soldiers from the Salvadoran National Guard, some of whom had been trained at the SOA/WHINSEC at Ft. Benning in Georgia

� 1989 Fr. Bourgeois's criticism of US foreign policy in Latin America intensified on November 16, 1989 when six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and the housekeeper's daughter were massacred on the campus of Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" (UCA) in Salvador, El Salvador � Armed men in uniform burst into their shared residence and indiscriminately gunned-down everyone within. The massacre was performed by the Atlacatl Battalion, an elite unit of the Salvadoran Army, and a rapid-response, counter-insurgency battalion created in 1980 at SOA/WHINSEC

� 1990 Fr. Bourgeois founded the School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), a not-for-profit organization that seeks to close the SOA (since 2000 known as WHINSEC) and to change U. S. foreign policy in Latin America by educating the public, lobbying Congress and participating in creative, nonviolent resistance such as demonstrations and nonviolent protest � The SOA/WHINSEC has long maintained that it does not teach tactics that can be used on civilians but, rather, simply sharpens the military skills of soldiers from participating countries. Its website says it "provides professional education and training for civilian, military and law enforcement students

� SOA Watch claims its work caused the Pentagon to respond to the growing anti-SOA movement with a PR campaign to give the SOA a new image � "In an attempt to disassociate the school with its horrific past, " the SOA Watch website claims, "the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in January of 2001” (old product in new package? ) � 1998 Fr. Bourgeois testified before a Spanish judge seeking the extradition of Chile's ex-dictator General Augusto Pinochet

� 2008 In August 2008, in keeping with his belief that women should be ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood, Fr. Bourgeois was a celebrant in, and delivered the homily at the ordination ceremony of Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a member of Womenpriests, at a Unitarian Universalist church in Lexington, Kentucky � 2011 Bourgeois was briefly detained by police at the Vatican on October 17, when he tried to deliver a petition to the Holy See with a number of women priests, who were dressed in their liturgical garments

� 2012 Bourgeois was part of a panel discussion at the New York premiere of the documentary Pink Smoke Over the Vatican. The film features activists for women’s ordination in the Catholic Church, and included clips of an interview with him � Bourgeois has spent over four years in federal prisons for nonviolent protests, including entering Fort Benning. He and more than 240 peace activists have been tried and jailed for peacefully demonstrating at the gates of the SOA/WHINSEC

� The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree in May 2008 formally declaring that a woman who attempts to be ordained a Catholic priest, and the persons attempting to ordain her, are automatically excommunicated � Three months later Fr. Bourgeois was a celebrant in, and delivered the homily during the ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska under the auspices of the group Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which rejects the Church's teaching on the all-male priesthood

� The ceremony was not recognized by the Vatican; and its May 2008 declaration meant that Bourgeois was excommunicated latae sententiae � Bourgeois received a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which explained what the letter called his "errors" along with "a genuine concern for his salvation � It gave him 30 days from October 21, 2008 to recant his "belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or (he) will be excommunicated. " Bourgeois refused; and so was excommunicated latae sententiae on November 24, 2008

� For the next nearly four years Bourgeois continued to both act and be recognized as a priest, while he and Dominican Fr. Tom Doyle, a canon lawyer acting on Bourgeois' behalf, asked for discussions and negotiatations on the matter with the Maryknoll Society and, through it, the Holy See � On May 22, 1994, Pope John Paul II released an apostolic letter, addressed to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, entitled "On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis), " which closes as follows:

� Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22: 32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful

� "Arguments against this clear and authoritative teaching, " wrote Keith Fournier on Catholic Online, "sometimes come from people who do not understand that the priesthood is not a job and have succumbed to the 'rights' mentality of the current age. Other times they come from people who have no understanding of the sacramental nature of the Church. Both groups may include among them Catholics who, as in too many other areas of doctrine, have not been properly catechized” � Holding that the Roman Catholic church has no authority to ordain women, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the church's ban on women priests at the Vatican's 2012 Holy Thursday chrism Mass

� On March 18, 2011, Fr. Bourgeois was given a letter from Fr. Edward M. Dougherty, Maryknoll's Superior General, and Edward J. Mc. Govern, its Secretary General, warning Bourgeois that he had 15 days to recant his support for women's ordination or he would face expulsion from the society. Bourgeois responded in a letter dated April 8, 2011, stating that he could not recant without betraying his conscience � On July 22, 2011, 157 Catholic priests signed a letter, addressed to Dougherty, in support of Bourgeois's priesthood and work, and his right to conscience

� While the letter did not specifically address the issue of women's ordination, it did indicate the signees' support of the right of priests to speak from conscience without being in danger of sanction � Following his refusal to recant, the society issued Bourgeois a second canonical warning; the final notice of pending removal from the Maryknoll Society, on July 27, 2011. In his August 8, 2011 letter of response, Bourgeois wrote, in part

� I believe that our Church's teaching that excludes women from the priesthood defies both faith and reason and cannot stand up to scrutiny. This teaching has nothing to do with God, but with men, and is rooted in sexism. Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard we may try to justify discrimination against women, in the end, it is not the way of God, but of men who want to hold on to their power. As people of faith we believe in the primacy of conscience. Our conscience connects us to the Divine. Our conscience gives us a sense of right and wrong and urges us to do what is right, what is just. What you are asking me to do in your letter is not possible without betraying my conscience. In essence, you are telling me to lie and say I do not believe that God calls both men and women to the priesthood. This I cannot do, therefore I will not recant. I firmly believe that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women, against our Church, and against our God

� On August 16, 2011, Bourgeois's canon lawyer Fr. Thomas Doyle wrote a letter to the Maryknoll Society asking that "reputable theologians" be brought in to examine the case "in order to look much more deeply" into two central issues: the church's claim that the teaching on women's ordination is infallible, and the right of a Catholic "to act and think according to the dictates of his conscience" even if the conclusions put one in conflict with the church's highest authorities � In February 2012, Maryknoll's U. S. regional superior, Fr. Mike Duggan, told both Bourgeois and Doyle, over the phone, that the order's general council, which consists of its superior general and three assistant generals, would be voting, in March 2012, on whether to dismiss Bourgeois from the Maryknoll Society

� In March 2012, the four-person general council met to vote, but because canon law mandates that at least five people must vote on issues of dismissal from religious orders, Duggan had told Doyle that an unnamed fifth person from the order had been brought in to join the general council in the vote � The Maryknoll Society's official statement about the vote was that it was a split decision, with no clear outcome. However, both Bourgeois and Doyle said, after the vote, that Duggan told them that only two of the five general council members voted for Bourgeois's dismissal, while three abstained

� The general council then sent a letter to the Vatican containing the results of the vote � On June 6, 2012 Bourgeois and Doyle met with Dougherty and a mediator at the society's headquarters in New York. Bourgeois and Doyle said no mention was made of the dismissal vote; and Bourgeois added that the two-hour meeting focused on the issue of conscience and "the importance of people of faith and members of Maryknoll to be able to speak openly and freely without fear. . . of being dismissed or excommunicated. " Doyle said the outcome of the meeting was "far different than we expected and far more positive”

� On Monday, November 19, 2012, the Maryknoll Society's Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers issued an official statement indicating that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had ruled, on October 4, 2012, that Bourgeois had been canonically dismissed from both the Maryknolls, and the Roman Catholic priesthood, thereby laicizing him � Mr. Bourgeois chose to campaign against the teachings of the Catholic Church in secular and non-Catholic venues. This was done without the permission of the local U. S. Catholic Bishops and while ignoring the sensitivities of the faithful across the country. Disobedience and preaching against the teaching of the Catholic Church about women’s ordination led to his excommunication, dismissal and laicization

� In response, Bourgeois issued the following official statement: � …As Catholics, we profess that God created men and women of equal worth and dignity. As priests, we profess that the call to the priesthood comes from God, only God. Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God's call to women is not? The exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women, our Church and our loving God who calls both men and women to be priests. When there is an injustice, silence is the voice of complicity. My conscience compelled me to break my silence and address the sin of sexism in my Church. My only regret is that it took me so long to confront the issue of male power and domination in the Catholic Church…

� In its December 3, 2012 editorial column, the National Catholic Reporter stated that "the call to priesthood is a gift from God, " and came out unequivocally in support of Roy Bourgeois and his campaign in support of women's ordination to the Catholic priesthood � On April 24, 2015 Bourgeois and three others were arrested for an unlawful entry charge at the El Salvador embassy

Awards Gandhi Peace Award (1994) � Franciscan Peacemaker of the Year Award (1996) Pax � Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award (1997) � Adela Dwyer/St. Thomas of Villanova Peace Award, Villanova University (1998) � Isaac Hecker Award for Social Justice, Paulist Center, Boston (1999) � Aachen Peace Prize (2005) � Thomas Merton Award (2005) � Annunciation House Voice of the Voiceless Award (2008) � Voice of the Faithful Priest of Integrity Award (2009) � Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with School of the Americas Watch (2010) � American Peace Award (2011 �

Awards cont’d Episcopal Peace Fellowship Passion For Peace Award (2011) � Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree, Chicago Theological Seminary (2012) � Dignity USA Risk Taker and Justice Maker Award (2013) � Veteran's For Peace Leadership In Peace Award (2014) � Wade Mackie Peacemaking Award (2014) � Peace House Annual Peacemaker Award (2016) �

Web Page �http: //roybourgeoisjourney. org/

School of Assassins �Interview

Quotes In Latin America, anyone who works with the poor and oppressed is an insurgent, a communist. If I were doing the same thing in China, they wouldn't call me a communist It is important to note that when Mary Magdalene and other women were chosen by Jesus to bring the important news to the men, the men did not believe the women. Today 2, 000 years later men still don't believe women when they say "We are also chosen by Jesus to be leaders in the church

Videos �End All Torture �On Women’s Ordination �Fr. Roy: Inside the School of Assassins

References � Roy Bourgeois. Retrieved from https: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Roy_Bourgeois � Fr. Roy Bourgeois. Retrieved from http: //www. doonething. org/heroes/pages-b/bourgeoisquotes. htm � Roy Bourgeois Quotes. Retrieved from https: //www. goodreads. com/author/quotes/523827. R oy_Bourgeois

References cont’d � Fr. Roy Bourgeois. End All Torture. Retrieved from https: //video. search. yahoo. com/yhs/search? fr=yh s-sz-001&hsimp=yhs 001&hspart=sz&p=Fr. +Roy+Bourgeois+youtube #id=3&vid=2 a 71 abda 981361 c 7 fc 8 fea 7 f 38 d 9 ae 6 1&action=click

References cont’d �Roy Bourgeois on The Ordination of Women. Retrieved from https: //video. search. yahoo. com/yhs/search? fr =yhs-sz-001&hsimp=yhs 001&hspart=sz&p=Fr. +Roy+Bourgeois+youtu be#id=9&vid=9 b 08 bba 98 eecc 44008 ff 8 e 92 efb d 8242&action=view

References cont’d �Fr. Roy: Inside the School of Assassins. Retrieved from https: //video. search. yahoo. com/yhs/search ? fr=yhs-sz-001&hsimp=yhs 001&hspart=sz&p=Fr. +Roy+Bourgeois+yo utube#id=40&vid=4 f 477533 f 758 e 0 fb 942 dc e 709481 a 04 c&action=view

References cont’d �School of the Americas: School of Assassins. Retrieved from http: //www. informationclearinghouse. info/a rticle 13436. htm

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