Rhode Island: Priest inhibited as a result of her conversion to Islam

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Geralyn Wolf of the Diocese of Rhode Island has inhibited the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding for publicly professing her adherence to the Muslim faith.

The notice states that the diocesan “Standing Committee has determined that Dr. Redding abandoned the Communion of the Episcopal Church by formal admission into a religious body not in communion with the Episcopal Church. The bishop has affirmed that determination.”

The inhibition prevents Redding from “exercising the gifts and spiritual authority conferred on her by ordination and from public ministry” and is in force until March 31, 2009. In accordance with Episcopal canons, unless Redding “reclaims” her Christian faith, said Wolf in an interview, the inhibition will automatically lead to a deposition, ending Redding’s priesthood.

“In the process of deposition, we shouldn’t dismiss each other easily,” the bishop said.

According to the “notice of inhibition,” dated September 30 and signed by Wolf, “Dr. Redding has acknowledged taking her Shahadah to become a Muslim.”

Ineffabilis Deus Mater

Pius IX, after consulting all the bishops of the world, issued Ineffabilis Deus on December 8, 1854, declaring the immaculate conception a doctrine revealed by God:

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful." [See here for background; see also Timothy G. McCarthy. The Catholic Tradition: The Church in the Twentieth Century. 2nd Edition. Chicago: Loyola Press, 1998, 373.]

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a profound doctrine. Within it are hidden the foundations and implications of Christian Avataric Non-Dualism.

Christian dogma has no limit. That is, the literal meanings of the dogmas do not exhaust the dogma's meanings. The literal meanings of the dogmas do not exclude additional implications, implications easily dismissed or rejected when only the literal meaning is considered. The dogmas are experimental hypotheses, working definitions, if you will, whose practicality and reality must be tested in the laboratory of one's own body-mind. In fact, to paraphrase the Buddha Shakyamuni, the final origin and end of Christian dogma cannot be seen. Dogma arises, shines, and subsides within the very Heart. The final origin and end of Christian dogma can only be known from, in, and as the very Heart.

A Nice Problem to Have

The speaker was Patricia Fresen, a bishop in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. The day, Nov. 11; the occasion, a jubilant ceremony at a Jewish synagogue, during which Fresen would ordain two women -- the latest of a series of such ceremonies, aimed at helping women to fulfill what they say is their calling: to serve the church as Catholic priests.

Fresen, presider and homilist at the event, is a former Dominican nun of 45 years and a former seminary professor in South Africa. As a native English-speaker, she oversees the movement’s formation program for candidates in English-speaking countries and has quickly become its best-known bishop in the United States.

Though still a small organization, Roman Catholic Womenpriests has grown exponentially since it began just five years ago with the ordination of the so-called Danube Seven -- seven women ordained on a boat on the Danube River in 2002. The growth -- its leading edge in North America -- has surprised some, met expectations of others, and is clearly worrying some members of the church hierarchy.

“We have a lot of new applicants,” Fresen said in an interview the week before the ordinations. “I now have five assistant program coordinators, and we can barely keep up. It has amazed me. We never thought it would take off like this.”

Given the international dimensions of the movement and the increasing frequency of ordinations, tracking the numbers has been a bit tricky, but Bridget Mary Meehan, U.S. spokeswoman, finds it “a nice problem to have.” By Fresen’s count, since those first ordinations in 2002, 50 people -- including six men -- have been ordained, bringing the total to 37 in the United States and Canada and 50 worldwide. Leaders report that another hundred or so have entered the movement’s formal pre-ordination training program. In the United States, the rising numbers prompted a decision last fall to divide the country into five regions to deal more effectively with the demand.

Re-Introduction of Full Ordination for Women

(April 3, 2007) The Fourteenth Dalai Lama has confirmed his participation as a keynote speaker at the International Congress of Buddhist Women, to take place in Hamburg from July 18 through 20. The main topic of this pan-Buddhist conference is women’s rights to full ordination in the Tibetan Buddhist monastic order, or Sangha. A resolution to re-introduce full ordination for women in the Tibetan tradition would be groundbreaking, and would significantly strengthen women’s rights in the 21st century.

With its potentially historic impact, the event has already generated great interest from Buddhist countries around Asia. Reputed scholars, Buddhist dignitaries and practicing Buddhists from many Buddhist traditions are expected to take part in the congress. The conference will be held at the University of Hamburg, and will feature a keynote speech by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama on July 20th at the Auditorium Maximum, the university’s largest conference hall. The conference is open to the public, and registration is still open at www.congress-on-buddhist-women.org

The question of reintroducing higher ordination for Tibetan Buddhist women has long been of great personal interest to the Dalai Lama. Indeed, this congress was organized at his personal request. The full ordination lineage was interrupted centuries ago in Tibet, and can be reintroduced with the support of existing lineages from other traditions. However, the consensus of an international monastic community, or Sangha, is required so that a formal judicial act can be prepared.

Full ordination has profound practical as well as symbolic significance for Buddhist women. In the majority Tibetan order, only ordained women are allowed to complete philosophical study courses equivalent to that of monks. Such a degree would qualify them to occupy roles of major responsibility in Buddhist communities, such as lama or teacher. It is still uncertain how the Tibetan tradition may choose to reintroduce the full ordination of nuns. Various methods are possible and under discussion.

Scholars and practicing Buddhists have been researching this topic for many years, and will present their results to the public for the first time at the congress in Hamburg. Even for the Dalai Lama, these research results stand to offer new insights and information.

The Dalai Lama’s keynote speech on the future of Buddhist women is eagerly awaited by Buddhists all over the world. His aim is to inspire women to devote themselves to a religious life, thereby improving the social status of Buddhist women in countries where Tibetan Buddhism and the Theravada tradition is practiced.