The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a cathedral and parish in the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas. The pastor of the parish is Fr. Lawrence Jozwiak; parish contact information is here. This Roman Catholic archdiocese is led by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, D.D., S.T.L., Archbishop of Galveston-Houston.
This past Tuesday, May 28th, at 7 pm, the diocese permitted the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church to hold a “Service of Commissioning & Ordination” at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, with “Bishop Janice R. Huie preaching”. Here is the official description of the event from the UMC.
According to Catholic teaching, women cannot be ordained as priests or bishops. Also, the United Methodist Church and other Protestant Churches do not have a valid Sacrament of Holy Orders, even for men. So “Bishop Janice R. Huie” is neither a bishop, nor ordained, nor does she have the ability to ordain anyone else.
The diocese and parish erred gravely by permitting this ceremony of attempted ordination at a Roman Catholic cathedral.
The sin of scandal is described in this way in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2284 Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. the person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.
2285 Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. It prompted our Lord to utter this curse: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep’s clothing.
2286 Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, by fashion or opinion.
Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice, or to “social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible.” This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers who provoke their children to anger, or manipulators of public opinion who turn it away from moral values.
2287 Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. “Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!”
The leaders of the diocese committed the grave sin of scandal, when they permitted a Protestant woman, who claims to be an ordained Bishop and who claims to be able to ordain others, to lead a ceremony of simulated ordination. Especially given the current controversy in the Catholic Church over women’s ordination — with some Catholics claiming that the Church can and should ordain women priests and bishops — permitting a false ordination ceremony led by a woman “bishop” in a Roman Catholic cathedral was scandalous. The event presents the real possibility of leading some Catholics into grave sin, by causing them to think that perhaps the Church will ordain women bishops and priests.
The event also caused scandal because it was a Protestant religious ceremony. Permitting Protestants to hold services in a Catholic cathedral may lead Catholics into the sin of considering all the Christian faiths to be equal.
Moreover, falsely claiming to be a bishop, to be ordained, and to be able to ordain others is each a grave sin. By permitting this ceremony, the leaders of the diocese committed an act of material cooperation. Sometimes material cooperation is a sin, and other times it is justifiable. In this case, moral weight in the circumstances must be given to the scandalous fact that the cathedral was used for a false ordination ceremony by a woman claiming to be a bishop. In addition, the diocese was under no duress to permit the use of the cathedral, and the ceremony could have been held in some other location. The rest of the activities of this annual conference were held elsewhere. So there was no proportionately grave reason to permit the cathedral to be used. Therefore this act of material cooperation was a sin. And given the grave moral weight of the issue of who can ordain, and who can be ordained, the sin is objectively grave.
by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.
the reproach of Christ 
You failed to mention the fact that the United Methodist Church teaches that abortion is not a sin.
Actually, in the spirit of ecumenism, the local bishop may allow other Christian denominations (especially those with whom we share a valid baptism) to use worship space for thier services. They were having their Annual Conference downtown, which gathers Methodists from across the Houston area. Their local churches were too small to hold the number of people attending and they asked to use the Co-Cathedral because of its size, location and it still being sacred space. From what I understand, the Archdiocese was in contact with the USCCB and gave the Methodists instructions on what they could and could not do.
The local Bishop is prohibited by the eternal moral law from committing the grave sin of scandal. So it does not matter if the rules permit an act, nor if various persons in authority were consulted. No one is above the eternal moral law. And a good intention, such as the spirit of ecumenism, is not sufficient to make an act moral.
Ron, you made the statement: “According to Catholic teaching, women cannot be ordained as priests or bishops.” You left out the Order of Deacons.
True, priests and bishops are ordained to the sacerdotal orders – to be the conduit for the Holy Sacraments, and deacons are ordained to service ministry, and in addition, may if they have received these faculties from their bishop, read the Gospel, preach at Mass, teach, be the minister of the Rite of Baptism, officiate the Matrimonial Rite Outside of Mass, perform blessings according to the Book of Blessings, and conduct wake and graveside services.
Do I hear you correctly in saying that women cannot be ordained to be Catholic deacons, since a deacon’s ordination is also within the Sacrament of Holy Orders? Or, are you open to the idea of ordaining Catholic women to the Order of Deacons?
Thanks for the work you are doing to spread the love of Christ for His Church.
The letter of Pope John Paul II on Women’s Ordination specifies “to the priesthood” and “priestly ordination”. Thus, the Magisterium teaches definitively: “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women”.
However, it is still an open question as to whether the Church has the authority to ordain women as deacons. Currently, women cannot be validly ordained as deacons, since Canon law does not permit it. But it is possible that the Pope or a Council will decide that the Church has the authority, and then Canon law will be changed to permit ordained women deacons.
the cathedral has been desecrated and should be reconsecrated. but dont hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
I agree with John, we should write to the Apostolic Nuncio.
People should not only write to the Bishop and priest of this cathedral, they should also make the Papal Nuncio aware in Washington of what took place in this diocese.
I sent them an email. Thanks for the information.
Pictures of the event are available https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Texas-Annual-Conference-of-the-United-Methodist-Church/136677901714?sk=photos_stream
It is apparent from the photos that a woman was attempting to ordain both men and women.
The Catholic Church is not the only church that does not allow ordination of women as priests or bishops. The Eastern Orthodox churches, The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, The Wisconsin and Evangelical Lutheran Synod also do not allow female ordination. The Anglican Church in North America, which is separate from the Episcopal Church, also does not allow women to be ordained as bishops. Orthodox Judaism, Mormonism, and other religions also reserve roles of religious leadership to men. This event would still be scandalous if it were held in a place of worship of a non-Christian religion or another Christian denomination that reserves the episcopacy, the priesthood, or similar roles of religious leadership to men. In addition to all Catholic parishes, other Christian denominations and non-Christian religions that reserve the priesthood, the episcopacy, or similar roles of religious leadership to men should take appropriate actions to prevent events similar to this from happening. The United Methodist Church should have held this event in a place of worship of the United Methodist Church or another Protestant denomination that is not opposed to female ordination instead of a Catholic cathedral, and the Archdiocese of Houston-Galveston should never have allowed the United Methodist Church to hold this event in their co-cathedral.
Why did this Catholic Church allow such a thing to happen? Has this error been brought to the attention of the Parish Priest do you know Ron? We are in very trying and scary times.
I don’t know who is responsible for this grave error at the parish and diocese levels.