AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - Bishops reaffirm that the ordination of women to the priesthood is not recognised in the Catholic Church

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - With a Pastoral Statement signed by His Exc. Mgr. Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town and Chairman of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, the South African Bishops reaffirm that the ordination of women to the priesthood is not recognised in the Catholic Church.
After recalling the doctrine of recent Popes (including Pope Francis), the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and this judgement is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful and Mgr. Brislin states that "Catholic women who accept to be ordained to the priesthood separate themselves from the Church and the sacraments; It is therefore contrary to the spirit of the Catholic Church to be involved in the promotion of the ordination of women to the priestly ministry; It is contrary to the teaching of the Church to offer or create platforms where conversations are held with women who claim to have been ordained".
Mgr. Brislin’s intervention was necessary after two former Dominican nuns claimed to have been ordained. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2014)