Archbishop Dr. John Baptist Odama
“The Catholic church gets priests from men. There should be no more debate over the subject of female aspiring to be priests also. Jesus Christ was a man. If Christ wanted female priests, he would have ordained his mother, Mary, first, but he did not do that.”
“I am becoming increasingly convinced that the inequality of women becoming priests is becoming a major issue and a major challenge facing the Catholic Church.”
AMURU-UGANDA: The Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu, Dr. John Baptist Odama, has castigated advocates for female priests in the catholic faith saying there should be no more debate on the subject because it is causing tension in the church.
“The Catholic church gets priests from men. There should be no more debate over the subject of female aspiring to be priests also. Jesus Christ was a man. If Christ wanted female priests, he would have ordained his mother, Mary, first but he did not do that” says Archbishop Dr.Odama.
Archbishop Dr. Odama made this remarks on Saturday, September 19, 2017 from Pabbo Catholic Parish in Amuru district, northern Uganda, during the priestly ordination of Reverend Father Simon Ongwech.
Archbishop Dr. Odama, who is a conservative, has always opposed priests marrying wives and women ordained priests.
“I have a lot of quarrel with this call for female priests. It is bringing a lot of tension in the church”
According to the Daily Beast, an online publication, a group of devout Catholic women marched near St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican in June 2017 with a big pink cardboard telephone booth marked “Door to Dialogue” trying to draw attention to the taboo topic of female priests. The group included the 40-year-old US-based Women’s Ordination Conference and the 20-year-old Women’s Ordination Worldwide.
They also hung 100 giant posters of women priests, including that of 70 self ordained priests in an attempt to highlight what many see as a blatant misogyny within the catholic hierarchy. All these female priests who broke the Vatican Law have been excommunicated.
“I am becoming increasingly convinced that the inequality of women becoming priests is becoming a major issue and a major challenge facing the Catholic Church”, says Father Tony Flannery, a male Irish priest who supports female priests, to The National Catholic Reporter newspaper, adding “unless this is addressed, the church will continue to become more sidelined and little more than a sect”.
The fact that this group of women secured permit to demonstrate in Rome can be described as a “miracle” since this is a city that normally sides with the Holy See. This is also the first time that these groups of women were allowed near the Vatican.
In May 2017, Pope Francis told a group of 900 nuns that he would create a commission to study the concept of ordaining women deacons.
“Opening a commission to study the diaconate for women would be a great step for the Vatican in recognizing its own history. This is something to celebrate”, says McElwee, one of the women marchers.
Archbishop Dr. Odama thanked the parents of the new priest, Mr. Tobia and Mrs. Joska Oyoo, for accepting that their son should be ordained priest which is against Acholi tradition which insists that their children must raise families.
He appealed to the new priest to be obedient to his superiors and to preach the Word of God to all in whatever place he would go to. Father Simon Obngwech was posted to Patongo Catholic parish in Agago district.
Archbishop Dr. Odama says the major challenge the church is facing today is having few priests yet the number of people who want their service is huge. He appealed to parents to send more children to join the seminary for boys and convent for girls in order to join the church ministry.
