Chronicle of the Damned, part nine (revisited)

We usually reserve this fate for groups and organizations. We think this a worthy exception to the rule.

Janice Sevre-Duszynska wants to be a Catholic priest. The 56-year old troublemaker, whose exploits include being arrested for trespassing at Ft. Benning (GA) and disrupting several ordination services demanding the bishops ordain her, prefers that her work be termed "prophetic obedience" rather than protesting. That's great. I would prefer that human excrement consist of gold bullion instead of feces; alas it isn't so.

"I used to make believe I was a priest, celebrating the Mass, blessing the people and giving the homily," Sevre-Duszynska says. "I knew the altar boy's prayers. I had learned them in Latin." As a kid I used to make believe I was playing drums in a band with Paul McCartney. Does that mean I should now make a public spectacle of myself because it didn't happen?

Idiocy is not her only crime. She also slouches towards blasphemy. "I am all of the oppressed women of the Bible. I am Sarah, I am Hannah, I am Elizabeth, I am the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' garment, I am the woman who anointed his head with oil." I won't even bother with a response here.

"To me, to be a priest means to live your life on the edge," she said. "To me, that's where the Holy Spirit is doing her dance." Again, enough said.

In July a dissident Catholic group will ordain Janice to the diaconate, and then, perhaps after further theological study (not that it will matter), to the priesthood. Interesting, but also irrelevant. Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic Church are not valid when an attempt is made to confer them upon women. Her "ordination" will exist only in her mind. Given its paucity, I'm sure that will be sufficient.

Recently Janice began a trek in Arizona with other activists through the Sonora desert. The goal was to walk 75 miles from Sasabe, Mexico, to Tucson. The desert is a hot place, Janice. You'd better get used to that.

In the world to come, Janice will serve in the diocese Lucifer gives to Roman Catholic Womenpriests. This diocese will occupy Circle Six, where heretics dwell. Under the guidance of Bishop Margaret Renewal, this group will also sink lower to occupy Circle Eight, where the purveyors of fraudulent rhetoric and the falsifiers roam. May the Lord, in His infinite mercy and kindness, take pity on those who are deceived by these miscreants.