SAN DIEGO, California, FEB. 24, 2011 (Zenit.org).- A woman who claimed to be a Catholic deacon has renounced her “ordination” and is affirming her fidelity to the Church’s teaching on the impossibility of women’s ordination.
Norma Jean Coon, formerly a member of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests organization, posted a message Feb. 8 on the Internet in which she “confess(es) to the authority of the Holy Father on these issues of ordination and recognize(s) that Christ founded the ordination only for men.”
Coon, who has been married for 47 years and is the mother of five, participated in a ceremony in Santa Barbara attempting her ordination July 22, 2007.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests was established in Europe and began claiming to ordain women in the United States in 2006. The summer of Coon’s ceremony, there were similar events in Portland, New York, Minneapolis and Toronto. Today, the group claims around eight bishops worldwide, and more than 80 priests and deacons.
Coon said that she “withdrew from the program within two weeks of the ceremony because I realized that I had made a mistake in studying for the priesthood.”
She added, “I confess to the truth of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter ‘Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.'”
In her statement, Coon formally relinquishes connection to Roman Catholic Womenpriests and disclaims “the alleged ordination publicly with apologies to those whose lives I have offended or scandalized by my actions.”
Her statement concludes with a prayer: “Holy God, I ask your blessings on my bishop and my pastor and priests in Rome who have assisted me in the process of being reinstated into the Roman Catholic Church. […] Forgive me my Beloved Jesus and Mother Mary for pursuing my own will in this matter of ordination. […] [W]e pray for more priests to serve in our Church and for vocations to enrich our Church in the United States.
“Forgive us for failing in obedience and enrich us in your holy love, I pray through Jesus and Mary. Fiat.”
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On the Net:
Coon’s full statement: http://normajeancoon.com
