Here in Minnesota, we have our own home-grown would-be deaconess. This isn't really new news, of course:
Regina Nicolosi of Red Wing, Minn., is a wife, a mother and a grandmother.
And now she's a Roman Catholic deacon. At least she believes herself to be.
Risking excommunication from the church and other scrutiny, Nicolosi unofficially was ordained Monday in Canada.
Nicolosi, 63, was one of nine women who went through an unauthorized ceremony to become either a Roman Catholic priest or deacon during a boat tour on the St. Lawrence River near Gananoque, south of Ottawa.
(I give the Star Tribune some credit for pointing out that Nicolosi's "ordination" is, in fact, unauthorized. Reuters, for example, only recently issued a correction pointing this out; prior to that they described the women as simply "ordained.")
One of the things that struck me, though, is that Nicolosi hasn't limited her activism to pressuring the Church to accept women as deacons. Not only this, but she apparently thinks that deacons should be permitted to celebrate Mass:
She has said she expects to hold mass in her house and keep attending services at St. Joesph Catholic Church in Red Wing.
Why does she call herself a deacon instead of a priest if she wants to "hold mass?" Deacons are tasked with "assist[ing] the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity" (CCC 1570). They don't "hold mass"---ever.
Her husband, an honest-to-you-know-whom actual real deacon, should know that, no?
Maybe she decided to be a deacon because she's married, and deep down she holds the strong belief that married women should not become priests. No, they should only act like them.
Incidentally, I wonder (a) where is her own pastor, the leader of St. Joseph's in Red Wing? Has he gone into hiding? (b) Can her husband actually continue to serve as deacon at St. Joseph's while supporting his wife in this folly?
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