Irish journalist Olivia O’Leary, one of the best-known names in the media, has made a very public departure from the Catholic Church.
She cited her disappointment in the fact that women cannot be ordained as priests, coupled with the disgrace that “the institutional cover-up of clerical child sex abuse was a ‘proximate factor.’”
O’Leary, who may be best remembered for her speech at the concert for Queen Elizabeth II during her Irish visit, left the Church “some two years ago,” reports the Belfast Telegraph. In her speech during the Queen’s visit, O’Leary now famously recalled how they were “a bit worried about the curtsy,” believing sternly that she, as a non-subject of the Queen, should not have to curtsy.
Although O’Leary has “beloved” aunts and uncles who are of the clergy, she says "No longer at my age can I accept a subordinate role; not for myself, not for my daughter, not for my sisters, my nieces or friends.”
---------------------
Read more:
More news from Ireland on IrishCentral
Sinead O’Connor scored crack on her wedding night she admits
Ireland’s economic recovery an illusion says NY Times Krugman---------------------
An interview with O’Leary on the Pat Kenny radio show by the American Catholic theologian George Weigel left O’Leary “unimpressed,” as Weigel offered “the old non-reasons” for not permitting women to be ordained in the Catholic Church. Weigel’s main argument included that “God made men and women different for a reason.”
O’Leary, however, believes that it should be “humanity” that should separate the clergy from the laypeople in the Catholic Church. “It is our humanity which distinguishes us, not the fact that we are women.”
O’Leary, feeling that she can “stand tall” there, has opted to celebrate the holidays with the Church of Ireland, which does ordain women as priests. She also notes how the Church of Ireland “accepts my full humanity.”
"Otherwise I'll celebrate by simply being outside in the wind and the rain, outside in the sunshine walking the world that the creator made for us all equally. Not because we are male or female but because we are human," she said.
Below, watch O’Leary’s speech during the Queen’s visit:
38 Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Portia777 | Feb 07, 2012, 09:43 AM EST
Good for her. There is no god up there on a fluffy cloud telling men in dresses what to tell the sheeple. People who hear voices get locked away, don't they? Anyone who remains in the ROMAN Catholic cult after all the children they have raped and tortured is complicit in the collective act. It is that simple.Priestesses existed long before priests too- remember Bidgit herself of Eire. The insult to the priestesses was to rob all their "pagan" ceremonies and claim them as their own and even wear the priestess dresses. Wake up people of Danu.
eiriamach | Jan 06, 2012, 06:48 AM EST
Ex-Bishop, Ex-Episcopalian, now-Father Steenson, the head of the Chair of Peter Ordinariate for Episcopalians who join the Catholic Church, said on his appointment, "The frustration with being a Protestant is that every morning you get up and have to reinvent the church all over again.” Indeed, Catholics invented a slogan for that frustration: Ecclesia semper reformandum-- the church is forever reforming! I guess he got tired of the work of trying to smooth the path for the women Episcopal priests whom his ex-church has ordained since 1973. What will he do, then, to conserve the Anglican tradition and 'patrimony' that the Pope says he values in the Ordinariate? Fr. Steenson is the only member of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops who is married and a father (and grandfather), yet that married Anglican priesthood will soon be a thing of the past for the Ordinariate because the priests who crossed the Tiber are not bound to celibacy but their successors are! There's nothing like consistency, is there? Conserve your tradition by jettisoning it for all the generations that follow you while you continue to enjoy it yourself. Do you really think that handful of Episcopalians who went over to Catholicism will manage to keep their Anglican-use traditions past the current generation? Assimilation is the name of Benedict's game.
BGAndersson | Jan 05, 2012, 12:33 PM EST
Goodbye. There's plenty of Episcopalians coming over. Oh, and it's because they disagree with,among other issues,the ordination of women. Interesting times.
eiriamach | Jan 04, 2012, 03:22 PM EST
Oh, now I remember, Catholics don't read the bible, do they, and only males are allowed to interpret what it all means (papal authority and all that).
eiriamach | Jan 04, 2012, 03:20 PM EST
From Paul's epistle to the Romans: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house." See Romans 16:1-16 for Paul's list, which includes these and other names of women who ministered to early Christian congregations: "Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.... Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them." You who claim that the Church has always ordained only males but also that the Church has existed since the time of the apostles: what do you think these women named by Paul were doing if they were not Eucharistic ministers, preachers, deacons, priests? It was a passing fashion, this "male-only" clergy thing that you cling to, and Christians who know about the early church have already moved past it.
GeorgeDillon | Jan 04, 2012, 02:46 PM EST
I've just watched this woman O'Leary's speech, listed above. Smelly garbage. She strikes me as a creep, and an unattractive one. You're welcome to her, Protestants!
barneyjo | Jan 04, 2012, 12:49 PM EST
@mrkennedy - no harm to you but Ireland (my country)is full of sites to which instances of healing and cures have been attributed. These range from official church recognised centres like Knock in County Mayo, the site of a Marian apparition in the 19th century, to countless water wells and sites where there are trees etc with healing properties. And of course we in Ireland also have our share of "Nutters" who claim that God speaks through them, who encourage the weak and the desperate that they have the answer to their problems, and all they ask for in return is support both of a spiritual and a Financial kind. My understanding of the events surrounding Bayside and Bayridge?? is that these have not been confirmed by the Catholic Church, whereas, Knock in Ireland, Lourdes in France and other centres and shrines have. I am most certainly not decrying the presence of our Lord anywhere in the world and the fact that healing and miracles do occur. I do however prefer to take Christ at his word as recalled in Matthew 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Prophets and visionaries come and go, but the message of Christ on earth remains constant!!
mrkennedy | Jan 04, 2012, 10:51 AM EST
Barneyjo, Visit Bayside and see how many crutches and other medical items of people cured from the water that appeared there. Also the written testimonies of doctors who could not explain how these mircales happened!! This same thing happened in Quebec at St. Joseph's Church in the last century. I viisted there and saw cruches, wheel chairs hanging from the ceiling of the church as well as on the floors in the entrance. Before you make the statement verify yourself at Bayside and decide if this is the location of a FALSE PROPHET!!!!
IrelandNorth | Jan 04, 2012, 06:50 AM EST
Well tempered speech, without undue obesience. But clerical shild sexual abuse being a "proximal" issue to gender equality? I hardly think so. Only goes to show how sex, gender, nationalitly, religion and/or class refracts ones objectivity. What happens if the Queen becomes a Catholic?
stephen1553 | Jan 04, 2012, 12:10 AM EST
the three right wing ultra conservative churches in the USA are the Catholic (in some ways), the Mormons (3 wives needed to go to Heaven per their holy book), and the right wing christians........................All of whom are dead set against both ordaining women, and dead set against gays being treated equally in our society...........Does everyone see the machoism here? its all about control of women (keep them barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen) This to shall pass. The harm the church will do to itself is already evident.........It also extends to the priests who ultimately broke because they couldnt find / pay for women, and used the haniest children instead. that btw is just another facet of the molestation problem.......Somebody please Mail / Post IL Papa a callender!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
barneyjo | Jan 03, 2012, 09:30 PM EST
@mrkennedy - "Beware of FALSE Prophets!!"
Shmrck5S | Jan 03, 2012, 04:04 PM EST
Dear Liv- don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out.
mrkennedy | Jan 03, 2012, 09:55 AM EST
How would Ms.O'Leary answer to the following. Jesus and Mary appeared to Veronica Lueken, a seer from Bayside, Long Island for close to 25 years where many miracles have taken place. In Jesus's apparition of October 2, 1987, he stated "I ASK THIS OF YOU AS YOUR GOD: IN THE HOLY SACRIFICE THAT I LEFT YOU, I DID NOT ASK FOR WOMEN TO BE UPON THE ALTAR, NOR TRY TO BE A HIGH PRIESTESS. THEY CARRY THIS ON IN THE CHURCHES OF SATAN; THEREFORE, IT SHALL NOT BE CARRIED ON IN MY CHURCH. "WHEN I HAD THE LAST SUPPER WITH THE APOSTLES, MY MOTHER WAS NOT PRESENT. IF I HAD IT IN MY POWER FROM THE ETERNAL FATHER TO MAKE A PRIESTESS, I WOULD SURELY HAVE CHOSEN MY MOTHER; BUT, NO, THERE WERE NO WOMEN PRESENT AT THE FIRST DEDICATION."
DanOLoingsigh | Jan 03, 2012, 04:10 AM EST
jacersagain - thanks for the D***** story. Made me smile...
helmet365 | Jan 03, 2012, 03:38 AM EST
This Talked about God up there just above the clouds as we were taught I am sure will turn out to be kind,non chauvanistic,not homophobic,or wanting to Judge his own creation and never heard of hell or heavin. He will say Benidict who?.
helmet365 | Jan 03, 2012, 03:09 AM EST
More likely his ... would be cutting washers.He is incapable of new thought or ideas as are most followers,locked in a time warp of 2000 plus year old folklore. Very sad.
CaptainCon | Jan 03, 2012, 01:39 AM EST
Amazing how in the 21st century we can still have people believing in witchdoctors and bad juju. I think there is a lack of education involved. Those who would counsel more catholic indoctrination are nothing more or less than anti-human in that they deny the quest for knowledge about the world around us in favour of incantations from a plainly made-up book. This is pitiful.
helmet365 | Jan 02, 2012, 09:37 PM EST
Olivia is just substituting one set of man made rules for another, god has nothing to do with it. If she wants true pease of mind she has to realize and believe that god has not manifested himself or herself to any person or religious group on earth ever. Until then she is only kidding herself like the millions of other people on earth who are searching for something. That is why the word faith is very important is most religions including the RC Church. It is like saying "I know all these teachings sound rediculous , like virgin births and miracles but have faith and don,t question them". Just follow the sheep like everyone else. Good luck Olivia.
lokionline | Jan 02, 2012, 09:14 PM EST
So... Gearoid4 you think: "As one previous commentator stated, the poor state of the religious/theological education that a lot of Catholics receive leads to this state of confusion and subjective opinion- making". So the answer is more Catholic indoctrination? Just think about that for a moment or two... The thing that is "passé" is the idea of Catholicism.
Cathryn | Jan 02, 2012, 09:10 PM EST
I thought the article said she left two years ago. How is this news. The priest is in "persona Christi", in the person of Christ, when he celebrates the Mass. Christ is both the victim and the priest at the Sacrifice of the Mass. Christ is a man, not a woman. Christ could have made us all the same, but He didn't. He chose His apostles, all men, to carry on His priesthood. In the Old Testament, God chose only men from the family of Levites, in the New Testament God choses men to be his priests forever. Besides, no one can demand to be a priest, the call is from God.
Gearoid4 | Jan 02, 2012, 07:33 PM EST
I am sure that Olivia O'Leary is sincere in her beliefs which are attractive sociologically but have no bearing on the nature of priesthood as understood by Catholic theology. The priesthood is not about empowerment as a lot of advocates of women priests promulgate, but about service. The priest in the ancient Catholic and Orthodox traditions, is understood to be another 'Persona Christus'(Another Christ). The maleness of Christ is not accidental to this but is rather an intrinsic ingredient for any person who put themselves forward as a candidate for the ordained Sacerdotal office. As one previous commentator stated, the poor state of the religious/theological education that a lot of Catholics receive leads to this state of confusion and subjective opinion- making. The publicly announced decision of Ms O' Leary to withdraw her membership of the Catholic Church is so passé in the tiresome genre of celebrity defections
ciaradexy | Jan 02, 2012, 04:59 PM EST
Sorry Olivia but you cant LEAVE the catholic church anymore. Canon law has been changed! Its a bit like the Hotel California in that way!
jacersagain | Jan 02, 2012, 03:58 PM EST
On a point of honour, I see Olivia has... erm... obeyed the instructions of A/Bishop of Dublin. Fair dues to him.
jacersagain | Jan 02, 2012, 03:34 PM EST
Clearly, Olivia is not happy. I had an accident this morning at the traffic lights... I put the car in the wrong gear and rear-ended. I got out of me car and watched as the other driver slowly got out of his. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it... The other driver was a dwarf. yep, he was. He stormed over, looked up at me, and shouted, "I AM NOT HAPPY!!!" So, I looked down at him and said, "Well, then which one are you?" And then the fight started..... Olivia just stressed me out altogether... as if I care. She clearly isn’t happy, so I say let her join a church that allows women priests. She’ll be dwarfed by the horrible truth of her silly mistaken aspiration.
CaptainCon | Jan 02, 2012, 03:30 PM EST
That bit about radical feminists infiltrating the Obama administration and taking on the church is fantastic- I guess that lets the Rolling Stones and the 1960's off the hook, then? These people are mad.
CaptainCon | Jan 02, 2012, 03:28 PM EST
Those who comment that many in the catholic church are not misogynist are correct. They are too badly informed to even understand their own cult. For hundreds of years women have apparently been fooled as a gender into being the mainstay and bedrock of an organisation which regards them as little better than animals. In the early days of the catholic church women weren't even allowed to sit in the main body of a church but had to collect near the door. There was a healthy debate about whether they should even be allowed inside but that got cancelled when the church found a wealthy female donor. As for 'churching'- try asking your priest about the reasoning behind that and watch the priest shift uneasily from foot to foot before venturing some convenient lies- I mean, 'mental reservations', ladies.
mayoman | Jan 02, 2012, 02:23 PM EST
PhlutiePhan: Let me see if I comprehend your latest bit of lunacy: "radical feminists in the Obama Administration have infilitrated the U.S. Catholics Bishops Conference". O my god! The horror! The absolute horror or it all! Have you looked under your bed? I'm sure you'll find those nasty radical feminists hiding there! And check the bushes outside your window! Those wily rad chicks are probably hiding there too! Infiltrating and plotting. Plotting and scheming. Scheming to bring down you and all of Western Civilization! O my God! Its ruination for us all!
faberm1 | Jan 02, 2012, 01:57 PM EST
Too bad she left the Catholic Church on such shaky theological grounds if she is in fact a Bible believing Christian. She should have left years ago because of its apostasy and focus on an institution and power of its priest leaders instead of simply "doing the right thing" ,and following Jesus and His teachings.
McNamara31 | Jan 02, 2012, 01:42 PM EST
@PhlutiePhan stated: "Radical feminists in the Obama Administration such as Sebelius and Solis have infiltrated the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference" So now Obama has secret plans to infiltrate the USCBC. Who would have thought with a crashing economy, ending two wars and dealing with the latest attempt by the GOP to block any progress what so ever he would have the time implement radical socialism within the Catholic Church.
PhlutiePhan | Jan 02, 2012, 12:09 PM EST
Have no fear, Captain America (Catholic Church)is righting this wrong secretly and surrepticiously. Radical feminists in the Obama Administration such as Sebelius and Solis have infiltrated the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Conference. They had enough clout through Cardinal Rigali to have now Cardinal Raymond Burke "kicked upstairs" and I have emails from the Chancery to prove this. There has been a deal made with the Obama Administration to support the implimentation of radical socialism and redistribution of wealth and to allow more female authority in the Church. According to the Archdiocese of Boston, pastoral teams are being prepared to run that Archdiocese which is the test for the USCBC to bring it to the entire country. Pastoral Associates are women who are being put in each parish to gain the experience of being in control of a parish with groups of parishes then being set up with a priest to act as an "outrider". Who then really runs the Church? Malachi Martin presaged the fact in his writings of the turn of the Catholic Church from a religious institution to one of social justice (socialism) and a phasing out of the Gospel message. This all stems from Vatican II and secret deals with the Bolshevik socialists to convert the entire world. Good luck on that one!
CountyKilburn | Jan 02, 2012, 11:38 AM EST
I love it when these middle-aged members of the establishment do very socially conformist things and pretend that they are rebelling. Wow, who has ever heard anyone in modern Ireland speak out against the Catholic Church before? This is completely going against the grain, I am just so shocked.
joan1954 | Jan 02, 2012, 10:57 AM EST
Frankly who cares. Catholics have been leaving for years because of poor religious instruction. captain con was a little harsh not every Catholic cleric is a mysogynst. And, the good ones are suffering.
cillowen | Jan 02, 2012, 10:43 AM EST
another one - not the only irish arse licker types - the south is full of them.
katieherk | Jan 02, 2012, 10:13 AM EST
OBVIOUSLY WE DON'T NEED HER ILK! HOPE SHE ENJOYS THE HEAT SHE'LL BE GETTING!! DON'T THINK SHE'S THAT GREAT A JOURNALIST ANYHOW, SO WHO CARES?
CaptainCon | Jan 02, 2012, 09:56 AM EST
Although she is clearly a christian amd I am an atheist so we would be poles apart in our views on religion generally I have to say 'well done' to her for taking this stance. The catholic church was born is mysoginy and remains outside the Taliban one of the most misogynistic organisations on the planet with a hatred and fear of women woven into the very fabric of its dogma. I am glad that we have now reached a stage where this very human wretchedness disguised as religion and the disgust with the catholic church over its continuing failure to deal with a degenerate priesthood can be expressed by someone who would be very much seen as a member of the Irish 'establishment'.
GeorgeDillon | Jan 02, 2012, 08:59 AM EST
There's plenty room in the Anglican Church of Ireland for her. In fact the Irish Anglicans have faded away numerically, and are now only kept in being by the huge numbers of Nigerian Protestants who have settled Ireland. So why doesn't she go be an Anglican minister if it means so much to her? Bet she won't.
dibble2008 | Jan 02, 2012, 07:03 AM EST
wonderful inspiring speech. She caught the mood and historical sensitivities perfectly.
dibble2008 | Jan 02, 2012, 06:52 AM EST
Well done olivia. It is our humanity that matters not sex.