Ecclesiology 101

Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg participated in an unauthorized "ordination" ceremony last weekend. Now she's surprised that she's being threatened with excommunication.

Vandenberg, 64, said Monday that she was "startled" by the letter and surprised that Dolan had "spent so much time and energy" on it when "other important things" might demand his attention.

I wonder what "other important things" she has in mind? I wonder what she thinks the Church's business is? She certainly doesn't think it's protecting the integrity of the faith handed on from Christ for the last 2,000 years.

Vandenberg called her meeting with Dolan "very cordial . . . very respectful. . . . I told him about my call to ordination . . . and he was trying to give me some reasons to stay" in the church.

So, she realized that her actions would put her out of the Church.

But, then there's this:

Vandenberg said: "Excommunication is simply a punishment. That doesn't mean I'm excluded from the church. Only I can exclude myself."

Yep, and that's just what she did.

Hat tip to Diogenes