FATHER 'GUS' DI NOIA (De-NOY-a) is a Dominican Priest and a theologian to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. On May 31, the Pope issued an Apostolic letter to bishops declaring that women could not be ordained as priests. Though not a formal statement of doctrine, the letter was strongly put, and meant to cut off discussion about the issue. In it the Pope writes that the church "has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women," and that "this judgement is to be definitively held by the all the church's faithful." The letter was timed to counter the Church of England's ordination of 1,000 women to the priesthood. Terry will talk with FATHER DI NOIA about his views on it as an official of the church and as a sociologist.
Copyright 1994 Fresh Air