SAN DIEGO, California, February 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A woman “ordained” to the diaconate with a dissident, “pro-choice”, pro-homosexual Catholic group has renounced the act and pledged fidelity to Pope Benedict XVI. Dr. Norma Jean Coon was “ordained” by a woman calling herself Bishop Patricia Fresen of the group Roman Catholic Women Priests on July 22, 2007.
The Roman Catholic Women Priests organization is tied to pro-abortion and anti-family groups also calling themselves Catholic such as Catholics for Choice and Dignity USA.
In a February 11 statement on her website, Coon calls the ceremony “illegitimate” and expresses regret for the scandal caused.
“I confess to the truth of Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis,” she writes, referring to the document affirming the infallibility of the Church’s teaching on the male priesthood. “I confess the authority of the Holy Father on these issues of ordination and recognize that Christ founded the ordination only for men.”
Dr. Coon says she only acted as a “deacon” on two occasions, once reading the Gospel and then distributing communion, and withdrew from the program within two weeks of the ceremony.
“Formally, I relinquish all connection to the program of Roman Catholic Women Priests and I disclaim the alleged ordination publicly with apologies to those whose lives I have offended or scandalized by my actions,” she writes. “I ask God’s blessings upon each of these folks and their families.”
Dr. Coon declined an interview at this time, saying the formal renunciation was a part of her re-admittance to the Church and the sacraments, and she doesn’t want to put that in jeopardy.
See Dr. Coon’s full ‘Document of Renunciation of Ordination to Diaconate’ here.