Fr Jack McClure joined three inactive priests on a panel at a Women's Ordination Conference in Philadelphia this month.

Precious Blood Fr McClure said that he felt called to break his silence on women's ordination as part of a call to dialogue initiated by Pope Francis.

"I believe that any kind of discrimination, any kind of bullying, is just wrong and we have to stop it," he said.

Now he has been told he can't say Mass at Most Holy Redeemer Parish in San Francisco after the end of the month.

He was pastor and parochial vicar there for the past 15 months.

The order came from the secretary for San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

Before travelling to Philadelphia, Fr McClure resigned as parochial vicar at Most Holy Redeemer and intended to move to a Precious Blood community in Berkeley.

But he had hoped to help out at weekends at Most Holy Redeemer.

Most Holy Redeemer has a history of being a "welcoming" parish, and over the years it has attracted many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics, some of whom have felt unwelcome in other Catholic parishes.

Fr McClure, 71, reacted to the latest development by saying "I feel the pain of being silenced and in this silencing I am beginning to feel the deep pain women feel all over the Church".

He thanked Archbishop Cordileone for allowing him and his religious community to minister in the archdiocese.

Archbishop Cordileone issued a statement: "I'm very pleased with the pastoral care that Fr McClure gave to the community at Most Holy Redeemer, and also that he has the opportunity to serve his order's Berkeley community nearby."

In the 1980s Fr McClure left the priesthood because of what he saw as discrepancies in the Church.

He later married, and when the marriage ended, he returned to his religious community.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Eva Muntean, marketing manager at Ignatius Press and a co-chair of the annual Walk for Life in San Francisco, organised the picnic in response to the criticism the archbishop has faced.

Archbishop Cordileone said he attended the picnic "to thank these good people".

The archbishop has been criticised over material about sexual morality, plus a reference to "grave evils", that he put in a schools handbook.

He also proposed to reclassify teachers at diocesan Catholic schools as ministers, which afforded them fewer employment protections.

In April, more than 100 Catholics took out a full page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle asking Pope Francis to remove the archbishop.

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The ad in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 16 stated Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has "fostered an atmosphere of division and intolerance".

More than 100 signatories to an open letter in the ad referred to themselves as "committed Catholics inspired by Vatican II".

They include philanthropists, members of school and university boards, the former director of Catholic Charities CYO, high-profile attorneys and physicians, major figures in the business and corporate world, and officials of trusts, foundations and charitable organisations.

The open letter comes after fierce debate over so-called morality clauses inserted in contracts for teachers in archdiocesan schools.

A 2000-word statement by the archbishop for a faculty handbook had been criticised for its incendiary language and an overemphasis on sexual topics.

The signatories accused the archbishop of pursuing "a single-issue agenda" and coercing teachers with a "morality code which violates individual consciences as well as California labour laws".

Concerns were also expressed about a local pastor who had discontinued the use of altar girls.

The letter also said Archbishop Cordileone isolated "himself from our community" as he "relies . . . on a tiny group of advisors recruited from outside of our diocese and estranged from their own religious orders".

The archdiocese issued a statement calling the open letter "a misrepresentation of Catholic teaching, a misrepresentation of the nature of the teacher contract, and a misrepresentation of the spirit of the archbishop".

"The greatest misrepresentation of all is that the signers presume to speak for 'the Catholic Community of San Francisco.' They do not," the release stated.

"The archdiocese has met with a broad range of stakeholders.

"Together, we have engaged in a constructive dialogue on all of the issues raised in this ad. We welcome the chance to continue that discussion."

Those behind the ad had previously appealed to the apostolic nuncio in Washington about their concerns.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• CBS San Francisco
• Image: Our Sunday Visitor