Is The United Church of Christ At War With The Catholic Church ( Female Ordination )

If so this not sound very ecumenical to me!!

We have had another round of Catholic Female Priest being ordained stories. Several people Catholic and non Catholic are starting to raise objections to how these are reported and even the ethics of the reporting itself.

In order see

Who made her a Catholic bishop?

What makes someone a ‘Catholic priest’?

and

Roman Catholic Womenpriests and their journalistic cheerleaders

Has anyone noticed when these things occur they are often happening in mainstream Protestant Churches that are in good standing with their larger faith community?

Here is a question perhaps someone should be asking. Why is the United Church of Christ not seeming to have a problem with this? Are there repercussions? You don't see the Catholic Church running around working with subversives in other Congregations of faith communities in a secret way that can't be filmed or photographed, or can't name people celebrating these rites , or report who was there .

From the United Church of Christ Web Site :

The United Church of Christ embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the Reformation. The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition—meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members. Christ alone is Head of the church. We seek a balance between freedom of conscience and accountability to the apostolic faith. The UCC therefore receives the historic creeds and confessions of our ancestors as testimonies, but not tests of the faith. Linked on the right of this page are some of those testimonies.

Well that is great!! How about you keep you it over there. Also the fact these new "Priests" seemed so linked with this Church that believes in no centralized authority or hierarchy is telling.

From the Church Web site where this happened and their belief page:

• Responsible Freedom. As individual members of the Body of Christ, we are free to believe and act in accordance with our perception of God's will for our lives. But we are called to live in a loving, covenantal relationship with one another—gathering in communities of faith, congregations of believers, local churches.

  Each congregation or local church is free to act in accordance with the collective decision of its members, guided by the working of the Spirit in the light of the scriptures. But it also is called to live in a covenantal relationship with other congregations for the sharing of insights and for cooperative action under the authority of Christ.

  Likewise, associations of churches, conferences, the General Synod and the churchwide "covenanted ministries" of the United Church of Christ are free to act in their particular spheres of responsibility. Yet all are constrained by love to live in a covenantal relationship with one another and with the local churches in order to make manifest the unity of the body of Christ and thus to carry out God's mission in the world more effectively.

Well all that again is great. But under what authority do they think they have a right to be engage in active subversive actions against the Catholic Church , that as we see in the reporting has to have some degree of secrecy. If they have this authority has it been approved and is it validated by the National Body?

Beyond being tacky this seems to violate the commandment of how one treat's one neighbor and especially how one treats another faith community in this day and age. Is this "Responsible Freedom"? Is this a prime example of how a Covenantal relationship works in practice?

Elsewhere on that page:

In essentials unity, in non-essentials diversity, in all things charity. The unity that we seek requires neither an uncritical acceptance of any point of view, nor rigid formulation of doctrine. It does require mutual understanding and agreement as to which aspects of the Christian faith and life are essential.

As a Catholic that shares a common Baptism with these folks I am not feeling the charity.

This is an aspect of the story I would like followed up on.