Roy Bourgeois is the kind of peacemaker that we need to see more of, especially when talking about religion, more specifically the Catholic religion. Roy was born in 1938 in Louisiana’s Cajun country and grew up in a conservative middle class family. Roy initially graduated school with a degree in geology, but his love for God and his country drew him to the Navy. What Roy witnessed in Vietnam changed him and moved him towards peacemaking. In 1968 he began his studies to become a priest and even ended up protesting the Vietnam war with other veterans. Roy believed in nonviolence peaceful teachings and he travels the country preaching his ideals.
However, Roys path didn’t end there and he found himself at odds with the Catholic Church (The Vatican). Roy was warned that he could lose his priesthood in 30 days if he recanted his statements about women being ordained in the church. According to the Vatican, ordaining women in the church is a much larger offense than priests all over the world raping and abusing children, and those priests for the majority were able to keep their practice. Father Roy argued that men and women were created equal to God and that women shouldn’t be kept out of certain positions based on old beliefs. In Roys response he said, “I felt it was also important to make clear that when Catholics hear the word ‘scandal,’ they think about the thousands of children who have been raped and abused by Catholic priests — not the ordination of women”(Bourgeois). Father Roy might’ve lost his priesthood, but he was still able to maintain his beliefs and continue fighting for the more rightful things. Roy travels the country teaching about non-violence in schools, churches, and community groups.
Works Cited
Bourgeois, Roy. “Roy Bourgeois: Another Scandal in the All-Male Priesthood.” TribLIVE.com, 23 Aug. 2018,
triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/14004946-74/roy-bourgeois-another-scandal-in-the-all -male-priesthood.
“Father Roy Bourgeois.”
Emma Tenayuca | Americans Who Tell The Truth, www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/father-roy-bourgeois
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