Ontario bishop removes priest for dissent about ordaining women

Published: 2005-10-27

PETERBOROUGH, Ontario (CNS) -- Bishop Nicola De Angelis of Peterborough has removed a parish priest who publicly concelebrated a Mass with women claiming to have been ordained last summer on the St. Lawrence River. Father Ed Cachia, 56, also was removed because he had contacted a local newspaper to disagree with Catholic teaching that the church can only ordain men. The news was announced in an Oct. 19 press statement and a letter issued the same day to Catholics in the diocese. "I know that Father Cachia has touched the lives of many people in this diocese," Bishop De Angelis said in his letter. "However, the gravity of these revelations, in addition to the confusion and scandal caused by Father Cachia's public dissent from Catholic teaching, prompted the Diocese of Peterborough to investigate the matter." Father Cachia did not respond to phone calls from The Catholic Register, the Toronto-based weekly.

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