COMMENTARY: Time for Vatican to Terminate Rev. Roy Bourgeois as a Catholic Priest

This week, a U.S. Catholic priest -- who supports the ordination of women priests in the Catholic Church -- was detained by police while marching with about a dozen supporters to the Vatican without a protest permit, in an effort to press the Holy See to lift its ban on women priests.

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois -- along with members of the Women's Ordination Conference -- had come to Rome to deliver a petition signed by some 15,000 people backing Bourgeois, who is facing termination as a Catholic priest because of his support of women's ordination.

The fact is that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the priesthood is reserved for men -- women are not allowed to be priests -- since Christ chose only men as His apostles.

Rev. Bourgeois obviously is aware of this Catholic teaching, but has decided to defy it.

More than a year ago, the Vatican advised Rev. Bourgeois to ask for forgiveness for his anti-Catholic support for women priests, or be subject to being terminated. He has had ample time to meditate on his defiance of the Catholic Church teaching, and has not yet asked for forgiveness of that defiance. Indeed, he probably never will.

That being the case, it is now time for the Vatican to terminate Rev. Bourgeois as a Roman Catholic priest.