Pope Francis Excommunicates Priest Who Backed Women’s Ordination and Gays | TIME.com

Just when you think he might be doing some good, we hear of this happening (from September 2013),,,

Father Greg Reynolds of Melbourne, Australia found out last week that Pope Francis had excommunicated him, and he was shocked. Granted, Reynolds holds less than traditional views in the Catholic Church—he supports women’s ordination and gay marriage—but Pope Francis has more than hinted lately that the Church needs to adopt a new tone towards those social issues. “I am very surprised that this order has come under his watch; it seems so inconsistent with everything else he has said and done,” Reynolds told the National Catholic Reporter, a widely read source for Catholic news.

Excommunication is a severe penalty in the Catholic Church. Today it is the church’s harshest punishment, and it means an individual can no longer participate in the sacraments or worship ceremonies, much less ever officiate a mass again. Reynolds’ letter of excommunication itself contained no official explanation for his excommunication. It accused Reynolds of heresy and claimed he had violated the sacrament of the Eucharist.

BUT me thinks there is much more to this story than what is being presented in "this" article. Although this action may not have been initiated under Francis, I would think that he would have the authority to stop it. Why I find all the man-made dogma surrounding religion mind-boggling. As one commenter concludes:

The idea that Pope Francis excommunicated Reynolds for having unorthodox views is a little concerning. It doesn’t quite correlate with the rest of Francis’s beliefs and attitudes. The real reason Reynolds was excommunicated is very vague. “Heresy and violation of the sacrament.” This could mean anything. It is speculation to say that Francis did it because of his unorthodox views.

There are many examples of others who have shared similar views to Reynolds. Most weren’t excommunicated. Many powers are at play in the Vatican. It could’ve easily been another Church members influence that saw the excommunication of Reynolds. There quite frankly isn’t enough here to point the finger at Francis. The article admits this, thankfully.

Pope Francis Excommunicates Priest Who Backed Women’s Ordination and Gays | TIME.com

See also:
Excommunicated priest says majority agree but fear reprisals

He believes fellow priests and members of the Catholic congregation are too afraid to express their opinions for fear of repercussions from the church.

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Father Reynolds says while the letter is out dated by the Pope’s comments this week, he wanted the same thing as the Church’s leader was calling for and believed reform and renewal were necessary.

Australian priest, advocate for women's ordination excommunicated

The news came Sept. 18 through a canon lawyer for the Melbourne archdiocese, Fr. John Salvano, who invited Reynolds a few weeks earlier to meet "to discuss 'some canonical issue,' " Reynolds said. The former priest said Salvano presented him the letter of excommunication and proceeded to read it to him, since Reynolds did not read Latin.

Part of the shock stemmed from uncertainty with who initiated the excommunication and laicization process. During the meeting, Salvano told Reynolds that while Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart previously considered beginning the laicization process, he had not gone forward with that plan. Instead, unknown people had contacted the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which requested Reynolds' file from Hart.

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The letter, a copy of which NCR obtained and translated, accuses Reynolds of heresy (Canon 751) and determined he incurred latae sententiae excommunication for throwing away the consecrated host or retaining it "for a sacrilegious purpose" (Canon 1367). It also referenced Canon 1369 (speaking publicly against church teaching) in its review of the case.

What I find quite thought provoking is this comment:

I have absolutely no idea why women's ordination incurs such fear at the Vatican. I remember hearing at a lecture that the major stumbling block for the Episcopalians, when they really dug deep to find out where this prejudice originated, it went right down to a woman's menstrual cycle and old purity laws. My sincere wish is that we have these deep conversations to explore the deeper meanings and feelings around having women as priests. It doesn't seem very rational to ban half the population from a potential vocation and it is clear that Jesus had plenty of women functioning as priests with him.

Something to explore and I'm speculating that it has to due with the suppression of the Divine Feminine as a whole.