Finnish priest suspended in row over women priests

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3019

[Religious Intelligence] 9 Oct 2008--The Archbishop of Turku has suspended a male priest for refusing to serve alongside a woman priest.

On Oct 7, the Turku cathedral chapter informed the pastor of Vammala, the Rev Markus Malmivaara that his license to officiate as a minister of the Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church had been suspended for 90 days by Archbishop Jukka Paarma for contumacy. Mr Malmivaara had refused to celebrate the sacraments alongside women clergy. His claim to be acting out of conscience and theological principle was not held to be grounds for disobedience.In

September 2006 a committee of the Finnish House of Bishops chaired by the Bishop of Espoo, the Rt Rev Mikko Heikka recommended that congregations no longer be permitted to allow ministers to absent themselves from services where they would have to serve with a female priest, nor would the parish be permitted to accommodate traditionalist clergy by scheduling male clergy only services.

The committee recommendations prompted protests from Finnish traditionalists, who mounted a petition drive that attracted approximately 100 signatures objecting to the new rules. However, the House of Bishops adopted the new rules, saying they would provide pastoral support and guidance to traditionalists. Male clergy could not refuse to con-celebrate the sacraments with women clergy, but were granted the right to decline to receive Eucharistic elements consecrated by a female priest.