Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Divine Feminine by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

 

On December 12th, millions of people joyfully celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In every age, Mary has revealed an evolving consciousness of the Divine Feminine—a God not shaped by domination or hierarchy, but by tenderness, relationality, and radical presence. Nowhere is this more vivid than in the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where Mary appears as a compassionate, empowering embodiment of sacred feminine wisdom.

For millions, Guadalupe is more than an apparition. She is a revelation of God’s mothering presence, standing beside the poor and oppressed, speaking in their language, and affirming their dignity. Scholars have long noted the resonances between Guadalupe and the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, suggesting that Mary comes in familiar, indigenous symbols to reveal a God who meets people where they are.¹

The Divine Feminine in Guadalupe

In her tender words to Juan Diego—“Am I not here who am your mother?”—Mary unveils a vision of God as both Father and Mother, a Love who shelters, empowers, and heals. When the Divine includes feminine imagery, our worldview expands, enabling us to encounter God’s presence as compassionate, embracing, and life-giving.²

Mary becomes a sacrament of the Divine Feminine: She Who births, nourishes, and sustains all creation.

Love as the Ground of Being

Guadalupe’s message reminds us that God is not a distant judge but an intimate blessing, the One in whom we “live and move and have our being.”³ Her maternal compassion speaks across centuries:

• You are seen.

• You are loved.

• You are chosen.

• You are an image of God.

This is a theology of blessing rather than exclusion—a God whose love is universal, unbounded, and deeply present in human suffering. When we reclaim the feminine dimension of the Divine, the sacred becomes more spacious, rooted in equality and mutuality.⁴

A Spirituality of Oneness

Mary awakens a profound truth: we are not separate from God or one another. We are woven together in a seamless garment of divine life. Every act of justice becomes a sacrament of God’s presence; every gesture of compassion reveals our oneness in Love.

Guadalupe invites us into this mystical consciousness—a spirituality that honors Indigenous wisdom, Christian contemplation, and feminist theology. She shows us that our true home is the circle of love holding all creation.

A Vision for the Future Church

In a world longing for justice and healing, Guadalupe offers a path forward. She corrects patriarchal distortions, centers women’s voices, and reveals the sacred feminine as essential to Christian faith—not optional, but integral.

Movements such as the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests embrace this truth:
The Spirit calls whom She wills.
The Divine Feminine rises in women’s vocations, inclusive communities, and sacramental leadership throughout the world.

Guadalupe’s message is therefore a call to transformation:
To reclaim a God beyond gender,
to honor every person as an image of the Divine,
and to build a Church grounded in compassion, justice, and oneness.

In Mary’s tender and fierce presence, we glimpse a Church renewed—egalitarian, incarnational, and rooted in the Love that holds all life together.

Sources:

1. Jeanette Rodríguez, Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith and Empowerment Among Mexican-American Women (University of Texas Press, 1994).

2. Bridget Mary Meehan, Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God (Wipf & Stock, 2010), 42.

3. Acts 17:28.

4. Bridget Mary Meehan, Praying with Visionary Women (Wipf & Stock, 2006), 88.

We Are Church- Response to Vatican No on Women Deacons

 

Press Release 5 December 2025:       No Woman – No Church

 

We Are Church International is very disappointed that the ordination of Women Deacons has been rejected though not definitively by a commission of 5 men and 5 women. It is shocking that 5 of this commission believe that the masculinity of Christ is an integral part of sacramental identity!

Such commissions can be given a conservative or reformist bias, depending on who is selected. It would have been much better to use the Synodal process including all the people of God to determine if the Holy Spirit sees the equality of women as now long overdue in our Church.

Jesus was male, but he never ever displayed any masculine traits that would demean anyone. Jesus never instituted the priesthood!  Would he do so? When he was consistently criticizing the way 'priesthood' was being exercised in his time?  He had men and woman at his table at the last Passover with his disciples when he commanded all to do what he had done in memory of him viz. washing each other's feet and breaking his body for all.

Many women around the world are already performing the work of ordained priests without ordination even as deacons.  They are baptizing, conducting funerals, blessing marriages, and conducting Eucharistic liturgies. They hold communities together in Asia as well as in the West.  That this denial of the diaconate to women continues to happen without acknowledging this contribution of women only exhibits the deep-rooted misogyny in the Catholic Church.

In 1975 The Pontifical Biblical Commission on the Ordination of Women confirmed that there was nothing in scripture to exclude women from ordination. And on 26 October 2025 Pope Leo XlV confirmed that the inclusion of women was a cultural issue.  But it is time the Church evangelize cultures like Jesus did in his time, when he made a woman the first witness of his resurrection; he broke the cultural taboo of uncleanesswhen he allowed the woman with the flow of blood to touch him, he spoke to a Samaritan woman and discussed scripture with her.  These are some instances only.

We call on Pope Leo XlV to promote the ordination of women as it is a scandal for our Church to treat women as inferior and subordinate to men.This gives a false role model which supports patriarchal structures aroundthe world leading to the physical, sexual and spiritual abuse of women.

We Are Church International will continue to work and pray for the full equality of women in our communities at grassroots levels where real reforms are taking place.

 

Press contacts:

Colm Holmes, Chair We Are Church International  
Email: colmholmes2020@gmail.com     ​​Phone: +353 86606 3636

Dr Martha Heizer,  Vice-Chair We Are Church International
Email: martha@heizer.at           ​​​Phone: +43 650 4168500
W  www.we-are-church.org

 

We Are Church International (WAC) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed therefrom.

Vatican's Rejection of Female Deacons Contradicts Jesus Example of a Love that Embraces All by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

 The Vatican’s recent declaration that women cannot be ordained as deacons—and that the priesthood is “definitively closed to women”—rests on the deeply disturbing claim that Christ’s masculinity is essential to ordained ministry. This argument is not only theologically weak; it reveals a profound failure to recognize the Divine shining through women’s lives, bodies, gifts, and Spirit-filled callings. It reduces the Incarnation to biology rather than proclaiming the Gospel truth that God became human—not male—to reveal a love that embraces all. This decree makes women second class-citizens in a male-dominant clerical Church. 

From the beginning, Jesus shattered the boundaries of patriarchal religion. He entrusted the first proclamation of Resurrection to Mary Magdalene, commissioned women as preachers and leaders, and formed a community of equals grounded not in gender hierarchy but in mutuality, justice, and love. To deny women’s full inclusion in sacramental ministry is to deny the very pattern of discipleship Jesus lived and taught. It is not women who are diminished by this exclusion—it is the Church itself, which shrinks its own sacramental imagination and silences the Spirit still speaking through the baptized.

All people are created in the full image and likeness of God. When the Church refuses to recognize women’s sacramental authority, it wounds its own credibility, distorts the Gospel, and turns away from the living Christ breaking bread in women’s hands around open tables across the world. This moment calls the Church not to double down on fear, but to rise into courageous fidelity to the radical inclusivity of Jesus, who never once excluded women from God’s call.

Near, Within, and Among Us” Matthew 3:1-12 December 7, 2025 Rev. Annie Watson, Holy Family Catholic Church

 “

 

John the Baptist said it first: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then, later, after John had been arrested, Jesus took his message and made it his own: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

Jesus may have struck a different tone than John the Baptist, one that is less harsh and judgmental, but he continued to proclaim John’s core message of renewing our lives, what he called“repentance,” and acknowledging that the kingdom of God is at hand. Because Jesus took this message and made it his own, we can assume that he thought it was important. 

Let’s focus on the second part of his message, about the kingdom of God (heaven). What does he mean when he says it is “at hand”? I tend to think there are three ways to think about this, all of which are true. The kingdom of God is near, within us, and among us. 

First, to say that something is “at hand” suggests that it is within reach. It is nearby in a spatial way. The realm of God is not some distant reality. We don’t have to travel across oceans orvast deserts to get there. We don’t have to go on a pilgrimage to some far-off place to find it. It is not hidden in secret places, like caves or deserted monasteries. It is always near us spatially.

It is also near to us in a temporal way. It is not something that is reserved for the future alone. Jesus didn’t teach that we should wait passively for heaven. We participate in it now by allowing God’s Spirit to reign in our hearts.

It is in the here and now. It is present wherever God’s love is lived, wherever mercy triumphs over judgment, and wherever forgiveness replaces resentment. It is not “just around the corner” because there is no corner in the kingdom of God.

Second, the kingdom of God is within us. By “us,” I mean us as individuals. The kingdom of God is within you. This means that every act of kindness, every prayer whispered in faith, every sacrifice made for love’s sake is a seed of the kingdom. 

When Jesus says the kingdom of God is as tiny as a mustard seed but grows into something big, he could be saying that it begins in each one of us. The kingdom is at hand because it is in our hands. 

Third, the kingdom of God is among us. The seed lies in each one of us, but just as seeds are sown together in a field, the kingdom of God becomes a community. It is a reality when we gather as a church, when we pool our resources together andcare for the poor, and when we reconcile with one another. 

It is not just about personal holiness, but about building a community where God’s justice and peace flourish. Every time we choose compassion over indifference, we extend the kingdom’s reach into the world. 

The kingdom of God is near to us, within each one of us, and among all of us. It is multidimensional. It permeates every part of our lives. Because of that, we are called to live differently: to forgive quickly, serve generously, pray faithfully, and love unconditionally. 

The kingdom of God is not a distant dream; it is a present reality waiting for us to embrace it. So, let us open our eyes to see it, our hearts to welcome it, and our lives to live it. Amen.

Vatican Says No, Women Priests Say Go, Response to Commission's Rejection of Women Deacons

 

In our recent media release, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) strongly rejects the Vatican's recent reaffirmation that women cannot be ordained, calling it a patriarchal distortion of the Gospel that ignores Jesus's commissioning of women like Mary Magdalene as apostles. Sadly their main argument is pure misogyny. A woman does not have the right male body part for the role!

ARCWP argues that denying women sacramental authority contradicts scripture, history (noting women's ordination for the first millennium), and the Spirit's call, with women in their movement already serving as priests and deacons in inclusive communities.  The Vatican's stance is stifling the Church's mission, hindering equality, and failing to recognize the divine call in women, calling instead for a return to baptismal equality where all are welcome in ministry. 

Scriptural Inaccuracy: The Vatican's claim that Jesus didn't choose women for priestly roles is false, given Mary Magdalene's role as the first preacher of the Resurrection, according to the Gospels.

Historical Precedent: For the first 1,000 years, women served as deacons with Holy Orders, a practice the modern Church unjustly ended. In addition, there is  evidence of women serving in priestly ministry in the early centuries of the Church's history. 

 Archaeology and inscriptions (2nd-6th centuries CE), strongly suggests women served as priests (presbyterae) and bishops (episcopae) in early Christianity with depictions in art showing women at altars and epitaphs naming female clergy in places like Italy, North Africa, and Asia Minor, though definitions of ordination and clerical roles differed from modern views. See  calendars with depictions by Dorothy Irvin and The Hidden History of Women's Ordination by Gary Macy.

Denial of the Divine: By excluding women, the Church denies God's image in women and diminishes itself, not just women.

Gospel vs. Patriarchy: The Vatican's decision reshapes the Gospel to fit a patriarchal structure, rather than embracing the truth of Jesus's inclusive vision.

Prophetic Obedience: ARCWP sees its ordinations as prophetic obedience, moving beyond talk to action by creating inclusive communities where women deacons and priests serve.

Call for Equality: They advocate for a model of Church rooted in baptismal equality, where all ministries, including ordination, are open to called and prepared individuals, serving God's people. 

What the Vatican Commission Said (Context):

A Vatican commission voted against ordaining women deacons but noted the discussion isn't settled, according to reports from December 2025.

The commission cited the "masculinity of Christ" as integral to sacramental identity, a point ARCWP finds theologically unsound and an insult.

Pope Leo is expected to consider the commission's findings, which came after years of study and consultation, including input from women's groups. 

ARCWP/RCWP have requested a meeting with Pope Leo to share our vocations to serve the people of God in inclusive communities and ministries. But so far, we have not received a response. I pray daily that Pope Leo will open the door to conversation with us.

All Are Blessed and Beloved- like Mary, Mother of Jesus - Feast of the Immaculate Conception by Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

A Litany: Blessed and Beloved

St. Photios Greek Orthodox Church, St. Augustine, Fl. 

O Passionate Creator, today we celebrate  Mary, Mother of Jesus, as blessed and beloved from the first moment of her existence.
May we affirm our deepest reality as blessed and beloved from the moment of our conception. 

O Nurturing God may we see your feminine face. 
May we open our hearts, like Mary, to give and receive God's mothering love.

O Wisdom, Sophia, may we be contemplate our oneness in the cosmos.
May we like Mary, reflect the depths of love that connects us to one another and builds community

O Heart of Compassion, may we see you in the lowly and oppressed.
May we, like Mary, our sister, live as disciples and equals, in generous service to those in need.

O Doer of Justice  may we take action for justice and equality in our world.
May, we like Mary, act as champions of  the least and last, and transform unjust structures and policies.

O Giver of All Gifts,  may we give abundantly of our times, presence and treasure.
May, we, like Mary, serve  those who would  appreciate a listening ear, a loving heart and a good meal.

O Blessed and Beloved, we are the Body of Christ in our world today.
May, we like Mary, live peacefully, love tenderly and live simply, aware of our oneness and responsibility to all  living beings on earth. 

Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org

Travel Light. Follow the Light. Be the Light By Rev. Dick Vosko

Travel Light. Follow the Light. Be the Light.
This homily was presented at the closing liturgy of a retreat.
The Second Sunday of Advent - Year A
Sister Joan Mary Hartigan, CSJ was the retreat leader
The Dominican Retreat & Conference Center, Niskayuna, NY

So. “How are you doing?” It is a friendly question isn't it? How often lately do we hear this reply, “Just hangin’ in there.” These times are difficult. And, for many people they are … just hanging in there. The problems are well known and weigh in on all of us — the affordability crisis, food insecurity, housing shortages, international conflicts, societal polarizations and a government that appears to have no moral bearing. If you’re frightened by this list, so am I.
Perhaps that is why a silent retreat feels so good to you right now? Advent, after all, is a season filled with great expectations, visions for humanity, for all of creation. This time is designed to fill us with rich and imaginative insights about our lives and the ways in which we empathize with others.
I read the notes from your retreat leader Sr. Joan Mary Hartigan, CSJ. She set the theme for your weekend — “Holy Visitation: Travel Light, Follow the Light, Be the Light.” I thought to myself, “what more could I say?” I wondered what can today’s biblical texts add to your retreat and to my Advent journey?
In the religious imagination mountain tops are thought to be close to where God lives. If you could just reach that summit you would be OK. The Hebrew word for such heights is pisgah -- a place from which you can see far into the future. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could see what is in store for us.
Last week the scriptures summoned us to that mountaintop, the eternal City of Jerusalem, a place where people could be safe, secure and live in harmony with other people. As we know, strife in the Middle East today challenges that prophetic expectation.
In the first reading today, Isaiah (11:1-10) continues to brim with the hope that someone might rise up to lead people up to that holy mountain. His concern was urgent. The Israelites were being pummeled again and again by a powerful Assyrian regime that would destroy the people and their cities.
Isaiah believed that the people would survive if only they had a leader who was wise, strong and who stood in awe of God; one who would maintain justice for poor and afflicted people. The “shoot of Jesse” rising up from the stump is a metaphor for the destroyed City of Jerusalem. And, it is a reference to military victories.
Christians have interpreted Isaiah’s reckonings to mean that Jesus of Nazareth will be the hero. Actually, biblical scholars remind us that Isaiah was referring to the dire need for a liberator for the Israelites at that time — the boy king Josiah would be that leader.
Josiah, a descendant of David, initiated a religious renaissance, rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple. Sadly, the peace lasted for only about 30 years when the Babylonians recaptured the Israelites and placed them into exile.
Much later, John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-12) also preached enthusiastically about a hero, the Coming One, who would be the liberator. John, the educated son of a priest, would be part of an elite class if he were alive today. Feeling the need to change his life he retreated to the wilderness where he lived off the grid.
John identified with those living on the fringes of society. He condemned the elite class for paying attention to their own agendas at the expense of others. His message to them was to repent, change their ways of living, experience a metamorphosis, have a change of heart.
Another way to grasp this challenge is found in the Hebrew word tikkun — to repair the world. The apostle Paul (Romans 15:4-9) sought to rectify the relationships between Jews and Gentiles as he addressed the tensions between classes and cultures. He called for endurance in working for harmony, ending divisions among people. Would his advice change hearts today?
The passage in Isaiah imagines opponents becoming friends. It is a call to make justice flourish. (Psalm 72) In Hebrew the word is tzedakah, which refers not merely to acts of loving kindness toward others but more poignantly to a social obligation to defend people from the ills of humanity and oppressive leadership. That is our vocation. To make things right again in our country and elsewhere. It is an Advent expectation.
On this retreat Sr. Joan Mary said, “In silence we hear God’s whisper moving like a feather through our being stroking and caressing timid souls into fiery passion for reconciliation, justice, and peace.”
Advent is a season not only to embrace the light of Christ for our own benefit but to shine it upon others. Pope Leo recently urged us to do so. During his recent visit to Turkey and Lebanon he focused on Isaiah’s call for a world at peace.
In Pope Leo’s words this call is urgent. He said, “How great is the need for peace, unity and reconciliation around us, within us and among us.” He then added: “What can our contribution be in response?” Pope Leo’s question is for you and for me to answer. The invitation is clear: travel light, follow the light, be the light.




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Catholic Women Priests Continue to Seek Dialogue with Pope Leo After Vatican Rejects Women Deacons by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Roman Catholic Women Priests in Rome for Spirit Unbounded Conference in 2023

At the heart of ARCWP’s vocation is a steadfast commitment to gospel-centered dialogue—the kind of listening that is rooted not in fear or control, but in trust in the Spirit who speaks through the whole community. Dialogue is not a strategy for avoiding conflict; it is a sacramental practice of mutual reverence, where we encounter Christ in one another’s stories, questions, wounds, and wisdom.

True dialogue calls us to stay at the table when it would be easier to leave, to listen across difference, and to resist the temptation to silence or dismiss voices that unsettle us. In this way, dialogue becomes an extension of our open-table Eucharistic theology: no one is excluded.

As a renewal movement, ARCWP grows through holy wrestling—the courageous exchange of perspectives held in mutual respect. We recognize that discernment unfolds through conversation over time, through prayerful questioning, through mistakes and conversions, through shared silence and shared speech. Dialogue is how the community listens together for what the Spirit is birthing among us.

In a Church culture shaped by centuries of top-down authority, ARCWP intentionally models a different way: co-responsibility instead of control, accompaniment instead of domination, relationship instead of regulation. Dialogue keeps us grounded in this vision. It protects us from becoming what we seek to transform. 

Many of our members have written personal letters, and the bishops of the international Roman Catholic Women Priests movement have formally written to Pope Leo with this same invitation—requesting an open and respectful conversation in which we may share our lived experiences of vocation and ministry, for the sake of a Church that can truly flourish as an inclusive spiritual home for all God’s people.

MEDIA STATEMENT: ARCWP to Vatican: The Holy Spirit Calls Women—"No Decree Can Stop That”

Contact: 

Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan 

(703-505-0004) 

sofiabmm.bmm@gmail.com

Press Release Title:
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests to Vatican: The Holy Spirit Calls Women—'No Decree Can Stop That'

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) rejects the Vatican’s December 4 declaration reaffirming that women cannot be ordained as deacons or priests. This statement, presented as definitive doctrine, contradicts both the Gospels and the lived experience of the People of God.

The Gospels tell a different story. Jesus commissioned Mary Magdalene—a woman—as the first preacher of the Resurrection and the first apostolic witness. To deny women’s sacramental authority is to deny Jesus’ own choice and to reshape the Gospel around patriarchy rather than truth.

Women are equal images of the Divine, created in God’s likeness and called—like all disciples—to preach, to bless, and to lead. A Church that refuses to see God in women’s bodies cannot credibly claim to see God in bread and wine.

Across the world, women and gender inclusive people in our movement are already serving as priests, deacons, and bishops in inclusive Catholic communities where all are welcome to receive and celebrate sacraments. They are engaged in a wide diversity of ministries such as sacramental presiders, preachers, chaplains, spiritual directors, teachers, social justice advocates, compassionate care-givers and so much more

More Information:
https://arcwp.org
https://romancatholicwomenpriests.org/

Press Release : EiN: 

https://www.einpresswire.com/press-releases/

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests to Vatican: The Holy Spirit Calls Women—'No Decree Can Stop That'
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ARCWP and RCWP Ordain Women as Vatican Reaffirms Exclusion By Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

 

 

On December 4th, the Vatican once again declared that women cannot be ordained as deacons and that the priesthood is “definitively closed to women.” This statement, wrapped in the language of settled doctrine, is in truth neither settled nor faithful to the example of Jesus in the Gospels. It represents not a defense of tradition but a refusal to see the Divine shining through women’s lives, bodies, gifts, and Spirit-filled callings.

The deeper tragedy of this announcement is that it denies a truth at the very heart of Christianity:
Women are equal images of the Divine, created in the fullness of God’s likeness and called—like all disciples—to preach, to bless, to lead, and to serve.

For years I have written that whenever the Church denies the sacramental presence of the Holy in women, it is not women who are diminished, but the Church itself. This moment calls for clarity, courage, and a return to the actual Gospel story.

Jesus Chose Women as Proclaimers, Witnesses, and Apostles

The institution’s claim that Jesus “did not choose women for priestly ministry” collapses under even the most basic reading of the Gospels. The resurrected Christ entrusted the entire Christian message—the good news of Risen Life—to a woman: Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles.

When Jesus commissions her to “Go and tell,” he is ordaining her with the very authority that defines apostolic ministry. She becomes the first preacher of Easter, the first to proclaim resurrection faith, the first to carry the sacrament of hope to a grieving community. No bishop, no priest, no theologian in history has ever surpassed the truth of that moment.

To deny women’s sacramental authority is to deny Jesus’ own choice.
To exclude women from ordained ministry is to rewrite the Gospel to fit patriarchy’s preferences.

A Theology Rooted in the Equal Image of God

Genesis proclaims a truth that echoes through every age:
“God created humankind in God’s image… male and female God created them.”

This is the foundation of sacramental theology.
If women are images of the Divine—if the Holy One breathes through their bodies, their wisdom, their leadership, their compassion—then the sacraments cannot be restricted by gender without violating the very mystery they mediate.

Women baptize life into being.
Women break open the bread of justice and nurture.
Women pour out healing, mercy, and reconciliation.
Women preside daily at the altar of lived experience.

To say women cannot preside at Eucharist is to deny the Incarnation already happening within and among them.

A church that refuses to see God in women’s bodies cannot credibly claim to see God in bread and wine.

A Failure of Vision, and a Failure of Doctrine

The December 4th statement is not a doctrinal triumph. It is a spiritual failure.

It fails to see women as God sees them: radiant, gifted bearers of Wisdom-Sophia.
It fails to listen to the cries of the baptized who long for a Church where justice is not optional.
It fails to trust the Spirit who continues to call women to priesthood, diaconate, prophetic leadership, and sacramental ministry throughout the world.

Most importantly, it fails to follow Jesus, who consistently broke boundaries, lifted up the marginalized, and refused to make gender a condition for discipleship.

The Movement for Women’s Ordination Is the Holy Spirit’s Renewal, Not Rebellion

Across the globe, women are already serving as priests, deacons, bishops, and sacramental leaders in communities of equals. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Roman Catholic Womenpriests, and countless Catholic communities testify that the Spirit is not waiting for permission. The Spirit is moving with the unstoppable force of resurrection. Women and non-binary people are claiming their place around the sacred table in inclusive Catholic communities around the world where all are welcome to receive and celebrate sacraments.

We do not stand outside the Church.
We stand within its deepest truth: that the Body of Christ has no “lesser members.”

As I often say: Excommunication cannot cancel baptism.
A decree cannot silence vocation.
And hierarchy cannot cage the Holy One.

A Gospel Call for the Church to Rise

The Vatican’s declaration is not the final word.
The Gospel is.

And the Gospel tells us that the first preacher was a woman.
The first apostolic witness was a woman.
The first commission of the Risen Christ was given to a woman.

Mary Magdalene stands at the empty tomb as the Church’s original model of ordained ministry:
called, empowered, sent.

Her proclamation still echoes: “I have seen the Lord.”

Today, as women continue to rise in every corner of the Church, we echo her cry—not in defiance, but in fidelity to the One who first called us.

Toward a Church of Radical Equality

A Church that denies women sacramental leadership denies its own future.
But a Church that embraces women’s full equality will discover a renewed priesthood, expanded compassion, deeper justice, and a spirituality that mirrors Jesus’ inclusive table.

To all who are discouraged by the Vatican’s December 4th decree, hear this truth:

The Spirit is not finished with the Church.
She is just getting started.

And as long as women continue to say yes—as prophets, priests, apostles, mystics, and midwives of hope—the Church will continue to be reborn. Women Priests are leading a worldwide renewal in the international Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement. While the Vatican Commission says women cannot be ordained, women are ordaining women. While the all-male hierarchy refuses, the Spirit moves and women deacons and priests rise up in loving service to God’s people. For more information about the worldwide movement: https://arcwp.org/  https://romancatholicwomenpriests.org/