Judy Lee in center presiding at Church in the Park where a community of volunteers hosts a dinner for those in need in Ft. Myers, Florida. Judy will be ordained a priest in Boston in July 2008. The letter below is her response to a letter by Bishop Frank Dewane that stated: "The opportunity is taken to inform you once again that, should you proceed with this action of attempting ordination, that you will in fact separte yourself from the Catholic Church, by your own free choice."
June 23, 2008
Dear Bishop Dewane:
Thank you for sharing the official position of the church regarding "automatic excommunication" personally with me in your letter of 6/17/2008. I learned about this in The New York Times and from other sources on May 30, 2008. It is always good to be individualized. Now I extend the same respect and courtesy to you and respond to your letter.
I have been called by the Holy Spirit to priestly service and can not deny the call. Therefore I continue in my intention to receive Holy Orders on June 20th in Massachusetts. I do not think the traditions of the Church that developed after the early years when women clearly served as Deacons, Presbyters, and Bishops, supercede the call of the Spirit. "The harvest is many and the laborers few," and women are being called to the harvest. God is calling. We are answering, “Yes!” With my sisters and brother priests in the Roman Catholic Women Priests I reject the penalty of excommunication. We are loyal members of the church who stand in the prophetic tradition of holy disobedience to an unjust law that discriminates against women and men who are married or openly and honestly gay.
Your own background as Under Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 2001-2006 and serving on the Pontifical Council Cor Unum from 1995-2001 sets you apart as one who is dedicated to justice and peace and charity throughout the world. You also follow the peace and justice leadership of Bishop John Nevins who championed the needs of the migrant farm workers in this Diocese. Therefore the church's contradictory and punitive behavior toward women and others called by God to serve and to enact justice must be difficult for you. My lifelong dedication in Christian service as a social worker, social work educator, theoretician, author and activist has also been to peace and justice. I too have championed the cause of the migrant worker with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers here in Southwest Florida. I also served at St. Peter Claver Catholic Mission in Fort Myers some years ago until its internal and clerical troubles nearly tore it apart. I still work voluntarily on my own with impoverished families from that church. For several years I also offered pro bono professional services with the elderly and others through the Visitation Ministry of Our Lady of Light Catholic Community. Now you are saying that they can not serve me the Eucharist - that I have no seat at the Table.
I continue to serve the poorest here in Lee County. As I noted in my earlier letter I am considered the Pastor of the Friday Night Church in the Park. This is an ecumenical service effort with over fifty volunteers by now, many of them Catholic. In a recent survey of seventy regular attendees of our feeding and worship services we learned that most of our people are homeless and have no source of income in this economy. Many are Roman Catholics. Most are American citizens, many are veterans of our wars, and some are here as migrant workers. We serve children, families, men, women and the elderly. All are suffering spiritually as well as economically, medically and socially. We are having some success in ending homelessness and poverty one individual or family at a time. With God's grace I will continue to serve as their priest. I invite you to join us in worship on any Friday night and experience the beautiful faith of the poorest of the poor in this Diocese. God has called. The people have welcomed me and call me forth to serve. I do not need permission, but in recognizing your wisdom and passion for justice I would love to serve the poor with you here in Fort Myers.
I remain, your sister in Christ,
Dr. Judith A. Lee, RCWP
Thank you for sharing the official position of the church regarding "automatic excommunication" personally with me in your letter of 6/17/2008. I learned about this in The New York Times and from other sources on May 30, 2008. It is always good to be individualized. Now I extend the same respect and courtesy to you and respond to your letter.
I have been called by the Holy Spirit to priestly service and can not deny the call. Therefore I continue in my intention to receive Holy Orders on June 20th in Massachusetts. I do not think the traditions of the Church that developed after the early years when women clearly served as Deacons, Presbyters, and Bishops, supercede the call of the Spirit. "The harvest is many and the laborers few," and women are being called to the harvest. God is calling. We are answering, “Yes!” With my sisters and brother priests in the Roman Catholic Women Priests I reject the penalty of excommunication. We are loyal members of the church who stand in the prophetic tradition of holy disobedience to an unjust law that discriminates against women and men who are married or openly and honestly gay.
Your own background as Under Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 2001-2006 and serving on the Pontifical Council Cor Unum from 1995-2001 sets you apart as one who is dedicated to justice and peace and charity throughout the world. You also follow the peace and justice leadership of Bishop John Nevins who championed the needs of the migrant farm workers in this Diocese. Therefore the church's contradictory and punitive behavior toward women and others called by God to serve and to enact justice must be difficult for you. My lifelong dedication in Christian service as a social worker, social work educator, theoretician, author and activist has also been to peace and justice. I too have championed the cause of the migrant worker with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers here in Southwest Florida. I also served at St. Peter Claver Catholic Mission in Fort Myers some years ago until its internal and clerical troubles nearly tore it apart. I still work voluntarily on my own with impoverished families from that church. For several years I also offered pro bono professional services with the elderly and others through the Visitation Ministry of Our Lady of Light Catholic Community. Now you are saying that they can not serve me the Eucharist - that I have no seat at the Table.
I continue to serve the poorest here in Lee County. As I noted in my earlier letter I am considered the Pastor of the Friday Night Church in the Park. This is an ecumenical service effort with over fifty volunteers by now, many of them Catholic. In a recent survey of seventy regular attendees of our feeding and worship services we learned that most of our people are homeless and have no source of income in this economy. Many are Roman Catholics. Most are American citizens, many are veterans of our wars, and some are here as migrant workers. We serve children, families, men, women and the elderly. All are suffering spiritually as well as economically, medically and socially. We are having some success in ending homelessness and poverty one individual or family at a time. With God's grace I will continue to serve as their priest. I invite you to join us in worship on any Friday night and experience the beautiful faith of the poorest of the poor in this Diocese. God has called. The people have welcomed me and call me forth to serve. I do not need permission, but in recognizing your wisdom and passion for justice I would love to serve the poor with you here in Fort Myers.
I remain, your sister in Christ,
Dr. Judith A. Lee, RCWP
1 comment:
Greetings, I have a new coming out shortly, Back To The Source: The Spiritual Principles Of Jesus. The second largest chapter is on the (mis)treatment of women in the church. Is this something in which you would be interested?
Mic Hunter
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