Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Article by Gary Macy on Visitation of Religious Orders

Gary Macy, scholar and church historian cites that the present Vatican investigation of apostolic religious orders in the United States is not in continuity with the first twelve hundred years of the church's history.
For example:

"Early abbesses were powerful and acted independently not only of the papacy, but also of the local bishop. In fact, the most impressive example is the powerful Cistercian abbess of Las Huelgas near Burgos in Spain who wore her miter and carried her crosier until she was finally forbidden to do so in 1873. The abbess had the power to appoint parish priests for the countryside subject to the convent of Las Huelgas, some 64 villages. No bishop or delegate from the Holy See could perform a visitation of the churches or altars or curates or clerics or benefices under the care of the abbess. The abbess of Las Huelgas was even able to convene synods in her diocese and to make synodal constitutions and laws for both her religious and lay subjects."

http://ncronline.org/news/women/visitors-past

In addition, Gary Macy, in his book, The Hidden History of Women's Ordination, points out that for the first twelve hundred years of the church's history, women were ordained.
It is time to reclaim our ancient heritage of women as equals and partners in the church both in Holy Orders and in religious life. It is my hope that many nuns, especially those with vocations to priestly ministry in a renewed church, will make these connections and together with Roman Catholic Womenpriests be agents of transformation, bringing justice and equality to our church.
St. Mary of Magdala, Phoebe, Prisca, Aquila, Lydia, Brigit of Kildare, Clare of Assisi and all you holy women and men who have before us as prophetic witnesses, pray for us.
Bridget Mary Meehan

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : St. Mary Magdala Celebrations

(courtesy Charlotte Therese artist)

We will celebrate a liturgy in honor of St. Mary Magdala, apostle, on her feast day, July 22, 2009 in Falls Church, VA. at 7:00 pm For more information, email Bridget Mary Meehan at sofiabmm@aol.com or call 703-671-6712


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2009

Contact:
Sr. Christine Schenk (Cleveland, Ohio)
216-228-0869; 216-513-3647 (cell)

Mary Louise Hartman (Princeton, New Jersey)
609-924-9529

Women in Ministry with St. Paul focus of over 200 international Mary Magdala Celebrations:
Organizers Request Vatican to Restore Deleted Women Leaders in Lectionary

CLEVELAND, OH: In mid-July, organizers across the US and in Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Uganda will join together in a worldwide effort to expand awareness of women leaders in the early Church, especially Mary of Magdala, Phoebe, Prisca, Lydia and other little known women leaders who ministered with f St. Paul.

The Vatican designated this past year as the Year of St. Paul and invited Catholics to more fully reflect on his important role in the church. FutureChurch's Mary of Magdala this year will celebrate the often unnoticed women who ministered alongside of St. Paul. Participants will also be asked to send postcards to Vatican leaders asking them to include the missing stories of biblical women leaders.

"Many people mistakenly believe St. Paul was anti-women," Said FutureChurch Director Sr. Christine Schenk, Yet, as Pope Benedict himself has said so well, St. Paul worked closely with women leaders such as Phoebe, Junia, Lydia and Prisca (papal address February 14, 2007). Unfortunately, Romans 16, a passage that names eleven women and identifies some of them as deacons, apostles, and co-workers, is never proclaimed on a Sunday. Nor are the accounts of women leaders in the Acts of the Apostles (Lydia, Prisca, Tabitha), which are read only on the weekdays of Easter, so most Catholics never hear about their important ministry alongside Paul. (For more information, see "Women in the Bible and Lectionary" by Ruth Fox OSB, published in 1996 by Liturgy 90)

"St. Mary of Magdala was a foremost leader in the early Church, led the group of women who accompanied Jesus at his death, and first proclaimed the good news of his resurrection. She was not a prostitute as some believe. For centuries Mary of Magdala's story, like those of the women leaders in the ministry of St. Paul, has been minimized or excised from the official lectionary used in both Catholic and Protestant churches," said Sr. Christine Schenk of FutureChurch.

For the past two years, FutureChurch spearheaded a campaign to "put women back in the biblical picture" at last October's Synod on the Word. For the first time in history Catholic bishops meeting in a synod "recognized and encouraged" the ministry of women of the Word, discussed the need to restore women's stories to the Lectionary, and invited the greatest number of women ever to participate as auditors and biblical experts.

Although the synod is over, the work to open an examination of the Lectionary as recommended by Synod Proposal 16 is not done. Participants at Mary of Magdala celebrations across the nation will be sending paper and electronic postcards to Cardinal Antionia Cañizares Llovera, Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship encouraging him and the synod committee to follow through on this proposal. Specifically, the postcards ask to:

· Open an examination of the Lectionary to "see if the actual selection and ordering of the readings are truly adequate to the mission of the Church in this historic moment," as recommended by Synod Proposal 16.

· Restore women leaders such as Phoebe (Romans 16) and Lois and Eunice (2 Tim 1:4, 5) to Lectionary texts from which they have been deleted.

· Include stories about other women leaders such as Shiprah and Puah, the midwives who saved a nation of Hebrew boy-children, perhaps even Moses.

· Convene a gender-balanced group of biblical scholars and liturgists to decide which women's stories would be most fruitful for prayer, preaching and catechesis if added to the Lectionary.

"We think it's important for women and men to learn the contemporary scholarship about women in the early Church and we are especially happy to have a celebration in which women can preside and preach at worship," said Mary Louise Hartman of Princeton, New Jersey, FutureChurch Board member

To educate about women leaders and to model gender balance in scripture proclamation, FutureChurch began special international celebrations of the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala in 1998. Each year nearly 300 such events are held in mid July. Participants hear presentations by biblical scholars about early women leaders and experience prayer services at which competently prepared women preach and preside.

"One of the reasons the Mary of Magdala celebrations have proved so enduring is that Catholic women and men are edified to discover that Jesus included women in his Galilean discipleship. Most Catholics mistakenly believe that Jesus called only men, when in fact Luke 8:1-3 tells us Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Susanna and many other women accompanied him in Galilee. Since the Lukan reading is never read on a Sunday, the stories of Jesus' women disciples are rarely if ever the subject of homiletic attention," says Chris Schenk, FutureChurch Executive Director.

For each of the past thirteen years FutureChurch spearheaded between 200 and 300 special celebrations of the July 22 Feast of St. Mary of Magdala in the U.S. and worldwide. The prayer services always highlight biblical women leaders and women's leadership in the Church. They will engage between 30 and 300 people in parishes, convents, Catholic schools, Protestant churches, private homes and small faith communities.

Sample electronic postcards and a list of celebrations nationwide are available at www.futurechurch.org


To contact a local organizer in your area call Sr. Chris Schenk at 216-228-0869 x 4 or Ms. Emily Holtel-Hoag at 216-228-0869 x 3

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Highlights of Ordinations of Women Bishops- 9 min.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C2k7F6110k

On this 9 min. video, you will see some highlights of the historic ordinations of the first women bishops in the United States to serve our growing movement. Bishops have a pastoral and spiritual role in the movement. They are not on the Leadership Circle/LC. The Leadership Circle perform the administrative tasks. Priests do not promise obedience to a bishop. Notice that at our ordinations, women prostrate before the altar, not the bishop(s) as a symbol of our consecration to serving God and the people. Also note that the people prayed with the bishops the prayer of consecration, and although not seen in this short video, the community lays hands on the ordinands. Look at slide show on right hand corner of blog and you will see the people laying hands as well as the presiding bishops.

www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
sofiabmm@aol.com
Bridget Mary Meehan

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : " US Nuns facing Vatican Scrutiny"

New York Times article (July 2, 2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/us/02nuns.html?_r=1&hp

Commentary:
One of the reasons that the nuns incurred the Vatican's wrath is their support of justice for women in the church specifically the issue of women's ordination.
In a recent letter, Roman Catholic Womenpriests extended our prayerful support and expressed our solidarity with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious/ LCWR and the apostolic orders who are undergoing Vatican investigation. Religious women have been prophets over the centuries and challenged our institutional church to live the Gospels. We are, like many Catholics and non-Catholics, are grateful to the nuns for their dedication and service to God's people especially those on the margins of society.
It is my hope that these gutsy women continue to speak truth to power as courageous witnesses of Christ's compassion and justice in our world. Our church and world needs their witness to Gospel equality now more than ever! Some fear that the Vatican will impose an older model of pre-Vatican 11 traditional convent life. Others suggest that perhaps it is time for the women religious to drop their canonical status and adopt a new, renewed model of religious life similar to Sisters for Christian Community/SFCC. (my community). Our rule of life is the Gospel and our charism is building community so that all may be one. There are many options for women religious to consider that could offer fresh possibilities for a future, unimpeded by Vatican interference. Nuns have mountain-moving faith and and as we know all things are possible for God. My guess is that we are in for some surprises by the Spirit here.
The movement for full equality of women in the church is moving forward and becoming a reality in grassroots communities now as Roman Catholic Womenpriests respond to the call to serve God's people in a community of equals. Let justice flow like a river to end all oppressive domination and usher in freedom and equality for God's beloved people. Sisters, the ball is in your court now, take the lead! Anyone called to priestly ministry?
Bridget Mary Meehan, rcwp
sofiabmm@aol.com

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Benedict XVI: Church Needs Change of Mentality/ARCC spot LIght

Members of Mary, Mother of Jesus Community pray over
Bridget Mary Meehan in preparation for her ordination as bishop.

The article below indicates a welcome shift to "pastoral co-responsibility" It also is a reminder that women, half of the church's membership are excluded from priestly ministry and full equality in the church. It is time for the Vatican to address the issue of justice for all including women in the church.The people on the margins have moved to the mainstream and reflect Christ's example of a discipleship of equals.They are taking pastoral co-responsibility in empowered, prophetic communities in a number of ways including calling women forth to serve their faith communities as deacons, priests and bishops. This is the charism, the gift that the Roman Catholic Womenpriests' movement brings to our beloved church. Yes, Pope Benedict, the church needs a change of mentality and Catholics are moving forward to live this renewed vision now. Amen to ARCC's article!

Bridget Mary Meehan, rcwp

ARCC spot LIGHT (analysis of Church issues offered by the ARCC Publications Committee, R. Schutzius, ed.)

Benedict XVI: Church Needs Change of Mentality

ROME, MAY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- "Lay people are not merely the clergy's collaborators, but rather share in the responsibility of the Church's ministry", says Benedict XVI. The Pope called on the laity to become more aware of their role when he inaugurated an ecclesial conference for the Diocese of Rome on "Church Membership and Pastoral Co-responsibility". "There should be a renewed becoming aware of our being Church and of the pastoral co-responsibility that, in the name of Christ, all of us are called to carry out," the Holy Father said.

The Pope, in one sense, is absolutely correct on this one! He recognizes, as we all do, that serious changes are needed in the Church, and even points in the right direction suggesting that we all are co-responsible for the Catholic Christian Community, the Church. The Pontiff acknowledged that this requires a "change of mentality," especially regarding lay people, shifting from "considering themselves collaborators of the clergy to recognizing themselves truly as 'co-responsible' for the being and action of the Church, favoring the consolidation of a mature and committed laity". "There is still a tendency to unilaterally identify the Church with the hierarchy, forgetting the common responsibility, the common mission" of all the baptized.

But the "devil is in the detail" (perhaps literally). "Up to what point is the pastoral responsibility of everyone, especially the laity, recognized and encouraged?" he asks. We must ask in return, what co-responsible member of a community has no say in choosing its leadership, or how the resources of the community are spent, or can tolerate secrecy, lack of accountability, and no participation in decisions of the community?

ARCC suggests that Pope Benedict must first change his own mentality about the Church. He means well, but his understanding of co-responsibility is just not real. He seeks to change our Church mentality back to the pre- Vatican II model when we had responsibilities but no rights. We call that a monarchy, not a community. His words remain sounding gongs and tinkling cymbals until he changes first.

Remembering the Women Sunday Readings

7/5/09, 14th Sunday , Mark 6, 1-6

7/12/09, 15th Sunday, Mark 6, 14-29

ARCC is a co-sponsor of THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC COUNCIL (ACC) Please consider joining this effort to bring about much-needed organizational restructuring in the Church

Feel free to distribute this article without change. Thank you for support of ARCC..

Send comments to rschutz1@prodigy.net or 1-877-700-ARCC (2722).