Release date: August 29, 2011
Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska at 859-684-4247, rhythmsofthedance@msn.com
Bridget Mary Meehan, 703-671-6712, 703-505-0004, sofiabmm@aol.com
See http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/
http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/
On Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. Adele Decker Jones of San Antonio, Texas and Dorothy Shugrue of Cheshire, Connecticut will be ordained priests. Donna LeMaster Rougeux of Lexington, Kentucky will be ordained a deacon in a historic "first" in Virginia. The presiding bishop will be Bridget Mary Meehan. The ceremony will take place at First Christian Church, 6165 Leesburg Pike~Falls Church, VA 22044 www.fccfc.org (Check their website for directions). Prior to Ordination, at 1:30 p.m. in the Social Hall, theologian and archaeologist Dorothy Irvin, whose ground-breaking research reveals evidence of women deacons, priests and even bishops has provided a historic foundation for our movement, will give a lecture with slides on Women's Ordination in the Early Church.
The ordinands are theologically prepared and have many years of experience in ministry. Adele worked as a Licensed Professional Counselor. Dorothy, a former member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, served as a Roman Catholic College Chaplain and presently serves as a Mental Health and Substance Abuse Chaplain. Donna ministers to the sick and dying and their families as a hospice chaplain.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests rejoice in a "holy shakeup"that millions of Catholics worldwide welcome. The good news now is that male priests, bishops, a cardinal as well as theologians have expressed their support of female priests. They are following in the footsteps of Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois whose prophetic call for a dialogue on women priests is being heard in more and more places today in our church.
A new documentary, "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican," shares the stories of some of these women who have found a way to serve God's people as women priests including Janice Sevre-Duszynska who was ordained in Lexington, Kentucky in 2008. Fr. Roy Bourgeois attended, delivered the homily and participated in the ordination rite. This resulted in his excommunication and Vatican attempts to pressure Maryknoll to dismiss him from the Order.
"Nothing can stop the movement of the spirit toward human rights, justice and equality in our world and in our church," said Bridget Mary Meehan. "The full equality of women is the voice of God in our time."
The Women Priests movement in the Roman Catholic Church advocates a new model of priestly ministry united with the people with whom we minister. We stand in prophetic obedience to Jesus who calls women and men to be disciples and equals. The movement began with the ordination of seven women on the Danube in 2002. Today there are over 124 in the movement worldwide. ARCWP is in the United States and Latin America. Our specific charism within the broader global Roman Catholic Women Priests initiative is to live Gospel equality and justice for women in the church and in society now. We work in solidarity with the poor and marginalized for transformative justice in partnership with all believers. Our vision is to live as a community of equals in decision making both as an organization and within all our faith communities. We advocate the renewal of the vision of Jesus in the Gospel in our church and world.
Media are invited to a pre-ordination press conference with the candidates, Bridget Mary Meehan and Dorothy Irvin on Sept. 10th at 1 p.m. at First Christian Church.
For questions regarding the press conference call Janice at 859-684-4247 or Bridget Mary at 703-671-6712, 703-505-0004.
Contact Dorothy Irvin at 612-387-3784.
For information from the candidates contact
Adele Decker Jones at 210-694-2304, adelejonesdmin@aol.com
Dorothy Shugrue at 203-535-5444, dshug7@gmail.com,
and Donna LeMaster Rougeux at 859- 221-3082.
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