Bridget Mary's Response: I agree with Gary Wills that the power structure must be transformed. The present model of priestly ministry, rooted in a hierarchical model is not the answer. Roman Catholic Women Priests are ushering in a renewed priestly ministry situated in a community of equals. For example, at Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida, we have co-presiders from the community, a dialogue homily, and the Eucharistic Prayer is prayed by the entire assembly. At our ordinations, the community prays over the ordinands with the bishop. Roman Catholic Women Priests represent a paradigm shift , moving the church from its present clerical model to a discipleship of equals model where the Body of Christ celebrates the sacraments, not the priests with the magic fingers! By the way, our priests are not appointed from above and our worshiping communities are independent and make their own decisions independent of our organization.
Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com, 941-955-2313, 703-505-0004
...."As this election approaches, some hope that the shortage of priests, and their damaged reputation and morale, can be remedied by adding married priests, or women priests, or gay priests. But that misses the point. Whatever their sexual status, they will still be priests. They will not be chosen by their congregations (as was the practice in the early church). They will be appointed from above, by bishops approved for their loyalty to Rome, which will police their doctrinal views as it has with priests heretofore. The power structure will not be changed by giving it new faces. Monarchies die hard.
In 1859, John Henry Newman published an article that led to his denunciation in Rome as “the most dangerous man in England.” It was called “On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine” and it showed that in history the laity had been more true to the Gospel than the hierarchy. That was an unacceptable position to Rome. It still is. Pope Benedict XVI, when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was asked if it did not disturb him that Catholics disagreed with the rulings of Rome. He said no — that dogma is not formed by majority rule. But that is precisely how it was formed in the great councils like that at Nicaea, where bishops voted to declare dogmas on the Trinity and the Incarnation. There was no pope involved in those councils. Yet they defined the most important truths of the faith.
Jesus, we are reminded, said to Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” But Peter was addressed as a faithful disciple, not as a priest or a pope. There were no priests in Peter’s time, and no popes. Paul never called himself or any of his co-workers priests. He did not offer sacrifice. Those ideas came in later, through weird arguments contained in the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews. The claim of priests and popes to be the sole conduits of grace is a remnant of the era of papal monarchy. We are watching that era fade. But some refuse to recognize its senescence. Such people will run peppily up, like Charlie Brown, to the coming of a new pope. But Lucy, as usual, still holds the football." Garry Wills is the author, most recently, of “Why Priests? A Failed Tradition.”
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