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Janice
Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP (left), and Katie Zatsick, ARCWP (right) hold
banner: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priest - Reclaiming Our Ancient
Heritage!
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We are grateful for
Pope Francis’ work to protect mother earth, his care for the poor, and advocacy
for economic equality. However, he must make the connection between poverty and
gender justice. Two thirds of the world’s poor are women and their dependent
children. If the Catholic Church were to embrace women's gifts as equals in the
priesthood and in decision-making, just imagine the many blessings this
affirmation would bring to a world where women suffer injustice and
inequality every day. We hope that Pope
Francis will chart a new path toward human equality in our church by
opening all ministries to women. The commission on
women deacons could be a first step toward the full equality of women in the
church.
How did your Movement begin?
The Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement began with the ordination of seven women on the Danube River in 2002. An anonymous male bishop with apostolic succession ordained our first women bishops. Therefore, our ordinations are valid. We are disobeying an unjust man-made church law (canon 1024) that discriminates against women by prohibiting women's ordination. Right now, there are seven sacraments for men and six for women. The Catholic Church cannot continue to discriminate against women and blame God for it. Presently, the official teaching states that the Church has no authority whatsoever to ordain women because the priest acts in "persona Christi", and must bear a physical resemblance to Jesus. Thus, only men can be priests. Baptism makes us all spiritual equals, and opens the door to all the sacraments, including Holy Orders. Baptized into Christ, we are all spiritual equals (Galatians 3:27-28). We are following our consciences and leading the church toward justice and equality by ordaining women in apostolic succession in a new model of church that is inclusive, non-clerical and empowering for all.
In June 2016, Pope Francis has received our ongoing petition campaign from our international movement to lift our excommunications, stop all punishments against us and our supporters, and begin a dialogue with us. See our petition to Pope Francis:
SIGN PETITION :
CATHOLICS SUPPORT WOMEN PRIESTS. POPE FRANCIS SHOULD DO THE SAME., Groundswell
Campaign
What is your
vision/mission?
Roman Catholic Women
Priests are a renewal, justice movement, within the Catholic Church. We
are creating a bridge between our present institutional church and a new model
of church, rooted in Jesus’ vision of an open table, and beginning a healing
process of centuries-old misogyny.
We are changing the church, one
inclusive Catholic Community at a time. We offer hope that gender equality can
be a reality now by living as companions in a blessed, mutual partnership of
love, rooted in the teachings and example of Jesus. We are companions on
the journey, an egalitarian partnership with the community of the baptized,
facilitating inclusive liturgies and building loving communities of service in
our local areas. Our mission is to serve especially those whom the Vatican
marginalizes and to serve Catholics who are ready to embrace a more inclusive
church.
The real issue is the
full equality of women in a renewed church where all are equal and all are
welcome. The Church that treats women as second-class citizens violates God's will. Genesis 1:27: God created humanity in God's image, in the divine image, God created them, male and female God created them. Galatians 3:27. St. Paul reminds us that by our baptism there is neither male nor female, all are one in Christ.
Now is the time for a loving “holy shakeup”, an
explosion of grace, which will bring fresh hope for justice and equality for
women in the church and world. As a new ecclesial movement we are
blessing the church with new life in grassroots egalitarian communities
where all are equal and empowered.
Who is your target
group?
We are serving
inclusive Catholic communities where all are welcome to receive sacraments.
Thirty-three million Catholics in the U.S. have left the church and we are
welcoming them to our inclusive Eucharistic communities.
Are your orders
recognized in the Catholic Church?
Roman Catholic Women
Priests have valid orders. A male bishop in apostolic succession ordained our
first bishops. According to recent polls, a growing number of people in
many countries support women priests. Our international movement has ordained members
in thirteen countries and on five continents.
Why don't you get
ordained in another church, rather than face excommunication and rejection?
We are faith-filled members of our church dedicated to making our church more loving, open, inclusive, just and equal. The church is our spiritual family and home. Jesus stood on the margins with the least and the last. He treated women as disciples and equals. He proclaimed that we are all the beloved of God, who is love. As followers of Jesus, we live the beautiful mystical, prophetic and sacramental tradition of our church. Pope Benedict canonized two excommunicated nuns: Theodora Guerin and Mary MacKillop. Like these courageous women we spoke truth to power and suffered condemnation; we too are called to be prophets of gender justice for women in our church today. Like them, we are following primacy of conscience, which the church has taught for centuries.
How do you deal with
excommunication?
We reject
excommunication. No punishment can separate us from Christ or cancel our
baptism. No church authority can separate us from God. This is our church and
we are not leaving it no matter what the Vatican says or does (The Vatican's
official line is that our excommunicate is the automatic type, by your choice,
you have excommunicated yourself).
Were women ever
ordained in church history? The church teaches that Jesus had twelve apostles.
How can women be priests?
Jesus called women
and men to be disciples (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus did not ordain anyone. The Twelve
symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel. Women were apostles: Mary of Magdala
and Junia in Romans 16:7. Paul
calls Junia an outstanding apostle! So there were more than 12 apostles. Paul
was an apostle, and Mary of Magdala and Junia were two women apostles. The
early Church Fathers referred to Mary of Magdala as the apostle to the
apostles!
The Risen Christ
called Mary Magdala to be the apostle to the apostles. She was the first
to proclaim the central message of Christianity, the Resurrection. Vatican
hierarchy should follow Jesus’ example of Gospel equality and the early
church’s tradition of women in liturgical leadership as deacons, priests and
bishops.
What is the History of Women's Ordination?
For 1200 years women
were ordained (Gary Macy, The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination,
Dorothy Irvin’s archaeological evidence etc., and see major scholarship
"women can be priests" in many languages: http://www.womenpriests.org/).
“In the early
centuries of Christianity, ordination was the process and the ceremony by which
one moved to any new ministry (ordo) in the community. By this definition,
women were in fact ordained into several ministries. A radical change in the
definition of ordination during the eleventh and twelfth centuries not only
removed women from the ordained ministry, but also attempted to eradicate any
memory of women's ordination in the past. …However, the triumph of a new
definition of ordination as the bestowal of power, particularly the power
to confect the Eucharist, so thoroughly dominated western thought and
practice by the thirteenth century that the earlier concept of ordination was
almost completely erased.. References to the ordination of women exist in
papal, episcopal and theological documents of the time, and the rites for these
ordinations have survived” (Gary Macy, The Hidden History of Women’s
Ordination).
The Vatican and
Google have created a virtual tour of catacombs including two frescoes in St.
Priscilla’s catacomb that provide evidence of ancient women deacons and priests
in first centuries of church’s history. One fresco depicts a woman deacon
in the center vested in a dalmatic, her arms raised in the orans position for
public worship. In the same scene there is a bishop being ordained a priest
by a bishop seated in a chair. She is vested in an alb, chasuble, and amice,
and holding a gospel scroll. The third woman in the painting is wearing
the same robe as the bishop on the left and is sitting in the same type of
chair. In another fresco in the Catacombs of Priscilla, women are conducting a
Eucharistic banquet. This evidence portrays women in liturgical roles and
vestments.
Why are you being
ordained as deacons, priests and bishops? Do you support clericalism, a top
down pyramid model in which the people are basically shut out of
decision-making?
We are called by God
to minister in a renewed priestly ministry that celebrates our baptismal
equality in Christ. We live a non-clerical, circular model of decision-making
in our governance and in our independent, inclusive communities. In our
liturgies, all are welcome to receive sacraments and fully participate as
baptismal equals in celebrating liturgies. In many of our communities
there are dialogue homilies, everyone recites the words of consecration and
offers mutual blessing. Until women are affirmed as equals at the altar and in decision-making,
women will be second-class citizens in our church.
What is your response
to sexism in the church today?
All the baptized are
in "Persona Christi” who celebrate Eucharist as the Body of Christ.
In our present Roman Catholic structure, only male priests are officially
recognized as in Persona Christi, and therefore, only male priests are
called to preside at Eucharist. Roman Catholic Women Priests are visible
reminders that women are equal images of God and therefore, are called to
preside at and celebrate Eucharist as the Body of Christ. The Vatican hierarchy
cannot continue to discriminate against women in sacramental ministry and in
decision-making by insisting only ordained males are in Persona
Christi. Our movement follows Jesus’ example of an open table where
everyone is the Christ-Presence and all are welcome at the banquet table of
God's love.
How many are in your international movement and where are you?
The total number is approximately 225 for the entire Roman Catholic Women Priests international Movement which includes branches in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Canada, U.S., South America and South Africa
Why are there two branches of this movement in the United States?
In the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement, there are two RCWP groups in the United States, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) and Roman Catholic Women Priests – USA (RCWP-USA). Like two religious orders RCWP and ARCWP offer different approaches to governance and program preparation. Our common mission is a renewed priestly ministry in an inclusive church.
Both ARCWP and RCWP-USA offer a new model of priestly ministry in a renewed church that lives prophetic obedience and Gospel equality in the Roman Catholic Church now. Both ARCWP and RCWP-USA communicate and share resources on a regular basis. We have a common listserv and national retreats. We collaborate on major reform movement events such as the celebration of liturgy at Call to Action National Conference..
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priest's (ARCWP) vision is a renewed priestly ministry within a community of equals. ARCWP makes decisions by a consensus process that involves all members.
ARCWP is an international group without regional territories. Presently, ARCWP is in the United States, South America, and Canada.
Our website is www.arcwp.org
Media Contacts:
Bridget Mary Meehan sofiabmm@aol.com, Janice Sevre Duszynska
rhythmsofthedance1@gmail.com,
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