Nuns Hopeful About Future of Women in Decision-Making and Deacon Commission by Joshua McElwee, National Catholic Reporter

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/vatican-downplays-expectations-women-deacons-uisg-president-expresses-hope-decision

Pope Francis greets Sister Carmen Sammut, president of the International Union of Superiors General, during an audience with the heads of women's religious orders in Paul VI hall at the Vatican May 12. (CNS/Paul Haring)

"Many church historians have said that there is abundant evidence that women served as deacons in the early centuries of the church. The apostle Paul mentions such a woman, Phoebe, in his letter to the Romans...

UISG president Sr. Carmen Sammut said in a video statement Friday that the sisters at the audience with the pope “were quite excited by the fact that Pope Francis did not leave any question out."

"He really wanted to answer each of our questions," said Sammut. “He was very strong about the fact that women should be in the decision-making processes and the decision-making positions of the church."

Regarding the question on the possibility of women deacons, the UISG president said her group "had proposed that there would be a commission."

"He accepted that proposal and has said that he would bring that forward so that it could be studied even more than it has already," said Sammut. "And I hope that one day there will be a real decision about this."

Articles on Pope Francis Calling for Commission on Women Deacons, English and Spanish

Pope Francis arrived for an assembly of leaders of female Catholic religious congregations on Thursday at the Vatican. CreditL'Osservatore Romano, via Associated Press

http://www.naplesnews.com/lifestyle/faith/deaconesses-in-the-catholic-church-could-be-32a9e550-c763-68ab-e053-0100007fea7a-379243231.html

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/13/female-deacons-priests-vatican-pope-francis-traditionalists-new-testament

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/05/12/pope-francis-will-reportedly-study-the-possibility-of-female-deacons/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/world/europe/pope-says-hes-open-to-studying-whether-women-can-serve-as-deacons.html

http://www.naplesnews.com/lifestyle/faith/deaconesses-in-the-catholic-church-could-be-32a9e550-c763-68ab-e053-0100007fea7a-379243231.html

http://www.cruxnow.com/cns/2016/05/12/pope-thanks-nuns-for-telling-him-theres-a-disconnect/

https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/espana-galicia-la-mujer-gallega-asume-el-reto-del-papa/

https://mujeresacerdotesenlaiglesia.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/primeras-voces-contra-las-dioconisas/

https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/diaconisas-en-la-iglesia-catolica-podria-ser/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/12/world/pope-women-deacons/

http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/pope-francis-idea-on-womens-role-as-deacons-not-a-pretext-for-female-priests-says-vatican/44432.htm

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/05/14/putting-pope-francis-on-the-couch-about-women-deacons/


http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/generate-new-models-of-economic-progress-pope-urges-business-leader/29243/4

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/05/13/faith-conscious_investing_responds_to_popes_challenges/1229485=

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/5563/0/vatican-spokesman-says-new-deaconess-commission-is-not-a-pathway-to-ordination

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/16/pope-francis-is-a-master-at-playing-to-the-crowd-but-we-wont-get-female-deacons=

"Vatican Tamps Down Expectations Over Women Deacons", But, Scholarship Supports Female Deacons as Equal with Male Deacons, Check it out!

Left to right, Deacon Kathryn Shea is presented for priestly ordination by Program Companion Priest Mary Theresa Streck
www.arcwp.org

Bridget Mary's Response: Scholarship Supports Female Deacons

I am smiling as I write this commentary on the article reporting Vatican back-tracking below. Once the Commission that Pope Francis called for delves into the scholarship, they will have
 a lot to share.

First, according to the 1976 Pontifical Biblical Commission's Report, the Vatican's own scholarship, there is nothing in scripture that supports a ban on women's ordination...."It does not seem that the New Testament by itself alone will permit us to settle in a clear way and once and for all the problem of the possible accession of women to the presbyterate."

Second, the Ordination Rite that was used to ordain women deacons was identical for men and women.  See outstanding scholarship cited  below on the comprehensive  website quoted below: http://www.womenpriests.org/pordain.asp

"Women deacons have been documented extensively for the first nine centuries in especially the Eastern part of the Church." See Romans 16: Paul praises Deacon Phoebe and commends her leadership in the local church. Women deacons assisted in the baptism of women which  required anointing and immersion of the whole body.  We know the exact ordination rites that were used.  They involve the imposition of hands by the bishop,  the invocation of the Holy Spirit to impart the  diaconate and the imposition of the diaconate stole.  Read here one typical example of such a rite.  International Church Councils, such as Chalcedon,  Trullo and Nicaea II endorsed the ordination of  women deacons." Three, there is no evidence whatsoever, that ordination was required to preside at house church Eucharistic celebrations in early Christianity.  Four, the history of ordination evolved  was understood differently in the first  centuries of the church's history then in medieval and contemporary times. See Gary Macy, The Hidden History of Women's Ordination

So my advice to the Vatican Commission is check out the Pontifical Biblical Commission's report in 1976, visit the womenpriests website quoted above that cites years worth of scholarship by John Wijngaards, and read:

     No Women in Holy Orders? The Ancient Women Deacons

by John Wijngaards, Canterbury Press 2002 

In addition they should  consult  experts like Phyllis Zagano,
 German theologian Ida Raming and theologian and archaeologist Dorothy Irvin. 

Indeed, Pope Francis has opened a hornet's nest at the Vatican! 
No doubt the hard liners in the Vatican Curia are irritated by 
opening up this topic for study. 
They fear that it could lead to women priests!

Yet, I believe that Pope Francis' Commission is a positive first step and could lead to the full equality of women as priests, bishops, and decision makers in a more inclusive, egalitarian church.

Our Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement has been ordaining women deacons, priests and bishops to serve in grassroots, inclusive faith communities, thus renewing the church on the margins, one renewed community at a time. Our international movement is  calling on Pope Francis to dialogue with us, lift excommunications, and honor primacy of conscience. (We are 225 members on 5 continents, in 13 countries, serving 81 faith communities in 34 states in the United States)

We are calling on all our supporters to sing a petition of support for women priests worldwide which will be delivered in Rome on June 3rd. https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/pope-francis-welcome-all-priests

Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004

 Associated Press article: Vatican Tamps Down Expectations Over Women Deacons May 13, 2016

VATICAN CITY — "The Vatican is tamping down any expectations that Pope Francis is about to let women serve as deacons in the Catholic Church anytime soon.

Francis made headlines Thursday when he told a closed-door meeting of some 800 superiors of women's religious orders that he agreed with their proposal to create a commission to study the issue. He was responding to a question about what was impeding women today from serving as deacons, who aren't priests but perform many of the same functions as priests, such as presiding over baptisms, marriages and funerals.

Francis replied that he understood that women deacons in the ancient church weren't ordained, as male deacons are today, and he reaffirmed that women regardless cannot deliver homilies during Mass. But he agreed to set up a commission to study the question, especially the role of women deacons in the ancient church.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told Vatican Radio on Friday that the pope "didn't say he had any intention of introducing diaconal ordination for women, much less priestly ordination for women."

Sign Petition: Catholics Support Women Priests, Pope Francis Should Too

https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/pope-francis-welcome-all-priests

Homily for Holy Spirit Catholic Community, Pentecost, May 15th by Beverly Bingle, RCWP

Three years ago—May 6, 2013—
an African-American dishwasher in Cleveland
was one of the heroes who helped rescue three women
who had been held captive in his neighborhood
for over 10 years.
When reporters asked him about it, he said,
"I knew something was wrong
when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms."
Charles Ramsey's experience of racism in America
made Amanda Berry's running to him
a “dead giveaway” that something was seriously wrong.
When CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked him
how he felt about being a hero, Charles Ramsey said,
“I’m a Christian, an American. I am just like you.
We bleed the same blood.”
Twenty-five years ago—May 10, 1991—Terry Anderson,
freed after nearly seven years as a hostage in Lebanon,
said he bore no hatred toward his captors.
"I don't hate anybody," he told reporters.
"I'm a Christian and a Catholic,
and it's really required of me that I forgive,
no matter how hard that may be,
and I intend to do that."
__________________________________________
When I'm a hundred years old, the majority of Americans
will not be what we Americans think of as white.
Right now, the majority of the world is not white.
In fact, whites make up just 16% of the global population.
And the majority of the world is not Christian.
Christians are in first place at 31%,
and Muslims are second at 22%.
That makes some people in this country so afraid
that they are lashing out in anger.
When something doesn't go their way,
they try to blame people who are different from them.
__________________________________________
Just look at our world—
sometimes it seems as if the Spirit has gone out of it.
The very environment that supports our life
is being shattered by our greed.
War continues to devastate people—especially the poor—
around the world.
Here in our country, too many people of color
hunker down in fear when they see a police car coming.
And, in this election year, we're seeing our country torn apart
by the hateful and vicious bigotry in our political campaigns.
We hear candidates call for immigration policies
that would deport 11 million people,
separating parents from their children,
or for building a wall across our southern border
to keep out the Mexicans—
people whom one candidate called “rapists.”
And there's a proposal to end terrorism
by banning anyone who appears Muslim
from coming into the country.
Is the Spirit still with us?
Sometimes it doesn't seem so.
__________________________________________
Most of the 31% of people in this world who are Christians
will be hearing today's Pentecost readings.
Will they accept the message there for us?
The followers of Jesus were all in one place together.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
God was present and active,
not some distant abstract being
that we might encounter someday after we die.
Those early disciples tried to live
in the presence and power of the Spirit of God
every moment of every day.
__________________________________________
In the Gospel, John talks about how the followers
were huddled in a locked room.
Afraid and alone, wondering what might become of them,
they remembered Jesus words:
Peace be with you.
Receive the Spirit.
Forgive one another.
Just imagine for a minute if,
instead of inciting fear and violence, separation and hatred,
our politicians would live those words.
What if they followed the Spirit?
What if they listened to Pope Francis?
In February he said, "A person who thinks only about building walls,
wherever they may be, and not about building bridges,
is not a true Christian.
This is not in the Gospel."
What if our politicians celebrated Pentecost
by remembering how the Holy Spirit has knit together
people of all nations and languages
to share Jesus' good news?
What if they listened to Dorothy Day?
She wrote:
“As we come to know the seriousness of the situation,
the war, the racism, the poverty in our world,
we come to realize that things will not be changed
simply by words or demonstrations.
Rather, it's a question of living one's life
in a drastically different way.”
__________________________________________
Here at Holy Spirit,
we try to celebrate Pentecost in every part of our lives,
all year long,
year in and year out.
Our Tree Toledo project—our one ministry as a community—
was born out of months of discernment
about how best to use our limited numbers and resources
to serve our neighbors.
On top of that work to mitigate climate change,
we have donated to many organizations
that carry out the works of mercy,
like CRS' disaster relief, Compassion on Death Row,
UStogether, 1Matters, Tent City, Seagate Food Bank,
the International Institute for Peace Education,
the Dialogue-to-Change anti-racism effort, Rahab's Heart,
Second Chance, Claver House, Padua Center,
and the 1for3 water project.
And I see each of you,
in addition to what we do as a community,
passionately involved
in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy,
living lives of dedication to serving others.
Our oxytocin level is sky-high!
[In case you missed the homily May 1, when we're generous, kind, and
caring, our bodies release oxytocin, a hormone that brings feelings of
warmth, generosity, euphoria, and connection to others.]

The Spirit is indeed alive here!
And the Spirit will be with us
as we go through the turmoil of this election season.
With the same discernment that we live the rest of our lives,
we will go to vote this November
with the principles of Catholic Social Teaching
uppermost in our minds—
the right and dignity of the human person
and all that goes with it.
We'll look at all the candidates
from President through Senator and Congress
to state Supreme Court Justice down to County Commissioner.
We'll look at the issues.
And we'll vote our Pentecost understanding
that we are all one body in Christ
and that faithful discipleship and faithful citizenship
both require that we love one another…
to the ends of the earth.
Amen!

--
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue (Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006
419-727-1774

__._,_.___

---

Association of Roman Catholic Priests Affirms Pope Francis’ Commission on Women Deacons, Invites Dialogue and Lifting of Excommunications

May 13, 2016

From the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) www.arcwp.org

 Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, D.Min. media, rhythmsofthedance1@gmail.com, 859-684-4247

Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004, see www.bridgetmarys.blogspot.com

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/05/12/pope-agrees-to-set-up-commission-to-study-women-deacons/

On May 12th during an audience with 900 women religious from the International Union of Superiors General, Pope Francis said it would be good to establish a commission to study the possibility of "reinstating" women deacons. This could be a first step to the full equality of women as priests and bishops in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals.

It is clear from contemporary scholarship that Scripture affirms that Jesus treated women in his community not as subordinates but as equals. Women deacons, like Phoebe in Romans 16, played a major leadership role in their communities.  

The Roman Catholic Women Priests International Movement (on 5 continents, 13 countries, and serving 81 faith communities in the U.S.) is leading the way to a renewed priestly ministry in an inclusive, egalitarian church where all are welcome to receive sacraments.

“I disagree with Pope Francis' position that a woman cannot be in Persona Christi, and thus, cannot preach or preside at Eucharist,” said Bridget Mary Meehan of ARCWP. “This argument is sexist and denies the spiritual equality of women.  All the baptized are images of Christ created In Persona Christi.”

Woman Priest Janice Sevre-Duszynska will deliver the responses to the following Petition to support Women Priests on June 3rd at the Worldwide Jubliee to Celebrate Women Priests. The petition asks Pope Francis to lift the excommunications against women priests, and our supporters and to dialogue.  All are invited to sign the petition.

https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/pope-francis-welcome-all-priests

TO: POPE FRANCIS

"Catholics all around the world are served by the faithful actions of Roman Catholic Women Priests, who lead inclusive worshipping communities and live out Pope Francis' "Church of Mercy" every day. However, these priests have been excommunicated simply for following their call. Pope Francis-we are Catholics and people of faith and goodwill who support women priests, because they have changed our lives for the better. Hear our call, and lift the unjust excommunications of these priests and their supporters."

Visit our ARCWP website: www: arcwp.org

Sequence for Pentecost M. E. Collingwood , ARCWP

Mary Eileen Collingwood ARCWP

Enter, O Spirit Feminine, enter!

And from your comforting paradise

Cast your beam of brightness!

Enter, O Mother of the poor!

Enter, spring of all our keep!

Enter, within our heart do shine!

You, most noble solace know;

You, Holy Wisdom of our heart;

Pleasing tonic for us now;

In our toil, abide with us;

Grateful relief from the grind;

Comforter in our distress.

O Most blessed Light divine,

Shine within these hearts of yours,

And our inmost being fill!

 If you aren’t here, we have not,

Nothing good in works or thought

Nothing free from stain of wrong.

Heal our wounds, strengthen resolve;

In our desert quench our thirst;

Our blame remove for us first;

Turn our rigid heart and will;

Melt the frozen; warm the chill;

Guide the steps that have been lost.

On the faithful, who adore

And witness you, evermore

Send your gifts of sacrament;

Give us virtue’s most gracious prize;

Look on us with forgiving eyes;

Give us joys that never end.

O gracious Mother, Let it be.                             

                                                                                                                                               

                                                         

                                                                                                       

Pope Francis Agrees to Open Commission to Study Women Deacons, A First Step to the Full Equality of Women including Priests and Bishops in An Inclusive, Egalitarian Church?

Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

sofiabmm@aol.com

703-505-0004

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/05/12/pope-agrees-to-set-up-commission-to-study-women-deacons/

Today during an audience with 900 women religious from the International Union of Superiors General, Pope Francis said it would be good to establish a commission to study the possibility of "reinstating" women deacons. This could be a first step to the full equality of women as priests and bishops in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals.

It is clear from contemporary scholarship that Scripture affirms that Jesus treated women in his community not as subordinates but as equals. Women deacons, like Phoebe in Romans 16 played a major leadership role in their communities.  

The Roman Catholic Women Priests International Movement (with 225 members on 5 continents, 13 countries, and serving 81 faith communities in the U.S.) is leading the way to a renewed priestly ministry in an inclusive, egalitarian church where all are welcome to receive sacraments. I disagree with Pope Francis' position that a woman cannot be in Persona Christi, and thus, cannot preach or preside at Eucharist. This argument is sexist and denies the spiritual equality of women. All the baptized are images of Christ created In Persona Christi.

Visit our Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests to see a list of our inclusive communities. www.arcwp.org

http://www.icontact-archive.com/oVcotBdZudgkAIhFx2LIxfHrmN3kMGRw?w=3

..."The Roman Catholic Women Priests movement has ordained hundreds of women who are already ministering to the people of God around the world, yet their call to the priesthood remains unrecognized by top Church leadership, including Pope Francis.

In just over two weeks, we will be delivering a petition to Pope Francis at the Jubilee for Women Priests, encouraging him to dialogue with women priests.  We encourage all of our supporters to sign it at this crucial moment in Church history. " 

The following Petition to Support Women Priests will be delivered to Vatican on June 3rd at Worldwide Jubliee to Celebrate Women Priests

https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/pope-francis-welcome-all-priests#

TO: POPE FRANCIS

Catholics all around the world are served by the faithful actions of Roman Catholic Women Priests, who lead inclusive worshipping communities and live out Pope Francis' "Church of Mercy" every day. However, these priests have been excommunicated simply for following their call. Pope Francis-we are Catholics and people of faith and goodwill who support women priests, because they have changed our lives for the better. Hear our call, and lift the unjust excommunications of these priests and their supporters.

Why is this important?

Pope Francis says that "No one can be excluded from the mercy of God...[the Church's] doors remain wide open." Pope Francis has demonstrated his commitment to this mercy by reaching out to other orders of priests who have broken away from the church. In this spirit, we ask Pope Francis to affirm primacy of conscience for the women priests worldwide. In prophetic obedience to the Spirit, women priests live a renewed priestly ministry in communities of faith that welcome all and exclude no one.

Roman Catholic Women Priests, who stand in apostolic succession serve in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. Those of us who are divorced and remarried, who are LGBTQ, and who have struggled with the Catholic faith, have found spiritual shelter in their worshipping communities. Here, we can fully participate in the Word of Jesus and the sacraments. They are living the Gospel message of radical inclusion.

Pope Francis, you have inspired the world with your message of a merciful Church, and we now implore you to live up to your message. Use the power of your office to open wide the doors to dialogue and lift all excommunications and ecclesiastical punishments against Roman Catholic Women Priests and their supporters. We are the Church. Listen to our cry for justice.

How it will be delivered 

This petition will be delivered by a woman priest to the Vatican on June 3rd, during the Jubilee for Women Priests hosted by Women's Ordination Worldwide and the Women's Ordination Conference.

Women's Ordination Conference Media Release

Kate McElwee: Italy (+39) 393-692-2100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Erin Saiz Hanna: USA (+1) 401-588-0457 ehanna@womensordination.org

For Immediate Release: 12 May 2016

Rome, Italy:  The Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) applauds the women religious of the International Union Superior Generals (UISG) for brazenly dialoguing with Pope Francis on leadership and ministerial roles for women in the Church, including the opening of the diaconate to women.  In response to the sisters' questions, Pope Francis agreed to launch a Vatican Commission to study the diaconate to include women, stating: "It would be good to clarify this."

Opening a commission to study the diaconate for women would be a great step for the Vatican in recognizing its own history.  Decades of research on this topic has already been published by renowned feminist voices. WOC recommends that the Vatican's commission include the following scholars: Gary Macy, Dorothy Irving, Ida Raming, Sr. Christine Schenk, John Wijngaards, and Phyllis Zagano.

Biblical evidence names several women deacons, working alongside men in the early Church including: Phoebe, St. Olympias, Dionysia, St. Radegund and St. Macrina.  Such a commission, similar to the Pontifical Biblical Commission of 1976 that concluded there is no scriptural barrier to women's priestly ordination, could begin to restore the Gospel values of equality and justice.

Pope Francis also stated that a woman cannot be in Persona Christi, and therefore cannot preach or preside over the Eucharist. WOC rejects this flawed interpretation that a male body is a necessary condition of representing the Body of Christ. Upholding this discrimination, as though it were the will of God, is simply indefensible.

While WOC celebrates this step from the Vatican, until women are included in all decision-making structures and as priests and Bishops of the Church, equality remains painfully denied.

May 22nd marks the 22nd anniversary of the Vatican's Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, banning all discussion on the ordination of women. WOC advocates that a new commission on the diaconate include discussions on priestly ordination for women in the Roman Catholic Church.  

The Great Resurrection Debate - William Lane Craig vs. John Shelby Spong

SIGN PETITION : CATHOLICS SUPPORT WOMEN PRIESTS. POPE FRANCIS SHOULD DO THE SAME., Groundswell Campaign

https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/pope-francis-welcome-all-priests#

TO: POPE FRANCIS

Catholics all around the world are served by the faithful actions of Roman Catholic Women Priests, who lead inclusive worshipping communities and live out Pope Francis' "Church of Mercy" every day. However, these priests have been excommunicated simply for following their call. Pope Francis-we are Catholics and people of faith and goodwill who support women priests, because they have changed our lives for the better. Hear our call, and lift the unjust excommunications of these priests and their supporters.

Why is this important?

Pope Francis says that "No one can be excluded from the mercy of God...[the Church's] doors remain wide open." Pope Francis has demonstrated his commitment to this mercy by reaching out to other orders of priests who have broken away from the church. In this spirit, we ask Pope Francis to affirm primacy of conscience for the women priests worldwide. In prophetic obedience to the Spirit, women priests live a renewed priestly ministry in communities of faith that welcome all and exclude no one.

Roman Catholic Women Priests, who stand in apostolic succession serve in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. Those of us who are divorced and remarried, who are LGBTQ, and who have struggled with the Catholic faith, have found spiritual shelter in their worshipping communities. Here, we can fully participate in the Word of Jesus and the sacraments. They are living the Gospel message of radical inclusion.

Pope Francis, you have inspired the world with your message of a merciful Church, and we now implore you to live up to your message. Use the power of your office to open wide the doors to dialogue and lift all excommunications and ecclesiastical punishments against Roman Catholic Women Priests and their supporters. We are the Church. Listen to our cry for justice.

How it will be delivered

This petition will be delivered by a woman priest to the Vatican on June 3rd, during the Jubilee for Women Priests hosted by Women's Ordination Worldwide and the Women's Ordination Conference.

Celebrating Life-Giving Daniel Berrigan By Janice Sevre-Duszynska, ARCWP

http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/livestream-daniel-berrigan-sj-funeral-mass

 

Daniel Berrigan SJ

It was raining a downpour in New York City on May 6^th as we joined the procession at Dorothy Day’s home, Mary House Catholic Worker on East 3^rd St., to make our way with a brass band and banners to St. Francis Xavier Church on West 16^th St. Drenched but full of spirit we were waking up the city at 7:30 a.m. to celebrate the life of Fr. Daniel Berrigan. I was marching with Anne Dowling, a friend from School of the Americas Watch, and my partner, Max Obuszewski. Max was a friend of Dan’s and did resistance with him as well as with his brother, Phil.

 

Left with green stole: Janice Sevre Duszynska with Ann Dowling holding banner 

At Washington Square, wide eyed and smiling, we danced, marched and sang to show our gratitude for the life of this courageous pacifist priest, a mentor and guide to so many during his nearly 95 years.

From across the country we came, Catholic Workers, peace and justice activists and from other walks of life, hugging each other. Many of us were elated to gather as friends who did resistance together to bring about the Beloved Community. “Didn’t we get arrested together?” we asked each other as we met.

Once inside the church Max and I encountered hundreds and hundreds of people, many of whom were friends and fellow resisters.

Once the memorial service began, however, how disappointing to see only one female dressed in white among the sea of male priests in white albs move up to the altar in this liberal parish. Who was she? Francis has announced the Year of Mercy! When is gender equality going to come in the Roman Catholic Church? When Dan Berrigan died, those of us in the women priest movement re-read his 1977 piece on women and women priests. He supported us.

My eyes water, my heart stirs as I read Dan’s poem, “We Love,” at the beginning of the program: “What we love: there are not blades enough.” I recall reading his book about Daniel in the Lion’s Den while in federal prison and a few years ago Wisdom: The Feminine Face of God during our trial for our witness at the nuclear weapons plant in Kansas City, MO.

As we gather for the Eucharist we sing “We Are Called” by David Haas. Paging through this remarkable liturgy put together by Frida Berrigan in less than five days, I come across songs we sing at women priest ordinations, including my favorite, “The Servant Song.”

It is the Gospel of John: 32-45 that is proclaimed. After Mary professes her faith in Jesus, he calls the dead Lazarus back to life.

I am delighted that rebel priest, Jesuit Steve Kelly, is giving the homily. Before he begins, he wonders if any FBI agents are present and suggests that it’s time to close their case on Dan Berrigan. Laughter and clapping echo through the church! Steve has the reputation of being in and out of jail. Buckle in and get ready to hear the Spirit in Steve’s homily on live streaming!

During the prayers of petition a woman addresses Dan’s support of women on the altar and the people in the pews  approve, clapping uproariously!

For Communion everyone processes through the center aisle. I had put on my stole this morning, green quilted with scenes from the Gospels made by a Colombian women’s prison cooperative. I wore it in Rome when I was detained by the Italian police during the Conclave in 2013 for “dressing like a priest.” I had been ordained five years!

When I reached the front in the Communion line, it occurred to me that I might be denied Eucharist because I was excommunicated for following my conscience and being ordained. However, the eyes of the priest, John Cecero, smiled and welcomed me. What a blessing to be here! 

During the celebration the Berrigan family shared their memories of Dan and we listened intently.

We were sent forth with Beethoven’s “Hymn to Joy” filling this glorious place abounding in the goodness of Dan Berrigan’s life and the love of those who knew him. What an unforgettable celebration of such a life-giving man! Although I never met Daniel Berrigan, he touched me through his writings and his actions.

I have much to share about the celebration of Daniel Berrigan’s life with our women priest community and women priest friends and supporters, former Maryknoll priest Roy Bourgeois, founder of the SOA Watch, and Franciscan priest and peace activist, Jerry Zawada, who has been punished by his order for his support of women priests.

Dan Berrigan, priest, poet, prophet, presente! And, thank you…

A Pentecost Prayer by Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

 Spirit  of Love, your overflowing love permeates my being and all creation.
                  May I love all with your tender love.

Spirit of Compassion, your comfort embraces me and gives me strength in times of sorrow and stress.
                  May I walk with those who are hurting and who need a friend. 

Spirit of Healing, your healing energy is within me and within all,
                  May I be an instrument of peace, in communion with all beings.

Spirit of Affirmation, your splendor shines through each person,
                  May I affirm others through my words and actions. 

Spirit of Life, you are moving in me, in everyone and in everything.
                  May I/we grow and evolve in Pentecost Passion and joy!

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org