Article: Feb. 26,2008Letters to Editor: March 2, 2008
1. Jack Duffy's letter
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080302/OPINION/803020879/1029
2. Barbara Walker' s letter
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080302/OPINION/803020406/1029
Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now- https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/10/rev-dr-bridget-mary-meehan-arcwp-chat.html
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Link to Article in Saraota Herald Tribine: Feb.26, 2008
Article: Feb. 26,20081. Jack Duffy's letter
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080302/OPINION/803020879/1029
2. Barbara Walker' s letter
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080302/OPINION/803020406/1029
Monday, February 25, 2008
Response to Diocese of Venice's ad in Sarasota Herald Tribune
Feb. 23, 2008
Dear Editor,
In the Feb. 23rd edition of the Sarasota Herald Tribune,the Catholic Diocese of Venice posted a public notice about our inclusive Catholic Mass at Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community House Church in Sarasota stating "that no such worship site exists within the diocese. " I offer the following clarifications to the public:
I am a Roman Catholic priest. I was ordained on July 31, 2006 in Pittsburgh, PA. by women bishops who were ordained by Roman Catholic male bishops in full communion with the pope. Our women bishops are in full apostolic succession, therefore our ordinations are valid. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are breaking an unjust law that keeps women subordinate in the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus, who called women and men to be disciples and equals, modeled Gospel equality. Mary of Magdala was the first witness of the Resurrection and was referred to as the “apostle to the apostles. For the first 1200 years of Christianity, women served as deacons, priests and bishops.
St. Augustine taught that an unjust law is no law at all and does not bind us. The prohibition against women’s ordination negates women’s baptism which opens all the sacraments to the baptized. Therefore, we are disobeying an unjust law by our reception of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The doctrine of infallibility states that only those articles of faith which are embraced by the community of believers and have been a part of the tradition of the church since its earliest times can be declared infallible. Surveys reveal that 63-70 percent of Catholics support women’s ordination, so it is clearly not the sense of the faithful that women cannot be priests.
The Roman Catholic church teaches primacy of conscience. However, the church also has a long, sad history of condemning visionary, prophetic women. Some women have suffered excommunication, interdict and even death at the hands of the hierarchy. One example, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for following her conscience and later canonized a saint. In one century, the Catholic church condemns, and in another century , the church canonizes.
Like Rosa Parks whose refusal to sit in the back of the bus ignited the civil rights movement, Roman Catholic womenpriests are reclaiming our ancient heritage, and offering our beloved church the gift of a renewed model of priestly ministry in which the identity of priest reflects the experiences of women as equal images of the holy . The Roman Catholic Womenpriest initiative affirms that the full equality of women in the church is the voice of God in our time.
Bridget Mary Meehan, Roman Catholic Womanpriest
Dear Editor,
In the Feb. 23rd edition of the Sarasota Herald Tribune,the Catholic Diocese of Venice posted a public notice about our inclusive Catholic Mass at Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community House Church in Sarasota stating "that no such worship site exists within the diocese. " I offer the following clarifications to the public:
I am a Roman Catholic priest. I was ordained on July 31, 2006 in Pittsburgh, PA. by women bishops who were ordained by Roman Catholic male bishops in full communion with the pope. Our women bishops are in full apostolic succession, therefore our ordinations are valid. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are breaking an unjust law that keeps women subordinate in the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus, who called women and men to be disciples and equals, modeled Gospel equality. Mary of Magdala was the first witness of the Resurrection and was referred to as the “apostle to the apostles. For the first 1200 years of Christianity, women served as deacons, priests and bishops.
St. Augustine taught that an unjust law is no law at all and does not bind us. The prohibition against women’s ordination negates women’s baptism which opens all the sacraments to the baptized. Therefore, we are disobeying an unjust law by our reception of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The doctrine of infallibility states that only those articles of faith which are embraced by the community of believers and have been a part of the tradition of the church since its earliest times can be declared infallible. Surveys reveal that 63-70 percent of Catholics support women’s ordination, so it is clearly not the sense of the faithful that women cannot be priests.
The Roman Catholic church teaches primacy of conscience. However, the church also has a long, sad history of condemning visionary, prophetic women. Some women have suffered excommunication, interdict and even death at the hands of the hierarchy. One example, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for following her conscience and later canonized a saint. In one century, the Catholic church condemns, and in another century , the church canonizes.
Like Rosa Parks whose refusal to sit in the back of the bus ignited the civil rights movement, Roman Catholic womenpriests are reclaiming our ancient heritage, and offering our beloved church the gift of a renewed model of priestly ministry in which the identity of priest reflects the experiences of women as equal images of the holy . The Roman Catholic Womenpriest initiative affirms that the full equality of women in the church is the voice of God in our time.
Bridget Mary Meehan, Roman Catholic Womanpriest
Monday, February 18, 2008
Presentation on Roman Catholic Womenpriests at Jewish Temple
Rabbi Larry Mahrer invited me to speak after Shabbat Service on Friday, Feb. 15th. Victoria Siegel, a member of CRC in St Louis (Rabbi Susan Talve's Congregation) flew to Sarasota from St. Louis for a brief holiday. We shared a meal and drove up to Temple Beth El in Bradenton.
At the conclusion of Shabbat Service, I spoke about Roman Catholic Womenpriests as an initiative of reform and renewal within the Roman Catholic Church. I shared that RCWP is reclaiming our ancient heritage that women were ordained for the first twelve hundred years of the church's history. I stressed our common bonds with the people we serve. We are all one people of God and that we are trying to transform the clerical structures and have a more open, accountable, transparent church. I cited the three branches of Judaism Reform, Conservative, Orthodox as a possible model for the church of the future. I spoke for about 15 minutes and then opened up to questions and had a dialogue around the issues that the Jewish congregation wanted to discuss. They gave me/our movement a warm welcome and conveyed that they would pray for us. Several of the couples who talked with me afterwards were Jewish-Catholic. Some talked about the prejudice of Catholics against Jews not only in the pre-Vatian 11 church, but in one case, in a text that is used by some home-school Catholic programs which reflect a negative stance toward the Jewish people as causing Jesus' wounds on the cross. I thought that brand of anti-semitism was long gone. Sad to say it is still around. I believe that RCWP has an opportunity to foster closer relationships with people from different faith traditions. Tonight I felt that an ember from the fire of the Spirit that we experienced in the St. Louis ordinations had ignited in Florida. I was deeply honored to participate in a forum of respectful dialogue with a community of believers from the Reform tradition of Judaism. It was quite a positive, energizing experience!
Shalom peace,
Bridget Mary Meehan
At the conclusion of Shabbat Service, I spoke about Roman Catholic Womenpriests as an initiative of reform and renewal within the Roman Catholic Church. I shared that RCWP is reclaiming our ancient heritage that women were ordained for the first twelve hundred years of the church's history. I stressed our common bonds with the people we serve. We are all one people of God and that we are trying to transform the clerical structures and have a more open, accountable, transparent church. I cited the three branches of Judaism Reform, Conservative, Orthodox as a possible model for the church of the future. I spoke for about 15 minutes and then opened up to questions and had a dialogue around the issues that the Jewish congregation wanted to discuss. They gave me/our movement a warm welcome and conveyed that they would pray for us. Several of the couples who talked with me afterwards were Jewish-Catholic. Some talked about the prejudice of Catholics against Jews not only in the pre-Vatian 11 church, but in one case, in a text that is used by some home-school Catholic programs which reflect a negative stance toward the Jewish people as causing Jesus' wounds on the cross. I thought that brand of anti-semitism was long gone. Sad to say it is still around. I believe that RCWP has an opportunity to foster closer relationships with people from different faith traditions. Tonight I felt that an ember from the fire of the Spirit that we experienced in the St. Louis ordinations had ignited in Florida. I was deeply honored to participate in a forum of respectful dialogue with a community of believers from the Reform tradition of Judaism. It was quite a positive, energizing experience!
Shalom peace,
Bridget Mary Meehan
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Roman Catholic Womenpriests Support Fr. Marek Bozek
PRESS RELEASE
Roman Catholic Womenpriests, USA
5 February 2008
Roman Catholic Womenpriests are proud to stand in solidarity with our brother priest, Marek Bozek, a modern-day prophet who fearlessly speaks truth to power and who courageously supported the ordinations that took place in St. Louis on 11 November 2007 of Rose Marie Dunn Hudson and Elsie Hainz McGrath. Because of his open support of women’s ordination, Archbishop Raymond Burke, of St. Louis, is threatening Fr. Bozek with laicization.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests work in partnership with all those who foster Jesus’ vision of Gospel equality, and offer a renewed model of priestly ministry in which women and men serve the needs of the people of God in a community of equals.
Archbishop Burke insists that women’s ordination is infallibly impossible, even though the doctrine of infallibility states that only those articles of faith which are embraced by the community of believers and have been a part of the tradition of the church since its earliest times can be declared infallible. Surveys reveal that 63-70 percent of Catholics support women’s ordination, so it is clearly not the sense of the faithful that this is impossible. And as there are scriptural, historical, and archaeological proofs that women were indeed ordained for the first 1,100 or so years of Christianity, it is clearly not a part of the church’s tradition that only men have been priests.
Fr. Marek Bozek is the pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church in St. Louis. He said: “I could not tolerate the abuse of my sisters any longer. I could not remain indifferent to the injustice being done to all those women graced by God with the priestly vocation.”
Rose Marie Hudson and Elsie McGrath co-pastor the Therese of Divine Peace Inclusive Community, in St. Louis. For further information, you may contact them as follows:
Rose Marie Hudson, rcwp, at divine_shalom2007@yahoo.com, or call 636-208-5598.
Elsie McGrath, rcwp, at divine_shalom2007@yahoo.com, or call 314-477-6089.
You may also contact the media representative for RCWP-USA:
Bridget Mary Meehan, rcwp, , at sofiabmm@aol.com, or call 703-283-2929.
Visit us at: www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests, USA
5 February 2008
Roman Catholic Womenpriests are proud to stand in solidarity with our brother priest, Marek Bozek, a modern-day prophet who fearlessly speaks truth to power and who courageously supported the ordinations that took place in St. Louis on 11 November 2007 of Rose Marie Dunn Hudson and Elsie Hainz McGrath. Because of his open support of women’s ordination, Archbishop Raymond Burke, of St. Louis, is threatening Fr. Bozek with laicization.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests work in partnership with all those who foster Jesus’ vision of Gospel equality, and offer a renewed model of priestly ministry in which women and men serve the needs of the people of God in a community of equals.
Archbishop Burke insists that women’s ordination is infallibly impossible, even though the doctrine of infallibility states that only those articles of faith which are embraced by the community of believers and have been a part of the tradition of the church since its earliest times can be declared infallible. Surveys reveal that 63-70 percent of Catholics support women’s ordination, so it is clearly not the sense of the faithful that this is impossible. And as there are scriptural, historical, and archaeological proofs that women were indeed ordained for the first 1,100 or so years of Christianity, it is clearly not a part of the church’s tradition that only men have been priests.
Fr. Marek Bozek is the pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church in St. Louis. He said: “I could not tolerate the abuse of my sisters any longer. I could not remain indifferent to the injustice being done to all those women graced by God with the priestly vocation.”
Rose Marie Hudson and Elsie McGrath co-pastor the Therese of Divine Peace Inclusive Community, in St. Louis. For further information, you may contact them as follows:
Rose Marie Hudson, rcwp, at divine_shalom2007@yahoo.com, or call 636-208-5598.
Elsie McGrath, rcwp, at divine_shalom2007@yahoo.com, or call 314-477-6089.
You may also contact the media representative for RCWP-USA:
Bridget Mary Meehan, rcwp, , at sofiabmm@aol.com, or call 703-283-2929.
Visit us at: www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
There have always been women priests
By Bridget Mary Meehan Global Ministries University
Sarasota, Florida, Jan.12, 2008—
By Bridget Mary Meehan Global Ministries University
Sarasota, Florida, Jan.12, 2008—
On July 31, 2006, the first U.S. ordinations of Roman Catholic women took place in Pittsburgh. I was one of the twelve women who was ordained in this historicceremony. By this prophetic action on behalf of justice in the church, Roman Catholic Womenpriests are reclaiming the ancient heritage of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church. Jesus offered an example of Gospel equality that led to the practice of ordaining women as deacons, priests and bishops in the early church. Jesus treated women and men as equals and partners. Jesus chose the Samaritan woman to announce the good news to her entire village, and the Samaritans accepted Jesus as Messiah because of her testimony. Mary of Magdala, the first witness to the resurrection, was commissioned by Jesus to be the apostle to the apostles (John 20:1-18). In the Gnostic writings, Gospel of Mary and Gospel of Philip, Mary of Magdala is portrayed as a threat to Peter because of her authoritative teaching and her close relationship with Christ. In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission echoed the sentiments of Jesus in concluding there is no biblical reason to prohibit women's ordination. Women and men are created in God's image and both may represent Christ as priests. "In the image of God, God created humankind, male and female God created them" (Genesis 1:26-27). Although the Roman Catholic leadership has been all-male for the past 900 years, Christianity's first millennium saw numerous women serving with distinction as deacons, priests and bishops. Phoebe, the deacon, was praised by St. Paul for her leadership of the church of Cenchreae (Romans 16:1-2). St. Paul identifies Junia as a senior in the faith to himself and labels Junia and her husband, Andronicus, as "outstanding apostles" (Romans 16:7). Mary, the mother of John Mark, led a congregation (Acts 12:12) and Prisca and Aquila, a married couple, were missionary apostles and coworkers with Paul. Romans uses the word eklesia ("church") to describe the group that gathered in their home. "Greet also the church in their house" (Romans 16:3-5). In the Catacomb of St. Priscilla, is a fresco, dated about 350 A.D. that depicts a woman deacon in the center vested in a dalmatic, her arms raised in the orans position for public worship. On the left side of the scene is a woman 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 woman on the right end of this fresco is wearing the same robe as the bishop on the left and is sitting in the same type of chair. She is turned toward the figures in the center and left, watching the woman deacon and priest. "These attributes," comments Roman Catholic archaeologist and theologian Dorothy Irvin, "indicate that she is thought of as a bishop, while the baby she is holding identifies her as Mary...Women's ordination, however, was based on succession from the apostles, including women such as Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary from Magdala, Phoebe, Petronella, and others about whose status among the founders of the church there could be no doubt." Dr. Irvin points to further evidence of women serving as priests: * In the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome, the fresco "Fractio Panis" shows a group of women "conducting a Eucharistic banquet." * A fourth century floor mosaic covering the tomb of Guilia Runa, located in the cathedral at Annaba acknowledges: "Guilia Runa, woman priest." This cathedral was made famous by St. Augustine of Hippo. * In the catacomb of St. Januarus in Naples, Bitalia, a woman priest, is depicted attired in a red chasuble and celebrating the Eucharist. She has two cups on a white cloth in front of her, one is wine one is water to mix with the wine as is still done today. Above her are two open books with markers and on each of the four pages the name of an evangelist is written. * Bishop Theodora, mother of Pope Paschal 1, is depicted in a group portrait standing next to St. Praxedis and the Blessed Virgin Mary in a mosaic in a side chapel of the church of St. Praxedis in Rome (Joan Morris and Ute Eisen). Theodora, about 820 A. D., and St. Praxedis who lived seven hundred years earlier, are depicted as standing together, wearing their episcopal crosses. They witness to a conscious connection between women church office holders and Mary, Mother of Jesus. "While the preponderance of evidence for female deacons is in the East," scholars Kevin Madigan and Carolyn Osiek, in their scholarly book "Ordained Women in Early Church," conclude that, " the evidence for women presbyters is greater in the west." Pope Gelasius I (late 5th c). In 494 AD Pope Gelasius wrote a letter to the bishops of three regions of southern Italy complaining about the practice of women presiding at the liturgy: "Nevertheless we have heard to our annoyance that divine affairs have come to such a low state that women are encouraged to officiate at the sacred altars, and to take part in all matters imputed to the offices of the male sex, to which they do not belong." In "Meehan, Praying with Celtic Holy Women," I wrote that The Irish Life of Brigit describes the episcopal ordination of St. Brigit of Kildare by Bishop Mel of Ardagh in fifth century Ireland. The evidence in the Celtic Church indicates that women and men were equals in preaching the Gospel, presiding at Mass and at the other sacraments. Historian Peter Ellis wrote that in the sixth century, three Roman bishops at Tours wrote a letter to two Breton priests Lovocat and Cathern, expressing their outrage that women were allowed to preside at Eucharist. "You celebrate the divine sacrifice of the Mass with the assistance of women to whom you give the name conhospitae (monasteries where men and women lived together and raised their children in the service of Chris) ...While you distribute the eucharist, they take the chalice and administer the blood of Christ to the people... Renounce these abuses...!" In mixed-gender monasteries, men and women worked as equals. However, the overall authority within a double monastery often resided with an abbess. St. Brigit selected Conleth to help her administer Kildare, and they governed "their church by a mutual, happy alliance." The tradition of a Christian seeking a spiritual guide, mentor or "soul friend" was a prevalent Celtic custom. Women as well as men served as spiritual friends. This custom eventually influenced the entire Church and led to the institutionalizing of private confession. There are stories of spiritual seekers coming to Saint Ita and Saint Samthann to reveal their sins and to receive forgiveness and guidance. In the tenth century, Bishop Atto of Vercelli wrote that because of the needs of the church, devout women were ordained to lead worship and to preside over the church. Church historian Gary Macy writes, "For over 1200 years the question of the validity of women's ordination remained at least an open question. Some popes, bishops and scholars accepted such ordinations as equal to those of men, others did not. Thus, we have come full circle. Roman Catholic Womenpriests in the 21st century are walking in the footsteps of our sisters in the Gospel and in the early church. — — —
The research of numerous people was compiled for the writing of this article. For the serious student of the historical role of women in the Roman Catholic Church, I list the works of some scholars and church historians who have shed much light on the topic. Brock, Ann Graham, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle The Struggle for Authority, 2003 (quotes Hippolytus (DeCantico 24-26, CSCO 264) pp. 43-49) Davies, Oliver (ed), Celtic Spirituality, New York: Paulist, 1999. Eisen, Ute, Women Officeholders in Early Christianity: Epigraphical and Literary Studies. Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 2000. Transl. From German original. Ellis, Peter. Celtic Women, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996. Irvin, Dorothy, Roman Catholic theologian and archaeologist; Dorothy is the creator of a series of annual calendars depicting the archaeology of women's traditional ministries in the Church. Macy, Gary. Theological Studies, (September. 2000) cited in Church Watch, (January-February 2001) p. 3. Madigan, Kevin and Osiek, Carolyn. Ordained Women in the Early Church: A Documentary History, John Hopkins University Press, 2005. Meehan, Bridget Mary. Praying with Celtic Holy Women, Liguori Missouri, Liguori Publications, 2003. Morris, Joan; The Lady Was A Bishop: The Hidden History of Women with Clerical Ordination and the Jurisdiction of Bishops; New York: The Macmillan Company; London: Collier-Macmillan Limited, 1973. Otranto, Giorgi, Notes on the Female Priesthood in Antiquity, Section 1. Raming, Ida; The Priestly Office of Women: God's Gift to a Renewed Church, In the series: A History of Women in Ordination, edited by Bernard Cooke and Gary Macy, The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD, Toronto, Oxford, 2004. — — — Bridget Mary Meehan, D.Min., a Sister for Christian Community, will be ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 31. Dr. Meehan is currently Dean of the Doctor of Ministry Program for Global Ministries University, and is the author of 15 books, including The Healing Power of Prayer" and “Praying with Women of the Bible”.
Friday, April 20, 2007
The Time Has Come for Ordaining Women
By Bridget Mary Meehan
It is time for the full equality of women in the church. Women and men are created in God's image and both may represent Christ as priests.
Women priests remind us that women are equal symbols of the holy and that the identity of priests should reflect the experiences and spiritual authority of women. Women priests help the church to recognize women's rightful place as equals in the governing structures of the church.
It is time to reclaim our Catholic heritage. Jesus treated women and men as equals and partners in ministry, so should the church. Mary of Magdala, the first to encounter the Risen Christ, was commissioned by Christ to be the apostle to the apostles. St Paul called Junia an “outstanding apostle”. In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no biblical reason to prohibit women’s ordination.
There is archaeological evidence of women deacons, priests and bishops on frescoes and tombstones in Rome, Southern Italy and Northern Africa. Popes and bishops such as Gelasius and Atto of Vercelli both acknowledge that the church did ordain women in the early centuries. Evidence in the Celtic Church indicates that women and men were equals in preaching the Gospel, presiding at Mass and at the other sacraments.
In the sixth century, three Roman bishops at Tours wrote a letter to two Breton priests Lovocat and Cathern, expressing their concern that women were allowed to preside at Eucharist. According to the Irish Life of Brigit, St. Brigit, a bishop, presided at a double monastery of women and men in Kildare. Reclaiming our ancient spiritual heritage, women priests are shaping a more inclusive, Christ-centered church of equals in the 21st century
It is time to transform the current hierarchical structures of the contemporary church. The clerical structure needs to be transformed from a dominator model with powers reserved to clergy into an open participatory model that honors the gifts of God in the people of God. The present gap between clergy and lay needs to be eliminated.
We advocate a move from an unaccountable top-down, hierarchy to a people-empowered discipleship of equals. The Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement offers a community
model of ministry based on union with the people we serve. It is time for holy disobedience. In obedience to the Gospel of Jesus we are disobeying an unjust law that discriminates against women.
The Catholic Church teaches that a law must be received by the faithful. Seventy percent of Catholics in the U.S. support women’s ordination. Therefore canon 1024 which states that only a baptized male may receive Holy Orders does not have the force of law because it has not been accepted by the community or sensus fidelum.
In fact, we have a moral obligation to disobey this unjust law. St. Augustine said that an “unjust law is no law at all.” As Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former bishop of Rottenberg-Stuttgart, Germany and current president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wrote: "Some situations oblige one to obey God and one's own conscience, rather than the leaders of the church. Indeed, one may even be obliged to accept excommunication, rather than act against one's conscience. It is time for an inclusive church, in which all are welcome at the table.
“You have given me a reason to return to the church,”. “a woman remarked in a reent e-mail in response to the news that eight women were being ordained as Roman Catholic priests in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2006 Many have been alienated by the institutional church, including the divorced and separated, gays and lesbians, and women who feel like second-class citizens in their own church seek a church where they will find acceptance and a spiritual home.
It is time to reclaim the feminine spirit in the church. The Catholic Church has a long history of condemning visionary prophetic women like Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake and declared a heretic, only to be later declared a saint.
In an August news conference, Pope Benedict stated that women, “with their spiritual potential, will know how to find their place. And we should try to listen to God that we do not obstruct him, but that we delight in the feminine in the church.”
Indeed, the Roman Catholic Womenpriests initiative is defining our spiritual place and offering the church an extraordinary gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals that is open, inclusive and welcoming to all.
It is our hope that the hierarchy will heed the pope’s exhortation to delight in the feminine in the church and in our movement for the full equality of women in the church.
It is our hope that one day we too will be proclaimed by the church we love as women who led the church to a new era of justice equality for all the People of God. The call for the full equality of women in the church is the voice of God in our time.
Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan, dean of the Doctor of Ministry program, at Global Ministries University and author of 15 books, was ordained a priest on July 31, 2006.
By Bridget Mary Meehan
It is time for the full equality of women in the church. Women and men are created in God's image and both may represent Christ as priests.
Women priests remind us that women are equal symbols of the holy and that the identity of priests should reflect the experiences and spiritual authority of women. Women priests help the church to recognize women's rightful place as equals in the governing structures of the church.
It is time to reclaim our Catholic heritage. Jesus treated women and men as equals and partners in ministry, so should the church. Mary of Magdala, the first to encounter the Risen Christ, was commissioned by Christ to be the apostle to the apostles. St Paul called Junia an “outstanding apostle”. In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no biblical reason to prohibit women’s ordination.
There is archaeological evidence of women deacons, priests and bishops on frescoes and tombstones in Rome, Southern Italy and Northern Africa. Popes and bishops such as Gelasius and Atto of Vercelli both acknowledge that the church did ordain women in the early centuries. Evidence in the Celtic Church indicates that women and men were equals in preaching the Gospel, presiding at Mass and at the other sacraments.
In the sixth century, three Roman bishops at Tours wrote a letter to two Breton priests Lovocat and Cathern, expressing their concern that women were allowed to preside at Eucharist. According to the Irish Life of Brigit, St. Brigit, a bishop, presided at a double monastery of women and men in Kildare. Reclaiming our ancient spiritual heritage, women priests are shaping a more inclusive, Christ-centered church of equals in the 21st century
It is time to transform the current hierarchical structures of the contemporary church. The clerical structure needs to be transformed from a dominator model with powers reserved to clergy into an open participatory model that honors the gifts of God in the people of God. The present gap between clergy and lay needs to be eliminated.
We advocate a move from an unaccountable top-down, hierarchy to a people-empowered discipleship of equals. The Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement offers a community
model of ministry based on union with the people we serve. It is time for holy disobedience. In obedience to the Gospel of Jesus we are disobeying an unjust law that discriminates against women.
The Catholic Church teaches that a law must be received by the faithful. Seventy percent of Catholics in the U.S. support women’s ordination. Therefore canon 1024 which states that only a baptized male may receive Holy Orders does not have the force of law because it has not been accepted by the community or sensus fidelum.
In fact, we have a moral obligation to disobey this unjust law. St. Augustine said that an “unjust law is no law at all.” As Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former bishop of Rottenberg-Stuttgart, Germany and current president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity wrote: "Some situations oblige one to obey God and one's own conscience, rather than the leaders of the church. Indeed, one may even be obliged to accept excommunication, rather than act against one's conscience. It is time for an inclusive church, in which all are welcome at the table.
“You have given me a reason to return to the church,”. “a woman remarked in a reent e-mail in response to the news that eight women were being ordained as Roman Catholic priests in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2006 Many have been alienated by the institutional church, including the divorced and separated, gays and lesbians, and women who feel like second-class citizens in their own church seek a church where they will find acceptance and a spiritual home.
It is time to reclaim the feminine spirit in the church. The Catholic Church has a long history of condemning visionary prophetic women like Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake and declared a heretic, only to be later declared a saint.
In an August news conference, Pope Benedict stated that women, “with their spiritual potential, will know how to find their place. And we should try to listen to God that we do not obstruct him, but that we delight in the feminine in the church.”
Indeed, the Roman Catholic Womenpriests initiative is defining our spiritual place and offering the church an extraordinary gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals that is open, inclusive and welcoming to all.
It is our hope that the hierarchy will heed the pope’s exhortation to delight in the feminine in the church and in our movement for the full equality of women in the church.
It is our hope that one day we too will be proclaimed by the church we love as women who led the church to a new era of justice equality for all the People of God. The call for the full equality of women in the church is the voice of God in our time.
Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan, dean of the Doctor of Ministry program, at Global Ministries University and author of 15 books, was ordained a priest on July 31, 2006.
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