Interview with Gabriella Velardi Ward and Bridget Mary Meehan. Go to this link and click on "faithful leadership and you will hear the
interview
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1255150
click on icon that says "listen/MP3.
Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now- https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/10/rev-dr-bridget-mary-meehan-arcwp-chat.html
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
March 30th: Interfaith Community Calls forth Judy Lee to a renewed priestly ministry in Ft. Myers, Florida
They came from everywhere to call forth Judy Lee as their priest at Lamb of God community in Ft. Myers, Florida. the commissioning ceremony of Dr. Judy Lee, Doctor of Ministry, DSW was held on March 30, 2008 at Lamb of God Church, Fort Myers, Florida.
The ceremony began with a welcome by Pastor:Walter Fohs, who said: "We are here to bless and call forth Dr. Judy Lee to serve Christ in our community. She will be ordained as a Roman Catholic Woman Deacon and then Priest and she is a servant called by and confirmed by our ecumenical and interfaith community here in Ft. Myers. Elders in the Church in the Park where Judy and a large group of volunteers serve a weekly meal, read from the Bible and came before the assembly to state why they were calling forth Judy to serve them as their pastor. Members from the Black, Latino, Call to Action, and Lamb of God stated the reasons they were calling Judy forth to continue Christ's work of service to the needy and advocacy for justice for the Beloved Community. Pastor Becky Robbins-Penniman, an Episcopal priest and co-pastor of Lamb of God Church summed up the presentations and called Judy forth. Bridget Mary Meehan, Roman Catholic Womanpriest and Formation Director for the Southern region, presented a reflection of Mary of Magdala as the apostle to the apostles, who was not believed by the male disciples even though she was at the cross and the first witness to the resurrection in all four Gospels. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are ,like Mary of Magdala, responding to Christ's call to go and tell in spite of opposition by the hierarchy. Bridget Mary affirmed the community's call of Judy to servant priesthood. As Judy was ordained, she was carrying the entire community with her, as a witness to her call to go and tell and serve God's people with a loving and compassionate heart. Alleluia, Amen!!
Members of the community carried stole, Bible, Cross and bread for ministry. They were bestowed by Rev. Bridget Mary Meehan, Pastor, Walter Fohs, Pastor Becky Robbins-Penniman, and Rev. Joe Irvin.
Jack Meehan played a soul-stirring rendition solo on the saxophone of "What A Friend we have in Jesus"
All the community was invited to come up and bless Judy with the waters from the baptismal font. Pastor Walter made the sign of the Cross on Judy's head with the Baptismal water and invited the acompanying community to come forth to do the same.
Pastor Judy read her response "Your Servant- A Poem"
The communtiy concluded with the final hymn " I have Decided to Follow Jesus.
The Benediction was given by Pastors Walter and Becky . "The Service Begins- Go and Serve".
Lamb of God Church volunteers served a dinner and the joyful celebration of Pastor Judy's call to priestly ministry continued the festivities!
The ceremony began with a welcome by Pastor:Walter Fohs, who said: "We are here to bless and call forth Dr. Judy Lee to serve Christ in our community. She will be ordained as a Roman Catholic Woman Deacon and then Priest and she is a servant called by and confirmed by our ecumenical and interfaith community here in Ft. Myers. Elders in the Church in the Park where Judy and a large group of volunteers serve a weekly meal, read from the Bible and came before the assembly to state why they were calling forth Judy to serve them as their pastor. Members from the Black, Latino, Call to Action, and Lamb of God stated the reasons they were calling Judy forth to continue Christ's work of service to the needy and advocacy for justice for the Beloved Community. Pastor Becky Robbins-Penniman, an Episcopal priest and co-pastor of Lamb of God Church summed up the presentations and called Judy forth. Bridget Mary Meehan, Roman Catholic Womanpriest and Formation Director for the Southern region, presented a reflection of Mary of Magdala as the apostle to the apostles, who was not believed by the male disciples even though she was at the cross and the first witness to the resurrection in all four Gospels. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are ,like Mary of Magdala, responding to Christ's call to go and tell in spite of opposition by the hierarchy. Bridget Mary affirmed the community's call of Judy to servant priesthood. As Judy was ordained, she was carrying the entire community with her, as a witness to her call to go and tell and serve God's people with a loving and compassionate heart. Alleluia, Amen!!
Members of the community carried stole, Bible, Cross and bread for ministry. They were bestowed by Rev. Bridget Mary Meehan, Pastor, Walter Fohs, Pastor Becky Robbins-Penniman, and Rev. Joe Irvin.
Jack Meehan played a soul-stirring rendition solo on the saxophone of "What A Friend we have in Jesus"
All the community was invited to come up and bless Judy with the waters from the baptismal font. Pastor Walter made the sign of the Cross on Judy's head with the Baptismal water and invited the acompanying community to come forth to do the same.
Pastor Judy read her response "Your Servant- A Poem"
The communtiy concluded with the final hymn " I have Decided to Follow Jesus.
The Benediction was given by Pastors Walter and Becky . "The Service Begins- Go and Serve".
Lamb of God Church volunteers served a dinner and the joyful celebration of Pastor Judy's call to priestly ministry continued the festivities!
March 29, 2008 Visit from Women's Book Community in Gainsville, Fl
On March 29, 2008, seven women from the University of Florida, Gainsville visited me and participated in our Mary, Mother of Jesus House Church liturgy. I shared some of the highlights from our year of growth as faith community committed to Gospel equality. This included a look through my scrap book which features pictures of ordinations, house church celebrations, controversy with the Diocese of Venice, newspaper articles etc. Jeff Swicord, from Voice of America-TV flew down from Washington DC to do interviews and to film our Mass.
Marcia Copel Chester, a Jewish neighbor joined us and shared the story of how an interfaith spirituality gathering of women called me forth for priestly ordination in 2005. She recounted the story of the joy they expressed when they heard that I was invited to the first North American ordinations .They clearly called me forth to be "their priest". On this occasion, Marcia volunteered to be "our parking lot angel " which consists of coordinating the street parking in our neighborhood, Over 30 people attended this liturgy, including new people from as far south as Englewood and a snowbird visiting from Buffalo.
Our dialogue homily focuses on the early church experience of house churches. I led our reflection with the story of Mary, mother of John Mark, a leader of one of the house churches in Jerusalem. She was an independent woman wih conisderable resources, including a spacious home which became an imporant center for first-century Christians to meet for worship and prayer. Some commentators believe that Mary presided at Eucharist there and that her home was the headquarters of the Jerusalem church. She was the mother of John Mark a coworker of Paul and a cousin of Barnabas, a missionary apostle in the church of Jerusalem. Mary knew Peter. Since her son worked with Paul, she probably had some connection with Paul. The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of Peter's escape from prison to Mary's home. Peter went immediately to Mary's house church where many membes of the Christian community were praying. Peter knocked at the gate. Rhoda, the maid, came to answer and upon recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overwhelmed that, instead of letting Peter in, she rushed back to tell the community, leaving Peter standing at the gate. At first, the community didn't belive her. Meanshile Peter kept knocking and when they opened the gate they were overjoyed to see him. peter then told them the details fo teh miraculous rescue. he instructed them to tell James and the other believers. Then he left. It seems that Mary's house church was the place where believers in jerusalem came regularly to pray and to seek refuge when their lives were threatened. According to the scriptures, there were a number of other women whose names and house churches were also mentioned. Like Mary, their homes also were the first Christian chruches.
These include Chloe (1Cor 1:11); Lydia (Acts 16:40); Nymphan (Col. 4:15) and Prisca (Rom. 16
:3, 5)
We have come full circle as reclaim our ancient tradition of "house churches" in grassroots Catholic communities in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals! Roman Catholic Womenpriests are working in grassroots communities from British Columbia in Canada to Southwest Florida.
Our dialogue homily focuses on the early church experience of house churches. I led our reflection with the story of Mary, mother of John Mark, a leader of one of the house churches in Jerusalem. She was an independent woman wih conisderable resources, including a spacious home which became an imporant center for first-century Christians to meet for worship and prayer. Some commentators believe that Mary presided at Eucharist there and that her home was the headquarters of the Jerusalem church. She was the mother of John Mark a coworker of Paul and a cousin of Barnabas, a missionary apostle in the church of Jerusalem. Mary knew Peter. Since her son worked with Paul, she probably had some connection with Paul. The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of Peter's escape from prison to Mary's home. Peter went immediately to Mary's house church where many membes of the Christian community were praying. Peter knocked at the gate. Rhoda, the maid, came to answer and upon recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overwhelmed that, instead of letting Peter in, she rushed back to tell the community, leaving Peter standing at the gate. At first, the community didn't belive her. Meanshile Peter kept knocking and when they opened the gate they were overjoyed to see him. peter then told them the details fo teh miraculous rescue. he instructed them to tell James and the other believers. Then he left. It seems that Mary's house church was the place where believers in jerusalem came regularly to pray and to seek refuge when their lives were threatened. According to the scriptures, there were a number of other women whose names and house churches were also mentioned. Like Mary, their homes also were the first Christian chruches.
These include Chloe (1Cor 1:11); Lydia (Acts 16:40); Nymphan (Col. 4:15) and Prisca (Rom. 16
:3, 5)
We have come full circle as reclaim our ancient tradition of "house churches" in grassroots Catholic communities in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals! Roman Catholic Womenpriests are working in grassroots communities from British Columbia in Canada to Southwest Florida.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community's Easter Vigil
Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community 
These photos provide a glimpse of the joyful celebration of our Easter Vigil on March 22, 2008.
Over 30 people gathered in our House Church. Jack Meehan led the music with his saxophone with a lively version of Jesus Christ is risen today.
Our homily was a dialogue with many of the community offering insights. I began our reflection on the theme of Jesus's appearance to Mary of Magdala. According to all four gospels, Mary of Magdala is described as being present at both the cross and the tomb. She is the first one to encounter the Risen Christ and she is entrusted with the proclamation of the central message of Christianity. "go, tell the disciples" that Christ has risen. In Luke's account, the disciples dismiss this proclamation as "idle chatter, and in both Luke and Mark's account they do not believe Mary and the other women. John's Gospel, portrays a close relationship between Jesus and Mary of Magdala. She is weeping in the garden and embraces Jesus. Jesus regards Mary of Magdala as an equal with the male disciples and calls her to be the apostle to the apostles. In the newly discovered gospels and sacred texts, Mary of Magdala plays a prominent role as a leader in the early Christian community who tells Peter and the disciples to proclaim the Gospel without fear. She reminds them of the Savior's presence. These documents also display Peter's resentment to her leadership. In the Gospel of Mary, Mary shares a vision she has received from the Savior and Peter and Andrew react with scorn. Levi chastises Peter: "Peter, thou hast ever been of hasty temper. Now I see that thou dost exercise thyself against the women like the adversaries. But if the Savior has made her worthy, who then are thou to reject her? Certainly the Savior knows her surely enough. Let us rather be ashamed, put on the perfect man as he has charged us and proclaim the Gospel."
So today we have come full circle. The hierarchy is challenging our orders. Prophetic voices and communities (like Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community House Church and many others from across North America -from British Columbia to southwest Fl, from Boston to California, are walking with us and living Jesus' vision now. Yes, like Mary of Magdala , we are not afraid, and we are now ready to"go and tell."
The Roman Catholic Womenpriests' initiative is reclaiming our ancient heritage and rightful role as partners and equals in the Gospel . The Risen Christ appeared first to Mary of Magdala. Christ chose Mary to proclaim the central message of Christianity to the male disciples. The church should follow the example of Jesus.
Go and tell. Like Mary of Magdala, Roman Catholic Womenpriests, proclaim the Gospel. We offer the community of believers, the Roman Catholic Church we love, the gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a Christ-centered community of equals.
Go and tell. Father Mark Bozek, a St. Louis priest, who has been condemned by Archbishop Burke, stood in solidarity with Roman Catholic Womenpriests when he attended the ordinations of Elsie McGrath and Rose Marie Hudson at Central Reform Congregation and courageously witnessed: " I could not remain indifferent to the injustice being done to all those women graced by God with the priestly vocation."
Go and tell. Joan Chittister , a prophetic voice for women's rights in church and society, who reminds us that "the unequal status of women is all to often taken for granted as 'normal." I asked the community to share what they wanted to "go and tell "this Easter. Several shared that they felt that they felt hopeful that they are members of our House Church community where they experience the Spirit moving us forward together to live Christ's Easter message. They had lots to share that they would "go and tell". One family shared they would be going to Rome in the coming weeks and they would "go and tell "of their experience of a womanpriest there too! 
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community
In this clip, the community prays the Eucharistic Prayer together.
In this clip, Jack Meehan plays "You'll never walk alone" as the communion meditation hymn at Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community ...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Roman Catholic Womenpriests welcome all especially those who are hurt and marginalized
The actions of Archbishop Burke reflect why American Catholics are in favor of change within the church. Sixty-five percent of Catholics support women priests. The people have spoken and are rejecting the church of man-made laws in favor of a church that is loving, inclusive, and emphasizes the teaching of Jesus. The people reject a church that coddles pedophile priests, ignores their criminal behavoir and has spent to date over a billion in settlements to victims who have suffered from clerical abuse. Barbara Dorris, Outreach Coordinator for Surviviors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a letter to the Editor of the St. Louis Dispatch: "In Archbishop Burke’s eyes, apparently, women acting like priests is a greater crime than men acting like criminals."
The Roman Catholic Womenpriests initiative is bringing equality and renewal to the church we love, and to all the holy people of God who have been hurt, marginalized, and ostracized in the name of Jesus Christ, who always and everywhere said, as we do, that ALL ARE WELCOME.
The Roman Catholic Womenpriests initiative is bringing equality and renewal to the church we love, and to all the holy people of God who have been hurt, marginalized, and ostracized in the name of Jesus Christ, who always and everywhere said, as we do, that ALL ARE WELCOME.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A story of what could be:Archbishop Burke washes women priests' feet on Holy Thursday
I am about to tell a true story and a could be true story. Two days ago, Archbishop Burke of St. Louis excommunicated three women, ages 65, 67 and 69 for refusing to submit to his decrees.
Needless to say, Bishop Burke received tons of bad publicity following the excommunications. In fact, he has been receiving a great deal of bad publicity since he tried to bully a woman rabbi into not allowing the women priests to use her synagogue as the site for their ordination and excommunicating a young Polish priest and the parish council for refusing to turn over the parish’s 9 million dollar endowment to the Archdiocese of St. Louis. People called him many names like “Burke, the Jerk,” and “Dinosaur Burke.”
Archbishop Burke remained singularly unrepentant. Rules are rules. Women are woman and priests need to be obedient priests. He went even farther. If someone whose politics he didn’t like showed up at Mass, he, Bishop Burke, Defender of the Faith, Shepherd of the Flock in St. Louis, would deny that person communion, the bread of life that came down from heaven, bequeathed to all by the death of Jesus on a cross. This is the true story, sad, but true.
Here’s the could be true story. Palm Sunday, 08, was a lovely day. Not quite spring, the crocuses were poking their purple heads out of the late winter ground and the air smelled sweet after an unusually long, hard winter. Instead of having his chauffer drive him to breakfast after mass, Bishop Burke decided to take a walk around the block.
As he walked down the street, a blinding light seemed to come down from the sky. Was it a terrorist attack? An explosion? Were the Iraqis invading St. Louis? Could it be aliens? Although the bishop covered his eyes, the power of the light forced him to the ground. It just had to be a bomb, he thought. The people and the buildings around him disappeared and he thought he was dead. Suddenly, he saw the homeless woman who usually picked trash out of garbage can near the cathedral. She was her usual self: dirty pink sweat pants, a camouflage army jacket and a beat up straw hat. In the middle of that blinding light, she turned to him and said, “Raymond, Raymond, why do your persecute me?”
Now, Bishop Burke had never said two words to the annoying woman who cluttered up the walkway in front of his cathedral. so he replied, rather sarcastically, “What the heck are YOU talking about?” The homeless woman said, “I am Jesus, whom you excommunicated.” And the woman began to sob, tears running down the creases in her dirty cheeks.
The light dissipated as fast as it appeared and Burke realized that he couldn’t see. He rubbed his eyes over and over again. What did that woman do to him? Did she poke him in the eye or spray him with Mace? He lifted his blind eyes to heaven, trying to find some light, any light. Annoyance did not describe how he was feeling, a bishop out there in the public eye, on the ground, for all to see.
Suddenly, a woman’s hands grabbed his wrists and pulled him to his feet. A woman’s voice said, “Hey, Bishop are you okay?” From the news reports, he recognized the voice. It was Rabbi Susan Talve, the rabbi he had publicly trashed as being an enemy of the Roman Catholic Church in St. Louis.
“Did something happen to you? Shall I take you to the emergency room?
“Well, yes,” Burke sputtered. “I’m blind. I can’t see a thing. That crazy woman must have done something to me. Do you see any Mace cans floating around?”
Rabbi Susan Talve, too polite to mention that there was no crazy woman anywhere in the vicinity, drove Archbishop Burke to the nearby emergency room. The doctors did a CT scan. They looked into his eyes with a light. “There’s nothing wrong with your eyes that we can see, Your Eminence,” they told him, and they made an appointment with a well- known ophthalmologist for the next day.
Rabbi Talve drove Burke home. She walked him to his doorway, rang the bell, and told the housekeeper that Burke had some sort of “spell” out there on the street near the cathedral and that he was having trouble seeing things.
When the housekeeper tried to help Burke up to his room, he just shook off her arm. “Leave me alone. I am going to bed.”
During the night, three spirits visited Raymond Burke. The first spirit took him back to his boyhood home. He saw his mother making dinner, cooking special treats for him, her beloved son. He could see her thoughts, how she thought that one day she might be a writer, but marriage and child rearing took up too much of her time. He saw his grandmother, his aunts, the nuns who taught him in grade school, and the women who cleaned his parish church every week for free. He saw himself, a fair-haired boy, go off to the seminary, free to be what he thought he could be, while women cooked his food and washed his clothes.
The second spirit took him to South Africa where he saw Patricia Fresen, a Dominican nun; protect the sisters of color in her convent from being carried off to jail by the police during apartheid. He saw her as a principal admitting girls of color into her previously white girls’ high school at risk of imprisonment. He saw her support the black seminarians on the joyous day they finally received the right to vote in South African elections. He saw seminarians hiss and boo when she tried to preach in church on South African Woman’s Day.
The third spirit took him to Rose Marie and Elsie’s ordination in Rabbi Talve’s synagogue. He saw 600 joyous people singing and praising God as Bishop Patricia Fresen ordained the women priests. He saw Christians and Jews praying and worshipping together, as one body in the realm of God. He saw the synagogue suffused with a golden light.. He thought he actually heard God laugh and say, “These are my beloved people in whom I am well pleased. Listen to them” In the midst of the joy and thanksgiving, he saw his episcopal messenger, a tall man wearing a black cape, deliver notices to Rose Marie and Elsie telling them that they were in big trouble with him, Archbishop Raymond Burke.
Then a fourth, most unwelcome and unexpected spirit who wasn’t supposed to be in the story appeared. It was the homeless woman with the dirty pink sweat pants. The spirit showed Raymond the future of the church, where all of God’s people had become the priesthood of all believers. He saw that his name was listed in a book other than the Book of Life with all those who had worked against the Spirit of God who moved over the face of the earth and transformed it. “Raymond, “ the woman said sternly, “Persecute me no longer. Go to Elsie and Rose Marie’s church on Holy Thursday and wash their feet.”
When Raymond awakened on Monday morning, he could see again. He ran to the bedroom window and opened the expensive red velvet drapes. He wondered if it had all been a dream. As soon as he experienced a second of doubt, his vision darkened again.
Raymond decided to go to the cathedral and pray for guidance. The cathedral always made him feel better when he was dealing with disloyal, disobedient so-called Catholics. How could he, the Archbishop of St. Louis wash the feet of renegade women priests? What would Benedict think? What would his supporters think? What would happen to the collections? What would happen to him? He could see himself consigned to some monastery in western Georgia, peeling potatoes for the remained of his earthly life. This simply could not be true. By the time he got to this last thought, his peripheral vision started to go.
Since it was Holy Week, the cathedral was open but still fairly empty at 8 in the morning. As he walked towards the altar rail, he heard a voice say, “Raymond, do not be afraid. Behold, I am with you.” He turned around to see the woman in the dirty pink sweat pants walk out of the church.
When Raymond looked up at the crucifix through the floaters obscuring his eyesight, Jesus’ loincloth seemed to glow pink. When he turned to leave the cathedral, the twelve females in the church looked at him and said in unison, “Raymond, persecute us no longer.”
Raymond ran out of the church, barely making it home through what had become slits of light. He couldn’t call the pope. He couldn’t call his friend Fabian or his predecessor, Justin, who simply would NEVER understand. He couldn’t call Father John Shamleffer since canon law would be of no help. The lot of them would all cart him off to the Paraclete Hospital citing exhaustion. What was he supposed to do? By this time, he could see only shadows.
Raymond spent three days in his room, telling everyone he was sick. His housekeeper brought food to his door and carted away his dirty laundry. He aides left messages on his I phone. “Your Eminence, what about the Chrism Mass?” Raymond left the service in the hands of his auxiliary bishop, saying, “Tell them I have the flu. Bad.”
He was lying on his king sized bed, cursing the darkness that was by now, complete. Fumbling for his rosary bead, he held the cross in his hands. “Lord, tell me what to do,” he prayed over and over again. He heard the church bells ring three o’clock. Suddenly, the street woman’s voice echoed in the room. “ Raymond,” she said sharply as he felt rather than saw the pink flash, “I already told you what to do. Just do I, will you?” Then, Raymond heard her say as if to another person, “What is wrong with this faithless generation? I am not sending this blasted man one more sign.”
Raymond rolled over and sat up. Against his better judgment and many years of experience, and fully aware that his career as a bishop was over, Bishop Burke bent down to put his feet in his shoes. He was going to Rose Marie and Elsie’s church. Immediately, the afternoon sunlight streamed through the window. As Raymond reached for a sports shirt and suit coat, the room darkened. Instead, he reached for his clerical collar and pectoral cross and the sun burst from behind a cloud. A bishop he was and a bishop he had to be, at least for tonight.
Elsie and Rose Marie’s congregation had gathered in their little church to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The congregation stared as Bishop Burke walked into the assembly. Smiling rather stiffly, he made his way to his seat – right next to a woman wearing dirty pink sweat pants and a camouflage jacket. Raymond gasped as the woman shook his hand and said through missing teeth, “Welcome to the house of our God.”
The people sat nervously through the Liturgy of the Word. What did his presence in their outlaw church mean? Where the police outside? Was he going to yell at them? Raymond sat composed and almost happy, his hands folded in his lap. He heard the Holy Thursday gospel as if for the first time. “If I, your Lord, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
After the homily, the children in the congregation prepared for the foot washing, carrying out basins, buckets of clean water, and towels. Raymond was the first to stand up. He removed his pectoral cross and his collar. He took off his black shirt and gave all three things to the woman in the pink sweats to hold. Walking up to the altar in his undershirt, he knelt down before Elsie McGrath and gently washed her feet. Then, he gestured for Rose Marie Hudson to sit and he washed hers as well. When he had finished, he put his head on the ground and began to sob. “Thank you, God, for not forsaking me, for leaving me in my ignorance and fear. Forgive me, Lord, for I really didn’t know what I was doing. Cleanse me of my iniquities and wash away my sins that I might become your worthy servant, the servant I hoped to be many years ago.”
Nobody knew what to do, so the pianist broke into a very unlikely Holy Thursday hymn, “Now Thank You All Our God.” People danced in the aisles. Some were even yelling Hallelujah, for who could believe such a thing could ever happen in the Diocese of St. Louis? Raymond, Elsie, and Rose Marie gave one another great big bear hugs and big sloppy wet kisses, forgiveness and reconciliation accomplished through the mercy of Almighty God.
As the people were returning to their seats, Raymond whispered to Elsie and Rose Marie that he was going to leave and head over to St. Stan’s and wash Father Marek Bozak’s feet, but he would be back. He needed to learn a thing or two. As he turned around to leave, he saw the woman in the pink sweats walk out of the church wearing his black clerical shirt over her camouflage jacket, the pectoral cross jauntily bouncing on her chest.
Raymond walked out of the church into the chill of a cool spring night air in his undershirt. He looked up at a sky that reminded him of a Christmas sky, where the light shone in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it; no matter how hard it tried. He, Raymond Burke, was now a witness who could truthfully testify to that light, the light that came into the world for all of the people. For the first time in a long time, Raymond Burke was a happy man.
He walked to the parking lot, hoping that he had left a sweater or jacket on the seat of his car to put over his undershirt. As he went to put the key in the lock, he saw something hanging from the right rear view mirror. It was his clerical shirt and his pectoral cross. Raymond removed his shirt, folded it, and placed his shirt and the cross on the hood of car parked next to him. He knew the lady in pink would find them.
As he got into his car and headed off to St. Stan’s and the young Marek, Raymond thought he heard a woman’s voice raucously singing the South African hymn, “ We Are Marching in the Light of God” at the top of her lungs. And he began to hum along with her.
Hallelujah!
Eileen DiFranco
Needless to say, Bishop Burke received tons of bad publicity following the excommunications. In fact, he has been receiving a great deal of bad publicity since he tried to bully a woman rabbi into not allowing the women priests to use her synagogue as the site for their ordination and excommunicating a young Polish priest and the parish council for refusing to turn over the parish’s 9 million dollar endowment to the Archdiocese of St. Louis. People called him many names like “Burke, the Jerk,” and “Dinosaur Burke.”
Archbishop Burke remained singularly unrepentant. Rules are rules. Women are woman and priests need to be obedient priests. He went even farther. If someone whose politics he didn’t like showed up at Mass, he, Bishop Burke, Defender of the Faith, Shepherd of the Flock in St. Louis, would deny that person communion, the bread of life that came down from heaven, bequeathed to all by the death of Jesus on a cross. This is the true story, sad, but true.
Here’s the could be true story. Palm Sunday, 08, was a lovely day. Not quite spring, the crocuses were poking their purple heads out of the late winter ground and the air smelled sweet after an unusually long, hard winter. Instead of having his chauffer drive him to breakfast after mass, Bishop Burke decided to take a walk around the block.
As he walked down the street, a blinding light seemed to come down from the sky. Was it a terrorist attack? An explosion? Were the Iraqis invading St. Louis? Could it be aliens? Although the bishop covered his eyes, the power of the light forced him to the ground. It just had to be a bomb, he thought. The people and the buildings around him disappeared and he thought he was dead. Suddenly, he saw the homeless woman who usually picked trash out of garbage can near the cathedral. She was her usual self: dirty pink sweat pants, a camouflage army jacket and a beat up straw hat. In the middle of that blinding light, she turned to him and said, “Raymond, Raymond, why do your persecute me?”
Now, Bishop Burke had never said two words to the annoying woman who cluttered up the walkway in front of his cathedral. so he replied, rather sarcastically, “What the heck are YOU talking about?” The homeless woman said, “I am Jesus, whom you excommunicated.” And the woman began to sob, tears running down the creases in her dirty cheeks.
The light dissipated as fast as it appeared and Burke realized that he couldn’t see. He rubbed his eyes over and over again. What did that woman do to him? Did she poke him in the eye or spray him with Mace? He lifted his blind eyes to heaven, trying to find some light, any light. Annoyance did not describe how he was feeling, a bishop out there in the public eye, on the ground, for all to see.
Suddenly, a woman’s hands grabbed his wrists and pulled him to his feet. A woman’s voice said, “Hey, Bishop are you okay?” From the news reports, he recognized the voice. It was Rabbi Susan Talve, the rabbi he had publicly trashed as being an enemy of the Roman Catholic Church in St. Louis.
“Did something happen to you? Shall I take you to the emergency room?
“Well, yes,” Burke sputtered. “I’m blind. I can’t see a thing. That crazy woman must have done something to me. Do you see any Mace cans floating around?”
Rabbi Susan Talve, too polite to mention that there was no crazy woman anywhere in the vicinity, drove Archbishop Burke to the nearby emergency room. The doctors did a CT scan. They looked into his eyes with a light. “There’s nothing wrong with your eyes that we can see, Your Eminence,” they told him, and they made an appointment with a well- known ophthalmologist for the next day.
Rabbi Talve drove Burke home. She walked him to his doorway, rang the bell, and told the housekeeper that Burke had some sort of “spell” out there on the street near the cathedral and that he was having trouble seeing things.
When the housekeeper tried to help Burke up to his room, he just shook off her arm. “Leave me alone. I am going to bed.”
During the night, three spirits visited Raymond Burke. The first spirit took him back to his boyhood home. He saw his mother making dinner, cooking special treats for him, her beloved son. He could see her thoughts, how she thought that one day she might be a writer, but marriage and child rearing took up too much of her time. He saw his grandmother, his aunts, the nuns who taught him in grade school, and the women who cleaned his parish church every week for free. He saw himself, a fair-haired boy, go off to the seminary, free to be what he thought he could be, while women cooked his food and washed his clothes.
The second spirit took him to South Africa where he saw Patricia Fresen, a Dominican nun; protect the sisters of color in her convent from being carried off to jail by the police during apartheid. He saw her as a principal admitting girls of color into her previously white girls’ high school at risk of imprisonment. He saw her support the black seminarians on the joyous day they finally received the right to vote in South African elections. He saw seminarians hiss and boo when she tried to preach in church on South African Woman’s Day.
The third spirit took him to Rose Marie and Elsie’s ordination in Rabbi Talve’s synagogue. He saw 600 joyous people singing and praising God as Bishop Patricia Fresen ordained the women priests. He saw Christians and Jews praying and worshipping together, as one body in the realm of God. He saw the synagogue suffused with a golden light.. He thought he actually heard God laugh and say, “These are my beloved people in whom I am well pleased. Listen to them” In the midst of the joy and thanksgiving, he saw his episcopal messenger, a tall man wearing a black cape, deliver notices to Rose Marie and Elsie telling them that they were in big trouble with him, Archbishop Raymond Burke.
Then a fourth, most unwelcome and unexpected spirit who wasn’t supposed to be in the story appeared. It was the homeless woman with the dirty pink sweat pants. The spirit showed Raymond the future of the church, where all of God’s people had become the priesthood of all believers. He saw that his name was listed in a book other than the Book of Life with all those who had worked against the Spirit of God who moved over the face of the earth and transformed it. “Raymond, “ the woman said sternly, “Persecute me no longer. Go to Elsie and Rose Marie’s church on Holy Thursday and wash their feet.”
When Raymond awakened on Monday morning, he could see again. He ran to the bedroom window and opened the expensive red velvet drapes. He wondered if it had all been a dream. As soon as he experienced a second of doubt, his vision darkened again.
Raymond decided to go to the cathedral and pray for guidance. The cathedral always made him feel better when he was dealing with disloyal, disobedient so-called Catholics. How could he, the Archbishop of St. Louis wash the feet of renegade women priests? What would Benedict think? What would his supporters think? What would happen to the collections? What would happen to him? He could see himself consigned to some monastery in western Georgia, peeling potatoes for the remained of his earthly life. This simply could not be true. By the time he got to this last thought, his peripheral vision started to go.
Since it was Holy Week, the cathedral was open but still fairly empty at 8 in the morning. As he walked towards the altar rail, he heard a voice say, “Raymond, do not be afraid. Behold, I am with you.” He turned around to see the woman in the dirty pink sweat pants walk out of the church.
When Raymond looked up at the crucifix through the floaters obscuring his eyesight, Jesus’ loincloth seemed to glow pink. When he turned to leave the cathedral, the twelve females in the church looked at him and said in unison, “Raymond, persecute us no longer.”
Raymond ran out of the church, barely making it home through what had become slits of light. He couldn’t call the pope. He couldn’t call his friend Fabian or his predecessor, Justin, who simply would NEVER understand. He couldn’t call Father John Shamleffer since canon law would be of no help. The lot of them would all cart him off to the Paraclete Hospital citing exhaustion. What was he supposed to do? By this time, he could see only shadows.
Raymond spent three days in his room, telling everyone he was sick. His housekeeper brought food to his door and carted away his dirty laundry. He aides left messages on his I phone. “Your Eminence, what about the Chrism Mass?” Raymond left the service in the hands of his auxiliary bishop, saying, “Tell them I have the flu. Bad.”
He was lying on his king sized bed, cursing the darkness that was by now, complete. Fumbling for his rosary bead, he held the cross in his hands. “Lord, tell me what to do,” he prayed over and over again. He heard the church bells ring three o’clock. Suddenly, the street woman’s voice echoed in the room. “ Raymond,” she said sharply as he felt rather than saw the pink flash, “I already told you what to do. Just do I, will you?” Then, Raymond heard her say as if to another person, “What is wrong with this faithless generation? I am not sending this blasted man one more sign.”
Raymond rolled over and sat up. Against his better judgment and many years of experience, and fully aware that his career as a bishop was over, Bishop Burke bent down to put his feet in his shoes. He was going to Rose Marie and Elsie’s church. Immediately, the afternoon sunlight streamed through the window. As Raymond reached for a sports shirt and suit coat, the room darkened. Instead, he reached for his clerical collar and pectoral cross and the sun burst from behind a cloud. A bishop he was and a bishop he had to be, at least for tonight.
Elsie and Rose Marie’s congregation had gathered in their little church to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The congregation stared as Bishop Burke walked into the assembly. Smiling rather stiffly, he made his way to his seat – right next to a woman wearing dirty pink sweat pants and a camouflage jacket. Raymond gasped as the woman shook his hand and said through missing teeth, “Welcome to the house of our God.”
The people sat nervously through the Liturgy of the Word. What did his presence in their outlaw church mean? Where the police outside? Was he going to yell at them? Raymond sat composed and almost happy, his hands folded in his lap. He heard the Holy Thursday gospel as if for the first time. “If I, your Lord, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”
After the homily, the children in the congregation prepared for the foot washing, carrying out basins, buckets of clean water, and towels. Raymond was the first to stand up. He removed his pectoral cross and his collar. He took off his black shirt and gave all three things to the woman in the pink sweats to hold. Walking up to the altar in his undershirt, he knelt down before Elsie McGrath and gently washed her feet. Then, he gestured for Rose Marie Hudson to sit and he washed hers as well. When he had finished, he put his head on the ground and began to sob. “Thank you, God, for not forsaking me, for leaving me in my ignorance and fear. Forgive me, Lord, for I really didn’t know what I was doing. Cleanse me of my iniquities and wash away my sins that I might become your worthy servant, the servant I hoped to be many years ago.”
Nobody knew what to do, so the pianist broke into a very unlikely Holy Thursday hymn, “Now Thank You All Our God.” People danced in the aisles. Some were even yelling Hallelujah, for who could believe such a thing could ever happen in the Diocese of St. Louis? Raymond, Elsie, and Rose Marie gave one another great big bear hugs and big sloppy wet kisses, forgiveness and reconciliation accomplished through the mercy of Almighty God.
As the people were returning to their seats, Raymond whispered to Elsie and Rose Marie that he was going to leave and head over to St. Stan’s and wash Father Marek Bozak’s feet, but he would be back. He needed to learn a thing or two. As he turned around to leave, he saw the woman in the pink sweats walk out of the church wearing his black clerical shirt over her camouflage jacket, the pectoral cross jauntily bouncing on her chest.
Raymond walked out of the church into the chill of a cool spring night air in his undershirt. He looked up at a sky that reminded him of a Christmas sky, where the light shone in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it; no matter how hard it tried. He, Raymond Burke, was now a witness who could truthfully testify to that light, the light that came into the world for all of the people. For the first time in a long time, Raymond Burke was a happy man.
He walked to the parking lot, hoping that he had left a sweater or jacket on the seat of his car to put over his undershirt. As he went to put the key in the lock, he saw something hanging from the right rear view mirror. It was his clerical shirt and his pectoral cross. Raymond removed his shirt, folded it, and placed his shirt and the cross on the hood of car parked next to him. He knew the lady in pink would find them.
As he got into his car and headed off to St. Stan’s and the young Marek, Raymond thought he heard a woman’s voice raucously singing the South African hymn, “ We Are Marching in the Light of God” at the top of her lungs. And he began to hum along with her.
Hallelujah!
Eileen DiFranco
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Archbishop Burke excommunicates Womenpriests from St. Louis
On March 12, 2008 Archbishop Burke excommunicated Rose Marie Hudson and Elsie McGrath. The decree was delivered by a courier at their respective homes. Rose Marie and Elsie were ordained priests in a Jewish Synagogue in St. Louis. (CRC: Central Reform Congregation) Rabbi Susan Talve and her congregation hosted the ordinations as an act of hospitality reflecting the tradition of Abraham and Sarah in the Hebrew scripure. Over 600 people attended including people from Jewish and other Christian churches.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests reject the penalties of excommunication, interdict, and any other punitive actions by church officials against Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are loyal members of the church who stand in the prophetic tradition of holy disobedience to an unjust law that discriminates against women.
We hold up heroic women in the church’s tradition like Hildegard of Bingen, Joan of Arc and St. Theodore Guerin who obeyed God, followed their consciences and withstood hierarchical oppression including interdict, excommunication and death.
The Catholic Church teaches that a teaching or law of the church is authoritative only if it is “received” by the sensus fidelium, the community of faith. If the community of faith does not accept the law, it has no effect on us. All people have a moral obligation to disobey an unjust law. St. Augustine taught that an unjust law is no law at all. Since 70% of U.S. Catholics favor women’s ordination and a growing majority of Catholics worldwide also favors women’s ordination, we do not “receive” or accept the Church's prohibition against the ordination of women and the church’s continued reliance on sexist metaphors, beliefs and assumptions for denying ordination to women.
Pope Benedict XVI, written when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, in the commentary section of the Doctrine of Vatican II, volume V, page 134, stated: "Over the Pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one's own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority.”
Roman Catholic Church laws are often contradictory. In this instance, canon 1024 limits sacred orders to men, while canon 849 states that baptism is the gateway to the sacraments. Scholar Bishop Ida Raming, doctor of theology, points out a prior church understanding: “some medieval canonists hold that not maleness but baptism is the pre-requisite for valid ordinations: “After being baptized, anyone may be validly ordained.” (The Exclusion of Women from the Priesthood: Causes and Background)
Recent scholarship affirms that women were ordained in the first twelve hundred years of the church’s history. The first half of the church’s history provides us with images and accounts of the inclusion of women in Holy Orders that contradict the later prohibition. The evidence provides a tradition we reclaim.
“Roman Catholic Womenpriests are leading the way to a renewed Roman Catholic Church in which the full equality of women will be a reality,” commented Bridget Mary Meehan, U.S. media spokeswoman. “Like Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles, and the women deacons, priests and bishops who served in the early centuries of our church, we are offering a model of a renewed priesthood in a community of equals.”
CONTACTS:Bridget Mary Meehan: 941-953-5948 (703) 283-2929 (cell), 703-671-6712sofiabmm@aol.com
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
It is time for an inclusive Roman Catholic Church where all are welcome at the table
(http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/RCWP_Resource.pdf). In our mission statement we clearly uphold the following: "The goal of the group ‘RC Womenpriests’ is to bring about the full equality of women in the Roman Catholic Church. At the same time we are striving for a new model of Priestly Ministry. The movement ‘RC Womenpriests’ does not perceive itself as a counter-current movement against the Roman Catholic Church. It wants neither a schism nor a break from the Roman Catholic Church, but rather wants to work positively within the Church.” We All are church, not just some. We reflect the people we serve: married, celibate, domestic partners, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered. 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. Augustinetaught that an unjust law is no law at all. As Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former bishop of Rottenberg-Stuttgar, 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.”
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Bridget Mary's Response to Diocese of Venice's OP ED in Sarasota Herald Tribune
Link to OP ED in Sarasota Herald by Diocese of Venice
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080306/COLUMNIST13/803060775/1008/OPINION
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080306/COLUMNIST13/803060775/1008/OPINION
Response from Bridget Mary Meehan to Diocese of Venice OP ED in
Sarasota Herald Tribune
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Although Adela Gonzales White, spokesperson for the Diocese of Venice, states that the Diocese of Venice is interested in fair and balanced reporting, her commentary has several errors which I'd like to correct.
First, I did not receive any communication whatsoever from the bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I was ordained in Pittsburgh by Roman Catholic Womenbishops who were ordained by Roman Catholic male bishops in good standing with the pope. Therefore, these bishops have apostolic succession and my orders are valid. According to Roman Catholic teaching, any bishop in good standing with the pope has apostolic succession and has the authority to ordain. To be in “full apostolic succession” means that a bishop’s authority is passed down in a direct line from the first apostles of Jesus Christ.
Second, I agree that the public has a right to be informed and a right to all the facts, not just the institutional church’s view. The people of God are the church, not just the hierarchy. While Roman Catholic Womenpriests are breaking an unjust, man-made law that keep women subordinate in the RC church, our motivation is not to leave the church, but to lead the church into a new era of equality in which the identity of priests reflect the experiences of women. Ms. White leaves out the fact that decision-making in the church according to Canon Law is linked to Holy Orders. So no matter how many positions women may occupy in the Diocese of Venice or elsewhere, they are second class citizens excluded from official decision-making which is reserved for the clergy. Women will not be equals in the Roman Catholic church until they are ordained.
Third, Pope Benedict has not excommunicated any of the women who were ordained in Roman Catholic Womenpriests in North America. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are not placing themselves outside the church, as Ms. White states, but offering a renewed model of priestly ministry rooted in Jesus example of inclusivity in the Gospels.
Fourth This church teaching, prohibiting women's ordination is not based on Scripture, tradition or the teaching authority (magisterium) .
--Scripture: In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no biblical reason to prohibit women’s ordination.
--Tradition: According to tradition, women were ordained deacons, priests and bishops in the first twelve hundred years of the church's history.
--Teaching authority/ Magisterium: Roman Catholic church teaches primacy of conscience. The prohibition against women's ordination is not infallible. 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. According to recent surveys 70% of U.S. Catholics support women priests.
Fifth, Like Joan of Arc, and other courageous people who endured condemnation and excommunication during their lifetimes by the church for their holy disobedience, it is our hope that the Roman Catholic womenpriests community will one day be affirmed as faithful members of the church who offered the church the gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals modeled on Jesus in the Gospels.
Like the Diocese of Venice, I have received many emails and phone calls, but most people who called expressed their support for our house church and asked for directions. I am grateful that the Diocese of Venice has played a role in increasing our community at Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community House Church.
Bridget Mary Meehan
Roman Catholic Womanpriest
sofiabmm@aol.com
Sarasota Herald Tribune
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Although Adela Gonzales White, spokesperson for the Diocese of Venice, states that the Diocese of Venice is interested in fair and balanced reporting, her commentary has several errors which I'd like to correct.
First, I did not receive any communication whatsoever from the bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I was ordained in Pittsburgh by Roman Catholic Womenbishops who were ordained by Roman Catholic male bishops in good standing with the pope. Therefore, these bishops have apostolic succession and my orders are valid. According to Roman Catholic teaching, any bishop in good standing with the pope has apostolic succession and has the authority to ordain. To be in “full apostolic succession” means that a bishop’s authority is passed down in a direct line from the first apostles of Jesus Christ.
Second, I agree that the public has a right to be informed and a right to all the facts, not just the institutional church’s view. The people of God are the church, not just the hierarchy. While Roman Catholic Womenpriests are breaking an unjust, man-made law that keep women subordinate in the RC church, our motivation is not to leave the church, but to lead the church into a new era of equality in which the identity of priests reflect the experiences of women. Ms. White leaves out the fact that decision-making in the church according to Canon Law is linked to Holy Orders. So no matter how many positions women may occupy in the Diocese of Venice or elsewhere, they are second class citizens excluded from official decision-making which is reserved for the clergy. Women will not be equals in the Roman Catholic church until they are ordained.
Third, Pope Benedict has not excommunicated any of the women who were ordained in Roman Catholic Womenpriests in North America. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are not placing themselves outside the church, as Ms. White states, but offering a renewed model of priestly ministry rooted in Jesus example of inclusivity in the Gospels.
Fourth This church teaching, prohibiting women's ordination is not based on Scripture, tradition or the teaching authority (magisterium) .
--Scripture: In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no biblical reason to prohibit women’s ordination.
--Tradition: According to tradition, women were ordained deacons, priests and bishops in the first twelve hundred years of the church's history.
--Teaching authority/ Magisterium: Roman Catholic church teaches primacy of conscience. The prohibition against women's ordination is not infallible. 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. According to recent surveys 70% of U.S. Catholics support women priests.
Fifth, Like Joan of Arc, and other courageous people who endured condemnation and excommunication during their lifetimes by the church for their holy disobedience, it is our hope that the Roman Catholic womenpriests community will one day be affirmed as faithful members of the church who offered the church the gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals modeled on Jesus in the Gospels.
Like the Diocese of Venice, I have received many emails and phone calls, but most people who called expressed their support for our house church and asked for directions. I am grateful that the Diocese of Venice has played a role in increasing our community at Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community House Church.
Bridget Mary Meehan
Roman Catholic Womanpriest
sofiabmm@aol.com
House Church on ABC News (FL.) on March 5, 2008
ABC news did a story on Mary, Mother of Jesus, House Church and interviewed Jack Duffy, a Venice Diocese official and Bridget Mary Meehan
http://www.kgc.cc/duffy.wmv
The written text of our ABCnews story of Mary, Mother of Jesus, House Church is up on this site. You can also click for video:
http://www.wwsb.tv/Global/story.asp?s=7971510
http://www.kgc.cc/duffy.wmv
The written text of our ABCnews story of Mary, Mother of Jesus, House Church is up on this site. You can also click for video:
http://www.wwsb.tv/Global/story.asp?s=7971510
Sunday, March 2, 2008
March 1, 2008 Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community House Church
On Sat. evening, March 1st, 2008, our house church was full to capacity with many new faces.
I honestly think that the diocese of Venice's announcement has helped double the size of our community in a week. We are truly grateful to Bishop Frank Dewane for this gift.
Like the one born blind in the Gospel, we can move through the darkness to the light and experience the glory of God shining through our darkest hour. Sometimes it takes dark valleys to awaken us to new dreams and fresh perspectives. It will be a dream that draws us closer to one another in the heart of God.
Fr. Bryan Massengale, a contemporary theologian, observed in a recent article that the Roman Catholic church, as we have known it, is on life-support and our ministry to a dying institution is one of hospice care. The good news is a new creation is in now our midst.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests are forming a renewed model of priestly ministry in a community of equals modelled on the early Christians who gathered in their homes to celebrate the Eucharist. Now once again, in house churches, like Mary, Mother of Jesus, we are experiencing our spiritual kinship as God's family, supporting one another with our diverse gifts. Christ is reaching out through us to our sisters and brothers in our beloved church speaking to us in the depths of our hearts: "I love you, I love you, I love you. Come as you are into my healing embrace and experience deep peace and divine strength as the glory of God shines through you in the darkness.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Link to Article in Saraota Herald Tribine: Feb.26, 2008
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
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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