According to an Irish Government panel, thousands of children were sexually and physically abused by priests and nuns in Ireland from 1934-1990. According to the report rape and sexual assault were prevalent in boys institutions... "A climate of fear; created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys." The commission found that girls also were subject to horrific physical abuse as well as emotional abuse. In some schools "a high level of ritualized beating was routine." One of my Irish cousins received harsh treatment at an institution for girls, and has left the Catholic church as a result of its cruelty. Another relative left Ireland years ago and never returned. I was stunned at the cruel treatment of young pregnant women portrayed in the movie, "Magdalene Laundries". But apparently, it was just the tip of the iceberg. In the past families did not know where to go to find help to stop the violence. The church and state at that time in Ireland were in collusion. They controlled everything.
This report blamed the Vatican stating that the hierarchy failed to protect children out of fear of scandal.None of the abuser names was made public because of a prior arrangement. The Christian Brothers who ran the majority of residential homes for boys in Ireland, sued the commission in 2004 to keep the names from being publicized. The victims groups were outraged at this omission and called it a whitewash.
I was born in Ireland and attended St. John of God School in Rathdowney, County Laois. When I was in first class, Sister would raise the ruler and pow, right across the hand if I gave a wrong answer. No wonder I was a nervous wreck! My 84 year-old Dad, who grew up in the 30's, often told stories of brutal beatings of boys in his school in Ballyroan. Dad said "if you missed a catechism question, you got a box on the ears." I wonder how many Irish people have similar horrible memories. My guess is, sad to say, this was the standard operating procedure in all Irish schools during that time.
This panel's report is a indictment of the Roman Catholic Church and the Irish government. The institutional church put its reputation and fear of scandal ahead of pastoral care of children and truth-telling about its failures. Jesus, who gathered the children in his arms, would weep!
What can we do to correct this tragedy? Pray and unite in working for real change.
Pray for healing for all survivors of clerical abuse, especially the Irish people who have endured so much humiliation and degrading treatment at the hands of those who were called to serve them.
But what is needed now is people-power. We need to join hands and hearts to work together for a reformed, renewed church. In Ireland and elsewhere, law enforcement and elected officials must put their responsibility to the people first, not their deference to any religious institution including the Catholic church. We the people must make it happen.
In my view, Catholics in Ireland and around the world need to work together to transform the power structure and mindset that puts the church's reputation and fear of scandal over its responsibility to God's children. We need to take steps to change the up-down, pyramid model to a more circular model -- a community of equals- each with different gifts, all working to build up the Body of Christ. We are companions on the journey, partners in ministry, and we need to build together a more accountable, caring, pastoral church. We can join with other reform-minded Catholics to support one another in this endeavor. One way is to form intentional Eucharistic communities, another suggestion is to support the Survivors Network(SNAP) for those abused by priests. http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/intentional-communities-find-way
In addtion, we need to reclaim the church's earlier tradition of married priests and women priests. For twelve hundred years, women were ordained in the Catholic church. The good news is that in grassroots communities Roman Catholic Womenpriests have already begun to work with others to shape these kinds of Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered communities. www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
May St. Brigit of Kildare, St. Patrick and all the holy women and men of Ireland intercede for all victims of abuse especially the people of Ireland as they go forward into a new day of justice and healing.
Bridge Mary Meehan
The sexual abuse crisis is a worldwide one, and has devastated the Catholic church in the United States. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 5000 priest have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors. 12, 000 Americans have reported sexual abuse by priests. The lawsuits have cost the church over 1 billion and several U.S. dioceses have filed for bankruptcy.
(Source: Washington Post, Mary Jordan, "Pupils Abused For Decades in Irish Schools", May 21, 2009.
Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now- https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/10/rev-dr-bridget-mary-meehan-arcwp-chat.html
Friday, May 22, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Reactions to President Obama's speech at Notre Dame
On Sunday, May 17, 2009 President Obama received an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana and addressed the class of 2009. In his commencement speech Obama called for both sides of the abortion debate to stop demonizing each other. He implored the graduates against
"reducing those with differing views to caricature. Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words. It's a way of life that always has been the Notre Dame tradition."
He cited the civils rights legacy of Fr. Ted Hesberg, former president of Notre Dame and Cardinal Bernadine, now deceased, as examples of men who transformed the debates of our time by bringing people together to seek common ground.
See article:
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/right-wing-warriors-cause-damage-church
"reducing those with differing views to caricature. Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words. It's a way of life that always has been the Notre Dame tradition."
He cited the civils rights legacy of Fr. Ted Hesberg, former president of Notre Dame and Cardinal Bernadine, now deceased, as examples of men who transformed the debates of our time by bringing people together to seek common ground.
See article:
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/right-wing-warriors-cause-damage-church
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Intentional Eucharistic Communities: Embracing and Shaping Our Future
The first national gathering of Intentional Eucharistic Communities (IECs), small faith communities rooted in the Catholic Tradition that gather to celebrate Eucharist on a regular basis took place in 1991 with 155 participatnes from 15 communities. The second national gathering was held in May 2001, in the Washington, DC area. Over 240 members, representing 41 communities came together to celebrate and share. A gathering of Intentional Eucharistic Communities was held on May 15-17, 2009 in Chevy Chase MD. The keynote speaker was Robert Mc Clory, who shared his research on the early church, his experience with Dutch Dominican theologians and the transforming presence of IECs. Topics for others sessions were women in ministry, religion and spirituality, social justice and IECs and Young Catholics and the Future of IECs. Valerie Dixon, an Episcopalian woman priest, and Eileen DiFranco and I ( both RCWP) shared our journeys to priesthood and engaged in an open-ended dialogue with participants in the conference. For more information, visit
www.intentionaleucharisticcommunities.org
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Article in Sudbury Star-Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
| Abandoning the Catholic church Sudbury Star - Sudbury,Ontario, Bouclin was ordained May 25, 2007, within the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, also known as the Danube Movement. Currently persons who disagree with the Vatican's position on the ordination of women and other teachings related to divorce, abortion or homosexuality, are increasingly put under penalty of interdict or excommunication," said Rev. Marie Bouclin. Bouclin was ordained May 25, 2007, within the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, also known as the Danube Movement. |
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Gary Macy's lecture: " A Higher Calling for Women" Historical Perspectives in the Catholic Church
California Catholic
May 14, 2009
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=a466093f-b50f-4448-a09e-853a3f44f957
“Can you ordain a hermaphrodite?”
"Santa Clara University theology professor says Church had long history of ordaining women that ended because of 'virulent misogyny'
Gary Macy, a professor of theology at Jesuit-run Santa Clara University, told attendees at a Monday night lecture at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee, there is little room for historical doubt that women were ordained in the Catholic Church until about the end of the 12th century.. historical evidence is overwhelming that for much of the church’s history, the ordination of women was a fact.”
May 14, 2009
http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=a466093f-b50f-4448-a09e-853a3f44f957
“Can you ordain a hermaphrodite?”
"Santa Clara University theology professor says Church had long history of ordaining women that ended because of 'virulent misogyny'
Gary Macy, a professor of theology at Jesuit-run Santa Clara University, told attendees at a Monday night lecture at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee, there is little room for historical doubt that women were ordained in the Catholic Church until about the end of the 12th century.. historical evidence is overwhelming that for much of the church’s history, the ordination of women was a fact.”
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Article by John Dilulio in America, the Catholic magazine: Catholic Leaders face challenges their predecessors could not fathom
John, J. Dilulio, in the May 11, 2009 issue of America presents a wake-up call to leaders in the Roman Catholic Church. According to the Pew Forum survey in 2008, "a third of Americans who were raised Catholic had left the church. One in 10 Americans are ex-Catholic. Ex-Catholics outnumbered converts to Catholicism four to one."
The article goes on to report a significant decline in church attendance according to another survey that between 1990 and 2008 the church’s flock fell from 26.2 percent to 25.1 percent of the total U.S. population, even though roughly half of all immigrants to the United States were Catholic. (National American Religious Identification Survey)
Read article in America/May edition or visit www.corpus.org and click on e-corpus to read article online.
I believe that many Catholics are alienated from the institutional church for a variety of reasons, but close to the top is its discrimination towards women. The full equality of women in the church is the call of Christ in our time. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are practicing prophetic obedience to the Gospel by offering the church the gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a renewed community of equals.
In order to change an unjust law, we must break the law, and out of the ashes the new will rise, like the phoenix. It has happened before and it is happening now.
Alleluia!
The article goes on to report a significant decline in church attendance according to another survey that between 1990 and 2008 the church’s flock fell from 26.2 percent to 25.1 percent of the total U.S. population, even though roughly half of all immigrants to the United States were Catholic. (National American Religious Identification Survey)
Read article in America/May edition or visit www.corpus.org and click on e-corpus to read article online.
I believe that many Catholics are alienated from the institutional church for a variety of reasons, but close to the top is its discrimination towards women. The full equality of women in the church is the call of Christ in our time. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are practicing prophetic obedience to the Gospel by offering the church the gift of a renewed priestly ministry in a renewed community of equals.
In order to change an unjust law, we must break the law, and out of the ashes the new will rise, like the phoenix. It has happened before and it is happening now.
Alleluia!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day Poem by John Chuchman
Mother's Day
Mother Earth
raped throughout history
Mother Church
dominated by males
Mother Priest
Why only Father titles?
Mother God
eliminated from word, prayer, thought
Mother, Mother . . .
by John Chuchman
(used with permission)
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Mother's Day Homily by Eileen DiFranco
Mother’s Day Homily, 2009
The words, “This is my body; this is my blood” are holy words. We need these words in order to become the Body of Christ. The People of God are made holy by these words. They are fed and strengthened in order to do the hard work of building up the Body in the world.
Several years ago, I read about these holy words in the Jesuit magazine, “America.” A young mother wrote of trying unsuccessfully to calm her crying infant during mass. While carrying the baby out of the church, she heard the priest20say the words, “This is my body, given up for you.” She looked down at her child and understood that she had given up her body for her baby.
Like the Eucharist, life and death are intermingled in birth. Many of us who were born prior to 1960 recall stories about relatives and neighbors who died while giving birth. With our current low rates of maternal mortality in the western world, it is almost unimaginable to think that in some places at some times, more mothers died than lived while giving birth.
Before the advent of asepsis, becoming pregnant in some parts of the world was a death sentence. Doctors would go from doing autopsies to attending women in childbirth without washing their hands. The women these doctors touched died within days of overwhelming infection. Mary Wollstonecraft, author of “A Vindication of the Rights of Women, died of this infection which was euphemist ically but appropriately called “Childbed Fever.” This was her body, given up for her child.
Only in recent history could childbirth practitioners manage anything beyond he most minor deviations in labor and delivery without harming mother or child or both. Many other women died in childbirth because they had too many children in too short a time and had to work too hard to keep them all alive.
I never did learn why my great Aunt Helen died in September of 1924 while delivering twin girls who also died. My grandmother, also pregnant at the time, told me of how Helen fearlessly approached childbirth while my grandmother feared for her life. My grandmother delivered my aunt, a ten pounder, a week after=2 0Aunt Helen’s funeral. Sixty-five years of living did not eras e the picture of seventeen –year- old Helen lying in a coffin, her dead infant girls cradled in each arm. This was her body, given up for her children.
When women volunteer to have their child’s birth televised on “Good Morning America” while wearing eye shadow and mascara, we tend to lose sight of the very serious business that is childbirth. We forget that every pregnant woman gives up her body for her child as the growing fetus harnesses every organ system of the mother’s body in order to sustain its growth. If any organ system is not up to the task, both mother and child can die.
Some women never recover completely from childbirth. They never lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. Others might develop varicose veins, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Some develop permanent uri nary tract or bowel problems from i njuries sustained during childbirth. These are our young bodies, which we have offered up for our children.
Each time a woman goes into labor, she travels into the valley of the shadow of death, a place one cannot imagine if one has not given birth. One of my neighbors who gave birth was appalled by the fact that I didn’t use anesthesia during the births of my children. I told her I was more stupid than brave and truly believed that I was giving my children the best possible start in life by not using drugs. This was comfort for my body, which I was willing to give up for them.
Childbirth is always accompanied by a certain amount of blood. The shedding of blood during childbirth used to render a woman, “unclean,” a verdict Christianity inherited from Judaism. Until Vatican II, a post partum woman was supposed to be “churched,” a ceremony which “purified” the mother of childbirth, so that she could return to communion. However, without the shedding of the mother’s blood, there can be no birth and no life. Even Jesus, born of Mary came into this world purple, wet, and slippery, covered with his mother’s blood. Mary gave her holy body and blood to Jesus. This was her body and blood, given up for him.
Two women I know almost hemorrhaged to death after giving birth. After birth, the uterus is supposed to contract and clamp off all of the blood vessels that supplied the placenta and nourished the baby during pregnancy. If the uterus fails to contract, the blood vessels remain wide open and blood gushes out of the woman with each beat of her heart. Both women described lying in a state of suspended animation as their blood poured onto the floor, knowing what was happening to them, but too weak to rouse themselves to call for help.
One looks at blood, at the bright red bewilderment of it, with awe, for it is life itself. How many of our foremothers saw this blood, felt it leave their bodies, and understood what it meant to shed every last drop of blood in order to give life to another human being!
On this Mother’s Day, I invite you to image God, who is truly beyond whatever paltry picture we might imagine, as Mother God. Imagine God our Creator as the Mother clothed in the sun, wearing star in Her hair, groaning in hard labor as She tries to give birth to a new heavens and a new earth where all mothers are forever freed of the sins of patriarchal misconceptions and misogyny.
Today on Mother’s Day, remember your mother. Honor all mothers in whom unborn babies once lived and moved and developed their very beings.
This is our body; this is our blood, given for the life of the world.
Happy Mother's Day!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Homily in honor of Mary, Mother of Jesus
"i want my mommy!"
Jesus cried, "Abba, Daddy!" can i not also cry "daddy" or "mommy?"
i look at the un-humanizing of mary and i want to scream! i look at mary
stuck up there on a pedestal and i don't understand how she can change a
dirty diaper or wash off a scraped knee or even take a thorn out of a
puppy's paw.
i don't want my mommy up on a pedestal where i can't touch her. how can
we put our arms around each other if she is up there and i am down
here? besides, it's not very nice to put her up there where she can't
move around, or go to the bathroom, or get some sleep, or even comb her
hair. i want her down here!
i want her to come and sit at my kitchen table and have a cup of coffee
with me. i want to talk to her and i want to listen to her. back in
grade school, the sisters who taught us were very specific -- dogmatic!
-- that mary never spoke a word her entire life except the words that
are recorded in the gospels, that she never needed to speak. i don't
want that!!!!!! i want my mommy to have a real voice.
my brother, Jesus, was really funny at that wedding over there in Cana.
my mommy was a hostess at the wedding [nb -- how else would she have
known the wine was gone before the stewards knew???]. anyway, Jesus was
sitting there with that bunch of vagabonds he runs around with, and my
mommy went over and told him about the wine situation. [you think that
would be embarrassing today? just think of how embarrassing it would
have been in 1st century Palestine!] so Jesus said, "honestly, mom!
can't you see i'm busy partying with my friends??" my mommy just threw
up her hands and started laughing and said, "honestly, Jesus! do you
want to embarrass the whole family -- which is exactly what will happen
if we run out of wine!" she was exasperated, but she was still laughing
and shaking her head when she told the waiters Jesus would take care of
everything. and he did.
that's the kind of mommy i want. i want to say those kinds of things to
her too -- just like Jesus did -- and i want her to laugh when i do!
i was in church the other day and i looked up at my mommy's statue and i
cried. i don't want a statue-mommy with a silly wreath of flowers on
her head! how can my mommy like that stuff? it hasn't changed much
over the years. the kids who get to participate putting flowers on statues
are the pretty ones and the teachers' pets, and the boy and girl
voted most popular -- the same as always. how can my mommy be
happy with may crownings when around the world year after year so
many of the kids are excluded because they don't fit the norm?
how can my mommy go along with such cruel practices?
i want my mommy to love me even if i am different. i don't want her to
like those devotions that put some of my siblings above others of my
siblings.
i don't want my mommy deified either. she is not God -- never was,
never will be. it must be painful for her to be thought of as a
mini-god when she really is just human.
i hurt for my mommy when i read high-Christology things about her --
things that don't make sense -- things that make her un-human. pious
meditations are fine. but where is my mommy's humanity???????
but, i am not a child; she is not really my mommy! she is my brother
Jesus's mommy, not mine. but as my brother Jesus's mommy, i feel the
pain that He must feel that His mommy is denied her humanity. she
should be/is my friend, my companion -- as some have said, "fully human
companion." my brother's mommy....and my friend.....
how can she be my companion when popular mariology won't let her come
down off of her pedestal and visit with me? how can she walk into my
office and ask me how my computer is behaving if popular piety has taken
away her humanity? how can she drink coffee or eat ice cream with me or
laugh or cry with me when she is not allowed to be human?
"dear fully human companion -- they make you god, but you are not God.
they pay lip service to your humanity, but they extoll your
UN-humanity. they wail at your sorrows, but fail to recognize your
sorrow at not being allowed to be recognized as fully human."
i don't want my brother Jesus's mommy, my companion, sealed in a box,
high on an untouchable pedestal -- i don't want my fully human companion
to be locked up in the realm of the non-human, the UN-human! "mary,
i've got the hammer and the saw and the pliers. i want to let you out
of the box! i have the ladder too. please let me help you come down so
we can walk together and i can tell you, my fully human companion, the
mother of my brother Jesus, about how and where things are with me
today. then maybe you can put your arm around me and tell me you
understand."
Roberta M. Meehan, Roman Catholic Womanpriest
Jesus cried, "Abba, Daddy!" can i not also cry "daddy" or "mommy?"
i look at the un-humanizing of mary and i want to scream! i look at mary
stuck up there on a pedestal and i don't understand how she can change a
dirty diaper or wash off a scraped knee or even take a thorn out of a
puppy's paw.
i don't want my mommy up on a pedestal where i can't touch her. how can
we put our arms around each other if she is up there and i am down
here? besides, it's not very nice to put her up there where she can't
move around, or go to the bathroom, or get some sleep, or even comb her
hair. i want her down here!
i want her to come and sit at my kitchen table and have a cup of coffee
with me. i want to talk to her and i want to listen to her. back in
grade school, the sisters who taught us were very specific -- dogmatic!
-- that mary never spoke a word her entire life except the words that
are recorded in the gospels, that she never needed to speak. i don't
want that!!!!!! i want my mommy to have a real voice.
my brother, Jesus, was really funny at that wedding over there in Cana.
my mommy was a hostess at the wedding [nb -- how else would she have
known the wine was gone before the stewards knew???]. anyway, Jesus was
sitting there with that bunch of vagabonds he runs around with, and my
mommy went over and told him about the wine situation. [you think that
would be embarrassing today? just think of how embarrassing it would
have been in 1st century Palestine!] so Jesus said, "honestly, mom!
can't you see i'm busy partying with my friends??" my mommy just threw
up her hands and started laughing and said, "honestly, Jesus! do you
want to embarrass the whole family -- which is exactly what will happen
if we run out of wine!" she was exasperated, but she was still laughing
and shaking her head when she told the waiters Jesus would take care of
everything. and he did.
that's the kind of mommy i want. i want to say those kinds of things to
her too -- just like Jesus did -- and i want her to laugh when i do!
i was in church the other day and i looked up at my mommy's statue and i
cried. i don't want a statue-mommy with a silly wreath of flowers on
her head! how can my mommy like that stuff? it hasn't changed much
over the years. the kids who get to participate putting flowers on statues
are the pretty ones and the teachers' pets, and the boy and girl
voted most popular -- the same as always. how can my mommy be
happy with may crownings when around the world year after year so
many of the kids are excluded because they don't fit the norm?
how can my mommy go along with such cruel practices?
i want my mommy to love me even if i am different. i don't want her to
like those devotions that put some of my siblings above others of my
siblings.
i don't want my mommy deified either. she is not God -- never was,
never will be. it must be painful for her to be thought of as a
mini-god when she really is just human.
i hurt for my mommy when i read high-Christology things about her --
things that don't make sense -- things that make her un-human. pious
meditations are fine. but where is my mommy's humanity???????
but, i am not a child; she is not really my mommy! she is my brother
Jesus's mommy, not mine. but as my brother Jesus's mommy, i feel the
pain that He must feel that His mommy is denied her humanity. she
should be/is my friend, my companion -- as some have said, "fully human
companion." my brother's mommy....and my friend.....
how can she be my companion when popular mariology won't let her come
down off of her pedestal and visit with me? how can she walk into my
office and ask me how my computer is behaving if popular piety has taken
away her humanity? how can she drink coffee or eat ice cream with me or
laugh or cry with me when she is not allowed to be human?
"dear fully human companion -- they make you god, but you are not God.
they pay lip service to your humanity, but they extoll your
UN-humanity. they wail at your sorrows, but fail to recognize your
sorrow at not being allowed to be recognized as fully human."
i don't want my brother Jesus's mommy, my companion, sealed in a box,
high on an untouchable pedestal -- i don't want my fully human companion
to be locked up in the realm of the non-human, the UN-human! "mary,
i've got the hammer and the saw and the pliers. i want to let you out
of the box! i have the ladder too. please let me help you come down so
we can walk together and i can tell you, my fully human companion, the
mother of my brother Jesus, about how and where things are with me
today. then maybe you can put your arm around me and tell me you
understand."
Roberta M. Meehan, Roman Catholic Womanpriest
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Article in News-Journal
Mothers and ministers: Female reverends discuss spiritual, family ...
News-Journal.com - Longview,TX,USA
"We have a lot of mothers and grandmothers in our movement," said Bridget Mary Meehan,
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/features/stories/2009/05/09/05092009_reverend_mother.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=5
News-Journal.com - Longview,TX,USA
"We have a lot of mothers and grandmothers in our movement," said Bridget Mary Meehan,
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/features/stories/2009/05/09/05092009_reverend_mother.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=5
Monday, May 4, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Dr. Dorothy Irvin Lectures on Evidence of Women Bishops in the Early Church
Bishop Theodora and St. Praxedia
Mosaic in St. Praxedis Church in Rome
This mosaic of Bishop Theodora ( onleft, standing next to St. Praxeis, also a womanbishop
and Mary, Mother of Jesus.
is found in St. Praxedis Church in Rome,
(image of mosaic is from Joan Morris courtesy Dorothy Irvin)
In these youtube video clips, you will see segments from Dr. Dorothy Irvin's lecture on the evidence of women bishops in the early church. Dr. Irvin is a Roman Catholic theologian and an archaeologist who has done extensive research into tomb inscriptions, mosaics, frescoes and other sources that point to women priests and bishops in the early church. One inscription reads in Latina: "here lies a venerable woman bishop"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5KjRxHi61Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFJJuenuUsA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5DGEmbG-do
Ending High Clericalism by John Chuchman
Ending High Clericalism
Today millions of Catholics have dismissed a Neanderthal, corrupt institutional church,
not only because of its past or present sins,
but because, after all, it is an institution, and no one trusts institutions these days,
and what really counts, for me anyway,
is spirituality.
In not trusting authority,
I strive not to subvert the prophetic or critical intellectual function,
keeping institution, intellect, and the mystical balanced and in harmony.
The institutional dimension of spirituality
should be where our Quest is formalized, structured, made concrete, rendered visible.
We call it religion, the organized part of the quest.
That is the arena of sacred texts, founding narratives, tradition, ongoing stories, rituals, rites, and the patterns of authority that preserve them
and mediate and facilitate our communion with the sacred.
The intellectual dimension of spirituality
is the formulation of systems of thought, development, and reflection.
This includes how to communicate the sacred to others, dialogue,
and how to critique myself when I am untrue to it.
The mystical dimension of spirituality,
is the actual experience of the sacred.
True spirituality for me results in the balance of three essential elements:
religion (organized to preserve the tradition),
the intellectual (to proclaim, communicate, dialogue, and critique),
and the mystical (the actual experience of the sacred).
I think all three are necessary and all three must be kept in balance.
There will always be tension among the three.
Indeed, lack of tension is an indication of sickness.
Why?
That would mean that one had suppressed the others.
That is exactly what has happened and is happening.
Institutional Church has not been attentive to the intellectual and mystical elements.
When it isn't, it becomes authoritarian, self-serving, out of touch,
insensitive to the mystical and intellectual elements,
in a word bureaucratic.
And this is what we have today.
A bureaucracy.
The scandal of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests
highlights the clerical culture as the root cause of what went terribly wrong.
Bishop after bishop throughout the world
moved abusing priests from one assignment to another.
Each story manifested its own particular combination
of ignorance, naivety, and less than admirable motivations
such as fear and self-interest.
But when the same kind of behaviors
show up in so many individuals in so many different settings
within the same organization,
we naturally look for common causative factors.
According to the prevailing assessment,
the reality that links this tragic story together is a shared bundle of elements,
which add up to a clerical culture.
This culture has developed in the Institutional church over centuries.
As a member of the Church,
I share responsibility for creating and maintaining a clerical culture
and thus also for what is required to transform, or reform, that culture.
I can readily understand the bishops’ role in the sexual abuse crisis;
Many of them went to junior seminaries at as young an age as 12
and were immersed in this age old culture of clericalism.
It was and is actually impossible for them to think or react in any other way.
Moreover, we laity have supported this clericalism
by putting our priests on pedestals.
By virtue of our baptism we are all members of the priesthood
and called to a life of radical holiness.
Any form of language which implies or suggests
a higher form of holiness to be imputed to the ordained
(with its implied corollary of a lower set of expectations for the laity)
must be strenuously resisted as counter to the teaching of the Church.
If clerical culture is to change each one of US has to change.
We are responsible for our cultures,
they give us roots and identity.
To bring about change requires letting go of the present security
arising from a clear plot, distinct roles, and acceptable lines,
for a set of future cultural forms whose disconcerting effect on our lives
cannot be fully anticipated.
For the individual who risks speaking and acting out a different paradigm,
the cost in terms of rejection
by the players who want to continue with the reassuring story
may be high.
There is a price to pay.
But letting go of high clericalism
will only have the desired effect
when the accumulation of small individual counter cultural actions
is sufficient to be a catalytic mass, a tipping point,
that can prevail over the comfort of the status quo.
Are you willing?
Join me and many others.
Love, John Chuchman
With Loving Dissent: John Chuchman's Blog Link
John Chuchman's Blog Link
With Loving Dissent
A Site for any who Love their Church enough to be willing to work to reform it.
http://lovingdissent.blogspot.com/
(permission has been given by author to share his reflections on this blog.)
Today millions of Catholics have dismissed a Neanderthal, corrupt institutional church,
not only because of its past or present sins,
but because, after all, it is an institution, and no one trusts institutions these days,
and what really counts, for me anyway,
is spirituality.
In not trusting authority,
I strive not to subvert the prophetic or critical intellectual function,
keeping institution, intellect, and the mystical balanced and in harmony.
The institutional dimension of spirituality
should be where our Quest is formalized, structured, made concrete, rendered visible.
We call it religion, the organized part of the quest.
That is the arena of sacred texts, founding narratives, tradition, ongoing stories, rituals, rites, and the patterns of authority that preserve them
and mediate and facilitate our communion with the sacred.
The intellectual dimension of spirituality
is the formulation of systems of thought, development, and reflection.
This includes how to communicate the sacred to others, dialogue,
and how to critique myself when I am untrue to it.
The mystical dimension of spirituality,
is the actual experience of the sacred.
True spirituality for me results in the balance of three essential elements:
religion (organized to preserve the tradition),
the intellectual (to proclaim, communicate, dialogue, and critique),
and the mystical (the actual experience of the sacred).
I think all three are necessary and all three must be kept in balance.
There will always be tension among the three.
Indeed, lack of tension is an indication of sickness.
Why?
That would mean that one had suppressed the others.
That is exactly what has happened and is happening.
Institutional Church has not been attentive to the intellectual and mystical elements.
When it isn't, it becomes authoritarian, self-serving, out of touch,
insensitive to the mystical and intellectual elements,
in a word bureaucratic.
And this is what we have today.
A bureaucracy.
The scandal of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests
highlights the clerical culture as the root cause of what went terribly wrong.
Bishop after bishop throughout the world
moved abusing priests from one assignment to another.
Each story manifested its own particular combination
of ignorance, naivety, and less than admirable motivations
such as fear and self-interest.
But when the same kind of behaviors
show up in so many individuals in so many different settings
within the same organization,
we naturally look for common causative factors.
According to the prevailing assessment,
the reality that links this tragic story together is a shared bundle of elements,
which add up to a clerical culture.
This culture has developed in the Institutional church over centuries.
As a member of the Church,
I share responsibility for creating and maintaining a clerical culture
and thus also for what is required to transform, or reform, that culture.
I can readily understand the bishops’ role in the sexual abuse crisis;
Many of them went to junior seminaries at as young an age as 12
and were immersed in this age old culture of clericalism.
It was and is actually impossible for them to think or react in any other way.
Moreover, we laity have supported this clericalism
by putting our priests on pedestals.
By virtue of our baptism we are all members of the priesthood
and called to a life of radical holiness.
Any form of language which implies or suggests
a higher form of holiness to be imputed to the ordained
(with its implied corollary of a lower set of expectations for the laity)
must be strenuously resisted as counter to the teaching of the Church.
If clerical culture is to change each one of US has to change.
We are responsible for our cultures,
they give us roots and identity.
To bring about change requires letting go of the present security
arising from a clear plot, distinct roles, and acceptable lines,
for a set of future cultural forms whose disconcerting effect on our lives
cannot be fully anticipated.
For the individual who risks speaking and acting out a different paradigm,
the cost in terms of rejection
by the players who want to continue with the reassuring story
may be high.
There is a price to pay.
But letting go of high clericalism
will only have the desired effect
when the accumulation of small individual counter cultural actions
is sufficient to be a catalytic mass, a tipping point,
that can prevail over the comfort of the status quo.
Are you willing?
Join me and many others.
Love, John Chuchman
With Loving Dissent: John Chuchman's Blog Link
John Chuchman's Blog Link
With Loving Dissent
A Site for any who Love their Church enough to be willing to work to reform it.
http://lovingdissent.blogspot.com/
(permission has been given by author to share his reflections on this blog.)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Article in New Jersey Herald on Mary Ann Schoettly, newly ordained womanpriest
Mary Ann Schoettly-- ordained
a priest on April 26,2009 in
Philadelphia, PA.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Response to Cardinal Rigali's Statement on the Ordination of Women in Phildelphia by Eileen DiFranco
Ordination Liturgy
Bishop Patricia Fresen lays hands on
Mary Ann Schoettly
in Philadelphia on April 26, 2009
Mary Rammerman (left to right)
Mary Ann Schoettly in middle,
and presiding bishop: Andrea Johnson on right)
Response to Cardinal Rigali’s Statement on the Ordination of Women in Philadelphia
In refusing to recognize the priestly vocations of women, Sister Joan Chittister said quite accurately that the Roman Catholic Church forces itself to see with one eye, hear with one ear, and walk with one leg. The “constant teaching and tradition” Cardinal Rigali cites came into being because clerical men turned and continue to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the voices, the life experiences, and the aspirations of their sisters in Christ. Even now, adult women with full moral agency have been directed by men who sadly, have very little life experience with women, not to speak about the deepest desires of their hearts – to serve the people of God. When women try to speak, they are silenced; their motives questioned. When they act according to the dictates of a well- formed, adult conscience, they are excommunicated. This is in stark contrast to the treatment of the ordained male priests who caused terrible confusion within the Body of Christ by sexually abusing children and vulnerable women.
The Pontifical Biblical Commission stated in 1976 that there is no scriptural reason why women should not be ordained. This is based, of course on Galatians 3:28 which states that there is no male or female in Christ Jesus. Paul also wrote of the Deacon Phoebe and the Apostle Junia.. He clearly uses the words “deacon” and “apostle to refer to these women - the same words he used to describe himself.
Then, of course, there is the archeological evidence of women priests, deacons, and bishops, which tell their own stories if one has eyes to see and read and understand.
Jesus himself believed in the full agency of women when he directed Mary Magdalene rather than Peter to “Go tell!” Mary, then, is the very first person in the New Testament to preach the Good News. Thus, Jesus our Emmanuel, God with us as us, quite obviously did not feel that choosing a woman as the first apostle denigrated Himself, His image, His message or the Kingdom of God..
Jesus, whose companions were the least among us, did not have a vocabulary that included the words “denigrate” or “excommunicate.” Instead, Jesus, the Good Shepherd would seek rather than exclude, enfold rather than cast away. Jesus, the penultimate pastor, never drove people away from His table. He said that we should find rest in Him, not banishment. Excommunication is unscriptural and it is uncharitable. It is unbecoming to those who consider themselves to be pastors.
The ordained women who have pledged their lives, their futures and their sacred honor to the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth in whose image they were lovingly fashioned, have relied upon that God to guide them every step of the way. They have come this far by faith and hope and love. They will continue to do so as they model a church that sees with two eyes and hears with two ears and walks on two legs.
Eileen McCafferty DiFranco, RCWP
East Regional Administrator
(The article above responds to Cardinal Rigali's Response (below) to our Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordinations in Philadelphia on April 26,2009)
Cardinal Rigali Responds To Invalid Ordination
Philadelphia Bulletin - Philadelphia, PA, USA The ordination ceremony, which took place on Sunday with a bishop from a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP), took place at a Christian chapel ...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Liturgy in Ocala Florida
.jpg)
Dena O Callaghan is wearing a lavander blouse,
John, her husband, a married priest is in a white shirt
seated next to her. This community gathering celebrated
the Easter liturgy in April 2009.
.jpg)
These are photos of a house churchEaster liturgy in Ocala, Florida.
Married priest, John O Callaghan and RCWP Candidate for Ordination Dena O Callaghan hosted this beautiful liturgy in their home in Ocala, Florida.
With Loving Dissent: John Chuchman's Blog Link
John Chuchman's Blog Link
With Loving Dissent
A Site for any who Love their Church enough to be willing to work to reform it.
http://lovingdissent.blogspot.com/
With Loving Dissent
A Site for any who Love their Church enough to be willing to work to reform it.
http://lovingdissent.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 27, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests Ordain Two Women in Philadelphia on April 26, 2009
.JPG)
Mary Ann Schoettly celebrates ordination liturgy
on left Bishop Andrea Johnson, on right Bishop Patricia Fresen
photo by Sarinar Rostek
.JPG)
On Sunday, April 26, 2009 Mary Ann Schoettly, a resident of Sussex County, New Jersey, was ordained a priest and Chava Redonnet from Rochester, N. Y. was ordained a deacon by Bishop Andrea Johnson. This historic ordination took place in the sanctuary of Mishkan Shalom, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Philadelphia. This is a short video of Philadelphia ordinations.
http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2009/04/nj_woman_ordained_as_a_priest.html
Article in NJ Star Ledger.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/nj_woman_is_ordained_as_a_prie.html
"Be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2009/04/nj_woman_ordained_as_a_priest.html
Article in NJ Star Ledger.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/nj_woman_is_ordained_as_a_prie.html
"Be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests Ordain Two Women in Philadelphia/Article in Philadelphia Inquirer
Risking heresy to serve as priests
By David O'Reilly
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
"Robed in floor-length white linen and purple stoles, two Roman Catholic women will kneel this afternoon in a spare Roxborough sanctuary, in a liturgy both ancient and audacious"....
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20090426_Risking_heresy_to_serve_as_priests.html
By David O'Reilly
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
"Robed in floor-length white linen and purple stoles, two Roman Catholic women will kneel this afternoon in a spare Roxborough sanctuary, in a liturgy both ancient and audacious"....
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20090426_Risking_heresy_to_serve_as_priests.html
Friday, April 24, 2009
Four Catholic Women Bishops Ordained In California Article by Theologian: Marjorie Reiley Maguire
FOUR CATHOLIC WOMEN BISHOPS ORDAINED IN CALIFORNIA
by Marjorie Reiley Maguire
On Divine Mercy Sunday, God granted the constant prayer of the Church for vocations, in a way that will bring a great harvest of priests to the Church in America.
For the first time in the United States, four women were ordained as Roman Catholic bishops. The ordination took place on April 19, 2009 in a Catholic chapel in California, before about 100 people.
The four new women bishops are part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement (RCWP). They were called to be ordained bishop by the women priests in their respective regions.
The ordinands are Bishops Joan Mary Clark Houk of Pittsburgh for the Great Waters (central) Region, Andrea Michele Johnson of Annapolis for the eastern region, Bridget Mary Meehan of Virginia and Sarasota for the southern region, and Maria Regina Nicolosi of Red Wing, Minnesota for the upper midwest region. A fifth woman, Dana Reynolds of California, was previously ordained a Catholic bishop for the western region, in 2008 in Europe.
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan is a member of the Sisters for Christian Community. The other new women bishops have been married for more than forty years and have adult children. Bishop Regina Nicolosi's husband, Charles, is a retired, permanent deacon for the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. All four women have degrees in Catholic theology and extensive pastoral experience.
There were three ordaining bishops, which is a requirement for the ordination of a bishop. Bishop Patricia Fresen, now living in Germany, was a Dominican sister for forty years in South Africa and taught in the Catholic seminary in Pretoria. Bishop Ida Raming is a German theologian. Bishop Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger from Austria was one of the founders of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. She and Bishop Ida Raming were two of the first seven women priests, ordained on a boat on the Danube in 2002. Two other women who were ordained priests with the Danube 7 were also in attendance at the California ordination of bishops, Iris Müller from Germany and Dagmar Celeste, the former first lady of Ohio.
The ordaining bishops, along with several other European women, received their own ordinations as bishops, in full apostolic succession, from three unnamed male, Roman Catholic bishops who are in full communion with Rome. The male bishops believed that the time has come for women's ordination. They ordained several women bishops in recent years so that the movement could continue with full Catholic sacramental ordinations but without the clandestine participation of the male bishops.
A history of the RCWP movement and personal stories by the ordained women can be found in the book Women Find a Way, edited by Elsie Hainz McGrath, Bridget Mary Meehan, and Ida Raming.
The Vatican has not recognized the ordinations of the priests and bishops in the RCWP movement. In the language of Catholic theology, these ordinations are valid but illicit.
However, the women priests and bishops consider themselves in full communion with Rome. They follow the ordination rite of the Catholic Church and believe they pass on the apostolic succession that has been given to them, in the same manner as it is passed on to male priests and bishops in the Church. In Catholic theology, apostolic succession is passed on by the intentional ordaining laying on of hands by an ordained bishop.
The first ordinations in North America for RCWP were in 2005, when four women were ordained priests on a boat on the St. Lawrence River. There are presently more than 70 ordained priests, deacons, and candidates in the RCWP movement in North America. A spokesperson for RCWP claimed that the new bishops were needed because numerous women who are already qualified for ordination are applying as candidates.
After the California ordination of the women bishops, one Catholic woman in attendance remarked, "It is sacrilegious for the Church to continue to pray for vocations if it refuses to recognize the vocations the Holy Spirit is giving to women like those who were ordained today, while recognizing the ordinations of male child abusers and Holocaust deniers."
________________________________________________________________
* Marjorie Reiley Maguire, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a Catholic theologian, with a Ph.D. from Catholic University, and an attorney, with a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin.
.
by Marjorie Reiley Maguire
On Divine Mercy Sunday, God granted the constant prayer of the Church for vocations, in a way that will bring a great harvest of priests to the Church in America.
For the first time in the United States, four women were ordained as Roman Catholic bishops. The ordination took place on April 19, 2009 in a Catholic chapel in California, before about 100 people.
The four new women bishops are part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement (RCWP). They were called to be ordained bishop by the women priests in their respective regions.
The ordinands are Bishops Joan Mary Clark Houk of Pittsburgh for the Great Waters (central) Region, Andrea Michele Johnson of Annapolis for the eastern region, Bridget Mary Meehan of Virginia and Sarasota for the southern region, and Maria Regina Nicolosi of Red Wing, Minnesota for the upper midwest region. A fifth woman, Dana Reynolds of California, was previously ordained a Catholic bishop for the western region, in 2008 in Europe.
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan is a member of the Sisters for Christian Community. The other new women bishops have been married for more than forty years and have adult children. Bishop Regina Nicolosi's husband, Charles, is a retired, permanent deacon for the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. All four women have degrees in Catholic theology and extensive pastoral experience.
There were three ordaining bishops, which is a requirement for the ordination of a bishop. Bishop Patricia Fresen, now living in Germany, was a Dominican sister for forty years in South Africa and taught in the Catholic seminary in Pretoria. Bishop Ida Raming is a German theologian. Bishop Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger from Austria was one of the founders of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. She and Bishop Ida Raming were two of the first seven women priests, ordained on a boat on the Danube in 2002. Two other women who were ordained priests with the Danube 7 were also in attendance at the California ordination of bishops, Iris Müller from Germany and Dagmar Celeste, the former first lady of Ohio.
The ordaining bishops, along with several other European women, received their own ordinations as bishops, in full apostolic succession, from three unnamed male, Roman Catholic bishops who are in full communion with Rome. The male bishops believed that the time has come for women's ordination. They ordained several women bishops in recent years so that the movement could continue with full Catholic sacramental ordinations but without the clandestine participation of the male bishops.
A history of the RCWP movement and personal stories by the ordained women can be found in the book Women Find a Way, edited by Elsie Hainz McGrath, Bridget Mary Meehan, and Ida Raming.
The Vatican has not recognized the ordinations of the priests and bishops in the RCWP movement. In the language of Catholic theology, these ordinations are valid but illicit.
However, the women priests and bishops consider themselves in full communion with Rome. They follow the ordination rite of the Catholic Church and believe they pass on the apostolic succession that has been given to them, in the same manner as it is passed on to male priests and bishops in the Church. In Catholic theology, apostolic succession is passed on by the intentional ordaining laying on of hands by an ordained bishop.
The first ordinations in North America for RCWP were in 2005, when four women were ordained priests on a boat on the St. Lawrence River. There are presently more than 70 ordained priests, deacons, and candidates in the RCWP movement in North America. A spokesperson for RCWP claimed that the new bishops were needed because numerous women who are already qualified for ordination are applying as candidates.
After the California ordination of the women bishops, one Catholic woman in attendance remarked, "It is sacrilegious for the Church to continue to pray for vocations if it refuses to recognize the vocations the Holy Spirit is giving to women like those who were ordained today, while recognizing the ordinations of male child abusers and Holocaust deniers."
________________________________________________________________
* Marjorie Reiley Maguire, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a Catholic theologian, with a Ph.D. from Catholic University, and an attorney, with a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin.
.
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