Child Abuse Claims Sweep Catholic Church in Europe/Associated Press Article

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_CHURCH_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-03-13-11-40-28

Child abuse claims sweep Catholic Church in Europe
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK Associated Press Writer

"The recent spread of claims into the Netherlands, Austria and Italy has analysts and churchmen wondering how deep the scandal runs, which nation will be touched next, and whether a tide of lawsuits will force European dioceses to declare bankruptcy like their American cousins.".....

"Vatican Speaks as Abuse Details Emerge" Article in New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/world/europe/14pope.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world

"Vatican Speakes as Abuse Details Emerge"

By Rachel Donadio and Nicholas Kulish/New York Times

"In the interview, Monsignor Scicluna also addressed accusations that the Vatican was obstructing justice by imposing secrecy on reports of abuse.
In 2001, Benedict, who was then in charge of Vatican investigations of abuse allegations, sent a letter to Irish bishops counseling them to forward all cases of abuse of minors to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where they were to be subject to secrecy."....

Thomas Doyle: Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis Cannot be Solved by Pope and Bishops but by Systemic Renewal of Body of Christ/People of God

http://reform-network.net/?p=2868
More Reflections from 25 Years of Experience
Thomas Doyle
March 10, 2010
I recommend that all Catholics who are trying to understand the ramifications of the clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Church read the thought-provoking essay by Fr. Thomas Doyle.
His conclusion hits the nail on the head.
"All the pope has to offer is talk…more words, more meetings, more silly press releases and the promise of a special pastoral letter. The “problem” is not going to be fixed by the pope, the bishops or anyone who works for the institutional Church. Why? Because they are the problem. The light at the end of the long tunnel will remain way out of reach until the very system that produced the dysfunctional clerics and their equally dysfunctional bishops is ended and somehow replaced with not another monarchy but something that one can readily identify with the Body of Christ. "

Survivors of Clergy Sex Abuse by Priests Hold Vigils in 30 U.S. Cities on March 13th-14th, 2010

UPDATE: Clergy sex group holds vigils and distributes leaflets in over 30 US cities
Details including exact addresses and times included below
They express “sorrow” for victims overseas Catholic scandal is “erupting” in 4-5 European nations
“It’s a global crisis demanding a secular solution,” organization says SNAP:
“Governments should do independent inquiries, like Ireland has,”
Victims urge everyone who “saw, suspected or suffered clergy crimes to “speak up.”
WHAT
Holding signs, candles, and childhood photos at sidewalk vigils in over 30 US cities, clergy sex abuse and their supporters will react tothe growing Catholic sex scandal in Europe. Specifically, they will– express their sorrow for the pain of victims in Germany, Ireland, Austria and
The Netherlands,– praise those victims for starting to speak up in large numbers in recent weeks, and– urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes to call police (not bishops).They will also urge governmental officials – in the US and Europe – to– conduct independent probes into cover ups of clergy sex crimes in Catholic schools and dioceses, and– reform archaic, arbitrary, “predator-friendly” laws that protectpedophiles and supervisors who employ, hide and transfer them.

WHEN Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 (See exact times and locations below)

WHERE In front of chanceries, cathedrals, churches and government buildings in CA, CT, DC, FL, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NY, OH,PA, RI, TX, and WI. (See details below.)
WHO Clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP,the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org),along with their loved ones and concerned Catholics

DETAILS:
Just hours ago, reports out of Germany claim the Pope himselfknowingly allowed a predator priest to remain in ministry, where atleast one other child was abused.A few weeks ago, Vatican officials were forced to address the clergysex abuse and cover up crisis that is spreading like wildfire acrossEurope. Scores of media accounts are appearing and hundreds of victimsare coming forward in Germany, Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands.Just yesterday, the Pope met with the head of the German Catholic church over scandals breaking there. In Italy, law enforcement wiretapshave revealed charges of a gay prostitution ring using at least oneseminarian and operated by two Vatican insiders. The Pope’s brother is embroiled in a controversy over accusations of sexual abuse in awidely-known church choir which he headed for 30 years. In Ireland and The Netherlands, the Catholic hierarchy is planninginternal surveys about the numbers of predator priests. But American victims feel independent in investigations by secular authorities (as was done in parts of Ireland and in the US by several grand juries) are much more likely to expose the corrupt church leadership and to deter future recklessness, callousness and deceit. German and Austrian church officials are talking about revamping their internal child sex policies. But US victims believe churchpolicies are essentially meaningless and that it’s much more effective to reform outdated secular laws which bishops exploit to escape responsibility for hiding and moving predators.
Two weeks ago, the AP reported “While the focus of the sex abusescandal in the Catholic church centered on the United States for several years, abuse scandals have in recent years (also) erupted inthe Philippines, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Canada and elsewhere.”Exact locations and times of
List of Vigils of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests are listed below:
CA - Rancho Mirage, Sunday, March 14 at 3:00 PMWhitewater Park, 71-560 San Jacinto Drive (Major Cross streets are HWY 111 & Bob Hope Drive) Contact: Dave Price, 760-219-3635
CA – Los Angeles, Sunday, March 14 at 10:45 AMCathedral of Our Lady of Angels, 555 W. Temple St (at N Grand) Contact: Carlos Perez, 818-723-8016
CA – Oakland, Sunday, March 14 at 12:00 PMThe Cathedral of Christ the Light, 2121 Harrison Street (Between 21st & Grand) Contact: Melanie Sakoda, 925-708-6175
CA – San Diego, Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 12:30 PMCathedral of St. Joseph, 1535 Third (corner of Third and Beech) Contact: Paul Livingtson, 619-677-7133
CA – San Francisco, Sunday, March 14 at 9:00 AMSt. Mary Cathedral, 1111 Gough Street (Between Ellis & Geary) Contact: Melanie Sakoda, 925-708-6175,
CT – Hartford, Sunday, March 14 at 11:30 AM St. Joseph Cathedral, 140 Farmington Ave (corner of Farmington and Sigourney) Contact: Beth McCabe, 860-335-8187 & Kathy Rector, 860-384-4372
DC – Washington, Saturday, March 13 at 6:30 PMIrish Embassy, 2234 Massachusetts Ave. N. WE Contact: Becky Ianni, 703-801-6044 & David Lorenz, 301-906-9161DC –
Washington, Sunday, March 14 at 1:00 PM German Consulate, 4645 Reservoir Rd. NW Contact: Becky Ianni, 703-801-6044 & David Lorenz, 301-906-9161
FL – Miami, Sunday, March 14 at 10:30 AMSt. Mary’s Cathedral, 7525 NW 2nd Ave Contact: Barbara Dorris, 314-503-0003
FL – Orlando, Sunday, March 14 at 11:45 AMSt. James Cathedral, 215 N Orange Ave. (at Robinson St.) Contact: Robert Keane, 386-676-0298
FL – Palm Beach Gardens, Sunday, March 14 at 1:30 PMSt. Ignatius Cathedral, 9999N Military Trail Contact: Barbara Dorris, 314-503-0003
FL – St. Augustine, Sunday, March 14 at 11:45 AMCathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine, 38 Cathedral Place Contact: Kristine Ward, 937-272-0308
FL – Venice, Saturday, March 13 at 4:15 PMEpiphany Cathedral, 350 Tampa Ave West Contact: Barbara Dorris, 314-503-0003
IL – Chicago, Saturday, March 13 at 1:00 PMGerman Consulate, 676 N. Michigan Contact: Barbara Blaine, 312-399-4747IL –
Chicago, Sunday, March 14 at 1:00 PMHoly Name Cathedral, 730 N Wabash
Contact: Therese Albrecht, 708-263-3050
IL – Peoria, Sunday, March 14 at 11:15 AM The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception, 607 NE Madison Avenue (at Hancock St) Contact: Jeff Jones, 815-985-9441
IL – Rockford, Sunday, March 14 at 10:00 AMSt. Peter Cathedral, 1243 N. Church St. Contact: Kate Bochte, 630-768-1860
IL – Springfield, Sunday, March 14 at 9:30 AMImmaculate Conception Cathedral, 241 E. Lawrence Contact: Jeff Jones, 815-985-9441
IN – Fort Wayne, Saturday, March 13 at 6:00 PMImmaculate Conception Cathedral, 1100 South Calhoun Contact: Therese Albrecht, 708-263-3050
IN – South Bend, Sunday, March 14 at 9:30 AMSt. Matthew, 1701 Miami Street Contact: Therese Albrecht, 708-263-3050
KY – Louisville, Saturday, March 13 at 5:15 PM to 6:45 PMCathedral of the Assumption, 433 S. 5th St. (between Muhammed Ali and Liberty) Contact: Colleen Powell, 502-479-0246
MA – Boston, Saturday, March 13 at 1:30 PMFederal Building, 55 New Sudbury St. Contact: Ann Webb, 617-513-8442 & Robert Costello, 781-414-1178
MD – Baltimore, Saturday, March 13 at 12:30 PMOffice of the Chancellor, 320 Cathedral Street Contact: Dave Lorenz, 301-906-9161 & Frank Dingle
MI – Detroit, Sunday, March 14 at 10:30 AMBlessed Sacrament Cathedral, 9844 Woodward Ave Contact: Barbara Blaine, 312-399-4747
MO – Columbia, Sunday, March 14 at 11:30 AMSt. Thomas More Newman Center, 701 Maryland Ave., (corner of Turner Ave.)Contact: Judy Jones, 636-433-2511
MO – St. Louis, Sunday, March 14 at 6:00 PMSt. Louis Cathedral, 4431 Lindell (corner of Lindell and Newstead)Contact: Peggy Fitzpatrick, 314-845-9438
NC – Charlotte, Saturday, March 13 at 5:00 PMSt. Patrick’s Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road, EastContact: David Fortwengler, 704-562-4529
NY – New York, Sunday, March 14 at 10:00 AM – 11:00 AMSt. Patrick’s Cathedral, 5th Ave. & 49th St. Contact: Mary Caplan, 917-439-4187 & Glen Echevarria, 646-763-4260
OH – Columbus, Sunday, March 14 at 11:15 AM-12:30 PM Across the street from St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral, 212 E Broad St Contact: Carol Zamonski, 614 447-2084
OH – Dayton, Sunday, March 14 at 11:45 AMSt. Joseph’s Church, 200 2nd St. Contact: Ginny Hoehne, 973-726-9360
OH –Toledo, Sunday, March 14 at 12:00 PMHoly Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Ave Contact: Barbara Blaine, 312-399-4747
PA – Philadelphia, Sunday, March 14 at 1:00 PM – 1:30 PMSt. Charles Borromeo Seminary, 100 E Wynnewood Rd., Wynnewood, PA 19096 Contact: Karen Polesir, 267-992-9463
RI – Providence, Saturday, March 13 at 11:00 AMCathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, One Cathedral Square Contact: Ann Barrett Doyle, 781-439-5208 & Ann Webb, 617-513-8442
TX – San Antonio, Saturday, March 13 at 1:00 PMSan Fernando Cathedral,115 Main Plaza Contact: Barbara Boehland, 210-725-8329
WI – Madison, Saturday, March 13 at 9:45 AMDiocese of Madison- Pastoral Center, 702 South High Point Road (at Donofrio Dr.) Contact: David Clohessy, 314-566-9790
CONTACT Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003), David Clohessy (314-566-9790), Peter Isely (414-429-7259)

"Church Abuse Scandal in Germany Edges Closer to Pope" New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/world/europe/13pope.html?pagewanted=1&hp

NICHOLAS KULISH and RACHEL DONADIO
March 12, 2010
"BERLIN — A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made “serious mistakes” in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop. "

Pope John Paul asked Forgiveness for Discrimination, Pope Benedict Should Take Next Step Towards Full Equality

On March 12, 2000 Pope John Paul II asked God's forgiveness for the sins of Roman Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women and minorities.

It is time for Pope Benedict to take fresh innitiatives to foster the full equality of women in the church, and to affirm the Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement as a special gift to Catholics worldwide of a renewed priestly ministry in a inclusive Catholic Church where all are welcome.
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: "Father, where are the womenpriests?"

This morning a woman from another area of the country,who was aware of the Florida ordinations, called a parish in the Southwestern Florida area and asked: Where are the womenpriests? (as if a local parish is keeping a list handy for distribution)The answer from the parish put her in contact with Judy Lee,a Roman Catholic Womanpriest, who ministers to the homeless in the Ft. Myers community.
Can you imagine the local pastor when he found out about this inquiry, scratching his head and saying, what will be next a call asking:
"What time does the womanpriest preside at Mass?"
The message is womenpriests are here to serve the people especially the millions of Catholics who feel rejected and alienated by their church. Now people are getting the message. Thank God!

To locate a womanpriest close to you:
visit www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org

Eighty percent of parish workers are women. I have no doubt that some of these dedicated women have priestly vocations, including nuns. Most of these women have degrees and pastoral experience serving communities. Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordain qualified women after they complete our preparation program.

So let's stop complaining about the shortage of male, celibate priests, call some qualified women forth to serve and rejoice. Change always comes from the grassroots.

Then when someone calls the local parish, looking for a womanpriest, the phone will be referred to the local womanpriest who is standing by--- ready, willing and able to serve you! Bridget Mary Meehan

Vatican Alarmed by Implications of Church Abuse Scandal in Germany for Papacy

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_CHURCH_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-03-10-15-45-16

March 10, 2010
Church abuse scandal reaches pope's brother
EXCERPTS:
Vatican officials have been unable to hide their alarm about the possible implications for the papacy. "While there has been no suggestion of wrongdoing by Benedict, the launch of an inquiry by German Catholic officials after his brother admitted he slapped children years ago is stirring Vatican fears of a major crisis for the papacy."
The pope has been working on a letter to be read to Catholics in Ireland, where a government report detailed decades of physical and sexual abuse in church-run schools. The letter is expected to be released shortly.

"WJWD:What Jesus Wouldn't Do" Call to Action News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2010
Media Contact:Jim FitzGerald, Executive Director, O: 773.404.0004 x262
Nicole Sotelo, Communications Director, O: 773.404.0004 x285
WJWD: What Jesus Wouldn't Do
(Chicago) Call To Action stands in solidarity with those who over the last month have experienced a series of oppressive actions by the Catholic hierarchy over sexual identity. In Washington DC, Catholic Charities discontinued its foster care services so that it could avoid placing children with loving same gender couples. Additionally, Catholic Charities, rather than give healthcare benefits to same gender couples, cut off all future healthcare benefits to spouses, gay and straight alike. Equally disturbing is the decision by some church leaders to bar a child from a Catholic school in Boulder, CO solely because the child's parents are two women.

"We as a church may debate about what Jesus would do," says Jim FitzGerald, Executive Director of Call To Action, "but I think we know what he would not do. Jesus would not deny people healthcare, he would not cease foster care services for vulnerable youth and he certainly would not deny education to a child.
"Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me.' He didn't say 'Let the little children of some parents come to me.' It is appalling that a church that prides itself on caring for children and vulnerable populations would harm children by using them as pawns in political power plays.

"Catholic Bishops are already half way down this slippery slope of their own making. Will they next deny food to a woman and her children in the bread line because of who the mother loves? The behavior of Catholic leadership is contrary to all that Christ stood for and is offensive to Catholic families-gay and straight alike.

"May we Catholics remind the bishops of their own teaching: "There is a growing awareness of the sublime dignity of human persons, who stand above all things and whose rights and duties are universal and inviolable. They ought, therefore, to have ready access to all that is necessary for living a genuinely human life: for example, food, clothing, housing, the right freely to choose their state of life and set up a family, the right to education,... the right to act according to the dictates of conscience and to safeguard their privacy.... (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, #26)."
"It may be difficult to know what Jesus would do in some situations, but we firmly believe he would not be putting people's well being at risk. We only hope the Bishops could do likewise."
For more information, see:
"Citing same-sex marriage bill, Washington Archdiocese ends foster-care program" (Washington Post, February 17, 2010) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021604899.html
"Same-sex marriage leads Catholic Charities to adjust benefits" (Washington Post, March 2, 2010) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030103345.html
"Catholic School Rejects Child Because of Lesbian Parents" (The Denver Channel, March 7, 2010) http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22769137/detail.html
###
Call To Action (CTA) is a Catholic movement working for equality and justice in the Church and society. An independent national organization of over 25,000 people and 53 local chapters, CTA believes that the Spirit of God is at work in the whole church, not just its appointed leaders. Visit our website at www.cta-usa.org.
Visit our website at
www.cta-usa.org

The Vatican and Church Abuse: Pope's Brother Ignored Allegations of Physical Abuse

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_VATICAN_CHURCH_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-03-09-20-01-54
Pope's brother: I ignored physical abuse reports
By MELISSA EDDY and ALESSANDRA RIZZO Associated Press Writers
BERLIN (AP) -- "The pope's brother said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday that he slapped pupils as punishment after he took over a renowned German boys' choir in the 1960s. He also said he was aware of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school linked to the choir but did nothing about it."
"The Vatican moved to defuse criticism after the German justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, said Monday that a Vatican secrecy rule has played a role in a "wall of silence" surrounding sexual abuse of children. She cited a 2001 Vatican document - drawn up by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - requiring even the most serious abuse cases to be first investigated internally."

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Women's History Month"Catholic Bishop Seeks To End Discrimination" on WMNF News/Tampa/Florida

http://www.wmnf.org/news_stories/ordained-catholic-bishop-seeks-to-end-discrimination-in-the-church

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Bishop Olivia Doko- Ordination in California on Feb. 27,2010

RCWP community gather around
Bishop Olivia Doko (center with pastoral staff)
after her ordination


Bishop Joan Houk prepares to anoint
head of Olivia Doko


Gospel book is held over
Olivia Doko's head in ordination rite in
Presentation of Gospel

Over 100 people were present to celebrate Olivia Doko's ordination as a bishop of the western region of Roman Catholic Womenpriests on February 27, 2010 in San Jose, California. Bishops Regina Nicolosi, Joan Houk and Andrea Johnson presided at the ordination of Bishop Olivia Doko.

Video links on youtube:
Procession
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmtUj5QRu8A
RCWP Priest Kathleen Kunster Gives Witness to Olivia's Call to Serve as Bishop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBuDft6xA7s&feature=related
Examination of Candidate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7EVAbmN-c&feature=related
Laying on of Hands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83dFrQVRPb4
Presentation of Gospel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mt_TyP4Hw4
Eucharistic Liturgy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV6NpZq5B1g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYh1BDpVrw0

Reflection on "Holy Ground" by J. Patrick Mahon

The readings for the Third Sunday of Lent provide opportunities for numerous reflections. We attended a workshop with Sister Miriam Therese Winter. On the way home, we worshipped at the Mary Mother of God Community with Bridget Mary Meehan. Obviously, my reflections today will be influenced heavily by the wonder-full teachings these Spirit-filled women shared with us.
In the first reading, Moses experiences the Divine. Paradoxology kicks in as Moses observes something quite remarkable—a burning bush that does not burn the bush. The bush burns and it does not burn. This is paradox, holding opposites together, living with the opposites without trying to resolve the dilemma in favor of one of the other. Sister Miriam Therese Winter speaks of quantum spirituality. We do not live according to paradigms—patterns for understanding, order and control. We live in paradox. We live with mystery we cannot reduce to one factor or another. We live in the Divine. The Divine is mystery to be embraced not a problem to be solved.
Second, experiencing the Divine, Moses is told to remove his shoes. We stand on holy ground. Holy ground places us in the presence of the Divine. In a reflective homily, Bridget Mary Meehan asked us, "What do we have to remove in order to experience the Divine? What patterns are keeping us from experiencing Holy Ground—the presence of the Divine in our lives? What is keeping us from being present to the Presence?" What in us is in need of healing so we can enter more fully into the experience of Divinity? Lent is time to take off our shoes and seek healing.
Paul issues some stern warnings about conduct and watching out so that we do not fall like some of our forebears have. Paul's fear-based warnings which reduce religion to morality are out of sync with Jesus in the Gospel. Here Paul, the former Pharisee, is into the fear-based patriarchal religion of command and control, pay and obey.
Did Paul not read that the farmer relented and did not cut down the unfruitful tree? This is the Divine that Jesus shows us—infinite mercy, love and compassion. Merton's mercy beyond mercy beyond mercy beyond mercy. What did the merciful farmer do? He ordered the gardener to refurbish the soil, fertilize and water the barren tree. He ordered TLC for the suffering, struggling tree. He gave the tree time to recover from whatever was causing it to be unfruitful. Divinity showers us with love. The Divine is patient and kind. The Divine Mercy falls upon good and evil alike just like the sun and rain—free gifts from a Loving God.
We stand on holy ground. We enter into prayer for healing so that Jesus, the Divine Physician, might heal us and bring us to new resurrected life.
In our quantum universe, Love is the energy flowing forth from the Creator. The implosion of the original stardust which rushed forth to create life at the Creator's command continues to morph into new life today. This Energy is God with us but always beyond us. Paradox and mystery again.
Jesus promises to give us new life—new energy—in abundance. Jesus wants us to have everything we need. The Resurrected Jesus is Life. The Resurrected Jesus is the Divine Energy. The Resurrected Jesus is Love. His energy vibrates throughout the universe and in our innermost being. All ground is holy ground because the Divine is surging through it. God is everywhere and God is nowhere (now-here). Isn't paradox wonderful?
God reveals God's name to Moses. Names are dangerous because, when you can name something, you have some control over it. The Divine is beyond all names but we need names to appreciate the diversity in the Divine. Merton read Gilson's History of Medieval Philosophy. He gained a new insight into the God who was searching for him (even though he thought he was searching for God). Merton then understood Divinity as the Ground of Being. But, again, if God is being, then God is no-being. The Divine is "I AM." The Divine IS, we ARE.
To expand upon Merton, we live in a quantum paradise and we do not even know it. Look for the burning bush, takeoff whatever you need to take off, and stand on the Holy Ground of Divine Being. Come to the water. Come to new life.
J. Patrick Mahon, peace and justice activist who supports the ordination of women.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Here Comes Everybody: Community as Celebrant of Eucharist

A member of our community sent me a link to the "Open Tabernacle-Here Comes Everybody" blog. I was quite impressed by the dialogue on our Roman Catholic Womenpriest movement. The author provided a historical framework, which I think is quite important:
"In the very early Church, there was no distinct, set-apart clerical elite. Even as there emerged distinct roles for deacons and bishops, their roles were markedly different to those we know today. “Deacon” took their title from the Greek for “to serve”, while bishops were “overseers”, leading small local teams – with the emphasis on team work and leading. Worship was in small congregations, led by its own members, who were not professional clergy. "
"Over the centuries that followed, by a gradual process the bishops began to reserve for themselves an increasing degree of power over the rest of the Church, while the bishops of Rome asserted increasing claims to authority over the other bishops (a claim that was for a long time vigorously contested, particularly by the Eastern church.) "http://opentabernacle.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/do-it-yourself-catholicism/
"Here comes Everybody" could be the motto of the RCWP movement too!
In his book, the Future of Eucharist, Bernard Cooke observes that a new understanding of the resurrection in the Vatican ll church has broadened the church's understanding of "real presence" and helped people to appreciate Christ's dynamic presence in the believing community. According to Cooke, while individuals may have specific functions within the gathered assembly, the entire community performs the euharistic action (p. 32) If this is so, then the gathered assembly is the celebrant of Eucharist. It is the community that "does" the Eucharist, not the presider alone.
This is the reason that at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community's liturgies, the gathered assembly extends hands in blessing and recites the words of consecration with the presiders, not the presiders alone. This is also the reason that we invite the community to participate in a "dialogue homily." At our celebrations, our motto is "here comes' everybody" and, of course, this means all are welcome to receive Eucharist at the banquet because Christ's love embraces all.
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

Review of James Carroll's book- Practicing Catholic- by Bishop Tom Gumbleton

James Carroll, Practicing Catholic. review by Bishop Tom Gumbleton, published by the NCR on Apr. 24, 2009.
"Reform is coming not from the collapsing clerical establishment but from the people. We maintain our loyalty to the church because we cannot live without it. The church gives a language to speak of God, a meaning that is God. The church feeds us in the Eucharist, keeps the story of Jesus alive in the preaching of the Word, marks our journey through life with the sacraments, and underwrites our participation in the community that transcends space and time."
As "practicing Catholics" all of us can rejoice in the great vision of Pope John XXIII with which Carroll concludes his story:
"Today ... Providence is guiding us toward a new order of human relations, which thanks to efforts far surpassing human hopes, will bring us to the realization of higher and undreamed of experiences."
Thomas Gumbleton is a retired auxiliary bishop of the Detroit archdiocese.
Excellent review, Bishop Gumbleton!
Roman Catholic Womenpriests are gifting the church with a renewed, vibrant, empowered "people of God"model rooted in Vatican 11. We are living this vision in grassroots communities. The reform is now a reality. Come and see! Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: "Woman says she was called to become a Catholic priest" in News Herald

Ordination of Dena O'Callaghan

as a Catholic priest

Woman says she was called to become a Catholic priest
Sunday, February 28, 2010
By Donna Abramczyk
"For the past 35 years, Dena O’Callaghan has dreamed of something many consider an unreachable goal — to become a Roman Catholic priest.With her husband, John O’Callaghan, a former priest, and her sister and brother-in-law, Chris and John Zelasko of Brownstown Township, looking on, the 73-year-old former Wyandotte woman and nun was ordained a priest on Feb. 6 in Sarasota, Fla.Even with the threat of excommunication from the Diocese of Venice, in which the ceremony took place, a crowd of nearly 300 filled the church, St. Andrew United Church of Christ, O’Callaghan said...“We’re not leaving the church — it has left us.”O’Callaghan said Meehan once likened womenpriests to the civil rights movement.“We’re the ‘Rosa Parks of the movement,’ Bridget Mary told us,” she said. “It might take longer than civil rights did, but that’s our hope and prayer for the future.”

For more information about Roman Catholic Womenpriests, visit wwww.romancatholicwomenpriests.org.
URL: http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2010/02/28/life/doc4b86842dacd77829880545.prt

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: "Women Seeking Ordination Face Discrimination" Article in Miami Herald by Bea Hines on March 4, 2010

(Left)Newly Ordained Dena O'Callaghan, from
Ocala, Fl.standing next to Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan
at historic Florida ordinations
of Roman Catholic Womenpriests
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/04/1507570/women-seeking-ordination-face.html
Thu, Mar. 04, 2010
Women seeking ordination face discrimination
BY BEA HINESbhines@MiamiHerald.com
"Last month in Sarasota, a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained two women and a deacon. It was the first such ordination in Florida by the group, whose members consider themselves Catholic but who are considered outcasts by the Church hierarchy.
While neither of the women was from Miami or anywhere else in South Florida, (the closest resident to this area is Dena O'Callaghan of Ocala) I believe these spiritual women have taken an important step in stamping out discrimination against women in all areas of life..."
...."Bourgeois likened the Catholic church's stand against the womenpriests movement to the many years the Catholic church opposed the abolition of slavery.
``This grave injustice being done against women and the Church will not go away,'' Bourgeois said. ``They cannot stop it. It is a movement whose time has come.
``Over 5,000 priests and bishops sexually abused more than 12,000 children in the Catholic church. Many bishops were aware of the crimes and remained silent. The bishops and priests who committed the crimes were not excommunicated. "
``However, women who want to be priests, and anyone who supports them are excommunicated. This is a scandal,'' he said. "

Feminist Theologian Mary Hunt Responds to Nicholas Kristof on Religion and Women

Response to Nicholas Kristof on Religion and Women
By Mary E. Hunt January 18, 2010

A fine start. And now we look forward to a deeper, and broader conversation.

"Everyone likes to see their favorite issue on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. So Nicholas D. Kristof’s January 10, 2010 piece “Religion and Women” brought delight to the eyes of many feminists in religion and opened the eyes of others for whom the issues were new. .."
"...either there was a typo in the article or else Mr. Kristof might want to rethink something. Describing the context of women’s second class citizenship he writes:
That’s a context that religions have helped shape, and not pushed hard to change.
The “not” is misplaced. It is more accurate to say:
That’s a context that religions have helped shape, and pushed hard NOT to change.
Otherwise, one misses the fact that many religions, Catholicism for example (my own tradition, though as a woman I have no decision-making power), have been tireless in their efforts to keep women subordinate. ..

http://www.religiondispatches.org/blog/sexandgender/2199/response_to_nicholas_kristof_on_religion_and_women

Associated Press: "Ireland: Catholic Diocese Seeks Cash from Parishoners to Pay for Clergy Sex Abuse"

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_IRELAND_CATHOLIC_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

March 2, 2010
Catholic diocese seeks cash to pay Irish victims
"The diocese's chief financial officer, Eugene Doyle, said the church had no option but to ask its faithful to help foot the bill. He estimated that the diocese's 100,000 members in 80 parishes would be asked to contribute euro60,000 ($85,000) annually for the next 20 years, or euro1.2 million total — but stressed that no money would be taken from normal weekly collections."

"Since 2002, a government-organized compensation board has paid out more than euro800 million to 13,000 people who were abused in church-run residential institutions for children and another euro150 million to the victims' lawyers."

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: MSN Quiz/ Women's History Month features Question on "Women taking history into their own hands."

http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Womens-History-Month.aspx?cp-documentid=23554293&imageindex=6&cp-searchtext=Elizabeth%20Ann%20Seton&FORM=MSNIIT

Check out MSN today and take the quiz on Women's History Month. Go to section Religion and Faith. There you will find one of the questions is:


"Despite their faith's strict condemnation, these women have taken history into their own hands."
Who are they?
And the answer? Roman Catholic Women Priests!
The answer takes you to bing.com and lists the RCWP website:www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
Yes, indeed, Roman Catholic Womenpriests are following in the footsteps of great civil rights leaders, like Rosa Parks, who disobeyed an unjust law that discriminated against African Americans in the United States, and whose action helped to ignite the Civil Rights Movement.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests are refusing to sit in the back of the Catholic "bus". Like Rosa Parks, Roman Catholic Womenpriests are breaking an unjust law in order to change it. We are taking our rightful place as equals in our church and leading the way to justice and equality for women in the Roman Catholic Church. Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Time to Allow Women and Married Priests

Roman Catholic Woman Priest
Mary Ellen Robertson prays over Katy Zatsick
at Ordinations in Florida

Time to allow women and married priests
Reading the recent article, "Women priest movement controversial," on the ordination of woman priests in the Roman Catholic Church, it becomes obvious the assisted suicide on the Eucharist by the Vatican and cooperating bishops continues.You would think they would welcome the assistance of these women.

The Irish-born priests who have served Florida so well are getting older, and there will not be any replacements from the Emerald Isle because of the cover-up of the sexual abuse of youth, leading to empty seminaries. U.S. bishops are importing priests from Third World countries, when these priests are needed in their own countries.

The majority of Catholic priests and laity would welcome the assistance of married priests and women priests, but if the priests dared voice that opinion, they would be sent home without a pension. So American Catholics sit idle watching their bishops close churches.Hopefully the Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans and the other Christian churches will keep up the tradition of the Eucharist that Christ commanded at the Last Supper on the night before He died -- "Do this in memory of Me."

The Vatican and most of the American bishops are only interested in personal palaces, the Vatican Bank and masculine theology.

Irene and Mike GallagherTitusvilleThe link includes other postings, their posting is the 3rddown.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/floridatoday/access/1966962051.html?dids=1966962051:1966962051&FMT=FT&FMTS=CITE:FT&fmac=9c4828d35c7dad8426dde62028619c3d&date=Feb+20%2C+2010&author=&desc=Your+views%3A+Letters+to+the+editor+(Feb.+20)

"Vatican's Conspiracy of Silence" A Book about Financial Dealings of the Catholic Church

Vatican's conspiracy of silence
The Guardian
by Robert Mancini
Guradian.co.uk

"Vaticano Spa (Vatican Ltd) a book about the murky financial dealings of the Catholic church
(The subtitle reads: "from a secret archive – the truth about the church's financial and political scandals") has been a runaway success in Italy.
The lack of reporting on the allegations made by Gianluigi Nuzzi in Vatican Ltd shows the political power the church retains. "

Caucus on "Religions and Violence Against Women"

On the occasion of the 54th Commission on the Status of Women (March 1 - 12, 2010), members of St. Joan's International Alliance will gather in New York at the United Nations to represent the Alliance, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Over 2,000 NGO reps from around the world are expected for this Commission, which will focus on "Beijing + 15."

Our caucus, "RELIGIONS (starting with our own) AND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN" continues the many years' work of the Alliance in the League of Nations and the United Nations to end gender discrimination against women. When religions and society collude in discrimination, women (and their children) are deprived and endangered.

The caucus will be held on Wednesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, March 11 at 3 p.m. at the Presbyterian Conference Room in the Church Building. Outside the UN: Saturday, March 6, 10 a.m.

Speakers Rev. Gabriella Ward, Dr. Catherine Kroeger and Dr. Pat Burke ("Repression of Women in Scripture and in Society: Is There a Connection?")

Location: Pilgrim Church, 75 Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights, where the voices of Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln still linger to encourage us.

Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, (859-684-4247)
Dr. Dorothy Irvin (612-387-3784)

Excommunication, Coverups and Corruption in the Roman Catholic Church

A Reflection by Ken Chaison

"I don’t think that I am afraid of being excommunicated by a church where abuse of children was kept secret for decades, and where enablers, like Cardinal Law, have been promoted. Law was whisked off to Rome and given a prestigious post, probably to keep him out of the limelight, not to mention the grasp of any criminal proceedings which might have ensued. Of course there are no courts in the U.S. where bishops would be tried for conspiracy because prosecutors are elected in this country and politicians want the endorsement of the bishops to engender the ‘catholic’ vote. (At minimum, they don’t want the bishops to oppose them.)
Actually, I like to think that these men have excommunicated themselves in the eyes of God for their actions. And the pope, as pope, and in his prior position as “Defender of the Faith,” had a lot of power in selecting the enablers, probably knew about the abusers and ‘turned a blind eye’ for decades, so he is responsible too.
The Pope recently convened a summit of Irish bishops over 325 claims of abuse in Ireland. Some bishops there have resigned or offered to do so. There are thousands of claims in the U.S., but no summit here; no resignations here. A bishop in Canada also recently resigned over pornography – he did not even touch any kids.
But there is no outrage over the thousands of lives affected in the U.S. It is all very arbitrary and corrupt.If I were excommunicated, I think that I would have some T-shirts made up. “I have been excommunicate by the Pope….. Ask me about it.” It might start some lively conversations."
Ken kenchaison@yahoo.com

A Reflection on the Sex Abuse Scandal in Ireland: Vatican Accountability and Spiritual Power

After reflecting on the articles, a few things are apparent to me.
1. The Murphy report of sex abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin connected the dots and held the Vatican accountable. It was not just criminal priests, bishops who hid the abuse, a criminal justice system that failed, but the Vatican itself who refused to answer questions of its role in the debacle that is like a cancer destroying the moral fiber of our church. These two articles below reach the conclusion that motivated the Irish bishops to travel to Rome. The bishops operated under orders from headquarters.

2. The U.S. media has largely ignored and/or under-reported the story of Vatican accountability. Why?

3. Radical Reform is needed in a church that punishes faithful Catholics like Roman Catholic Womenpriests with excommunication, but ignores or covers-up , from the top-down, the criminal behavior of pedophiles and and the bishops who shuffled them from parish to parish, country to country.

4. Ask yourself, what would Jesus, who had male and female disciples do? In the Gospel, he welcomes the children, gathers them in his arms and speaks out against harming them. What do you think Jesus would say to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church today about the sex abuse scandal that has destroyed so many lives?

5. The greatest abuse is the abuse of spiritual power. The hierarchial model must be transformed to a discipleship of equals model where all are one and all united in God's love in mutual service. All of us are empowered by our baptism to live vibrant lives of faith united with God and one another. No one, not the bishop or pope, has the power to throw us out of the family! Excommunication does not cancel our baptism! We the people have the spiritual power we need to live holy, faithful lives in love with God and with others.
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

Justine Mc Carthy,"We can't have faith in a church with these leaders" http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7034885.ece
"On May 29, 2008 he issued a decree that any woman attempting to be ordained a priest, or any bishop who assists her, would be excommunicated. The gravity with which the powers-that-be in Rome regard the outrage of a woman’s priestly vocation is reflected in the severity of the punishment. For priests who rape children, the worst possible punishment is defrocking, but a woman attempting to join the clerical club is denied the sacraments — including the last rites — and her eternal soul is damned. A Louisiana-born priest, Roy Bourgeois, was excommunicated in 2008 for participating in a “mock ordination” of a woman. "


and Marci A. Hamilton's article, "The Pieces of the Puzzle are Falling into Place: Catholic Officials, a Global Web of Childhood Sexual Abuse, and the Judgment of History"
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20100218.html

"Meanwhile, at the same time that the Irish bishops were demanding accountability from the Holy See, discovery in a Wisconsin case -- as I discussed in my last column -- showed that the Holy See and in particular, then-Cardinal Ratzinger (who, of course, is now the Pope) were the official handlers for abusing priests in the United States. The exchanges that litigation unearthed show that there is little question that bishops operated under orders from the highest levels of the Roman Catholic hierarchy on the issue of clergy who had been caught sexually abusing children. "

Article on Irish Sex Abuse Scandal : Oath of Secrecy Required of Victims by Vatican

The Sunday Times
February 21, 2010
Justine McCarthy: We can’t have faith in a church with these leaders
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article7034885.ece

For the people who run the Vatican these days to present themselves as unaligned and uncontaminated watchdogs patrolling the safety of the faithful in Ireland against the criminal negligence of the bishops is redolent of the days when the IRA and Sinn Fein protested that they were two separate and distinct organisations. The catalyst for 24 Irish bishops travelling to Rome last week was, supposedly, Judge Yvonne Murphy’s exposure of a cover-up of child sexual abuse by priests. Inherently salient to that cover-up was a Vatican document entitled Crimen Sollicitationis, which deals with the sin of soliciting in the confessional and extends its jurisdiction to the “worst crime” of child sexual abuse in a small paragraph at the back of the document. It rules that anyone making an accusation against a priest must take an oath of secrecy, as Marie Collins, who was abused by a priest in Crumlin children’s hospital, has attested happened to her.
When the Murphy Commission wrote to the CDF in September 2006, the year after Levada’s appointment as prefect by Benedict, it requested information about the promulgation of Crimen Sollicitationis. The CDF did not reply. It wrote instead to the Department of Foreign Affairs, bleating that the commission was flouting diplomatic protocols, despite the commission being independent of the government. "
justine.mccarthy@sunday-times.ie

Fr. Roy Bourgeois: Breaking Silence on Women's Ordination: Addresses Abuse of Power by Hierarchy, Makes Case for Women Priests /Florida

Fr. Roy Bourgeois addresses issue of Sexism/Justice

for women called to priesthood

in Roman Catholic Church. (See clips below)

Maryknoll priest, Fr. Roy Bourgeois Makes Case for Women Priests, Addresses Abuse of Power by Hierarchy to large gathering in Sarasota, Florida on Feb. 20, 2010, See clips of Fr. Roy's presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7aSqhVcaLs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBNrGBN2v98

Fr. Roy Bourgeois Breaks Silence on Women's Ordination, Challenges Hierarchy, Affirms Women Priests' Movement/Sarasota, Florida.

Maryknoll priest, Fr. Roy Bourgeois spoke to over 150 people in Sarasota, Florida on Feb. 20, 2010 at St. Andrew United Church of Christ. A soft-spoken gentle presence, Fr. Roy humbly shared the story of his journey from serving in Vietnam to serving as a Maryknoll priest in Bolivia. He was shocked by the poverty that he saw there and became aware that the U.S. government was supporting the institutions that propped up dictatorships and impoverished the majority of the people in South America. The United States military trained Latin American soldiers who engaged in torture techniques and death squads in their home countried. Fr. Roy started the School of the Americas Watch to close this facility located in Ft. Benning, Georgia. In 2010, Fr. Roy has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work that has brought thousands of supporters to work for the closure of this facility.

On Aug. 9, 2008, Fr. Roy attended the ordination of a woman priest, Janice Sevre Duszynska in lexington, Kentucky. The Vatican responded immediately by demanding that he recant or be automatically excommunicated. The Maryknoll Community continues to support Fr. Roy and he receives numerous requests to speak to supporters of women priests.

In his presentation, Fr. Roy Bourgeois made a powerful case for women priests, citing Jesus example and the early tradition of women in ordained ministry in our church. Citing patriarchy as the problem, Fr. Roy pointed out that there have been 12,000 reported cases of sex abuse by RC clergy in the U.S. Not one priest or bishop who covered up this abuse was excommunicated. Yet, women who are ordained and those who attend their ordinations are excommunicated. "This is the real scandal," Fr. Roy said sadly, and he raised the keynote issue of his presentation: "Who are we to say that God is not calling women to serve as priests?" One could hear a pin drop in the church!

Fr. Roy challenged the bullying methods of intimidation that the bishops are using to instill fear in the hearts of the faithful. Some Catholics, he noted, are afraid of even being seen at his talks in case they might lose their jobs if they are reported to the diocese! This abuse of power that is rooted in patriarchy. Like racism, sexism in the church must be resisted and changed.

Concluding on a positive note, Fr. Roy said that no threat, not even excommunication, will stop the movement for justice for women in the church. Yes, indeed, the Spirit is a'moving in our midst and women priests are here to stay, even if the hierarchy doesn't like it!

www.marymotherofjesus.org

www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org

Dr.Dorothy Irvin presents Levi Award offered by The Minnesota St. Joan's Community together with Lydia's Gathering to Courageous Catholics, Witnesses for Justice and Equality for Women in the Church.
Dr. Dorothy Irvin, Roman Catholic, theologian and archaeologist, explained that Levi was one of the apostles. She stated that in the Gospel of Mary, Levi stood up for Mary Magdalene when she was attacked by Peter.

The Levi award is presented to individuals who have been punished for their courage in standing up for justice for women in the church. The first recepient was Fr. Roy Bourgeois whose attendance at a woman priest ordination resulted in an automatic excommunication from the Vatican.

On Feb. 20, 2010, Dr. Irvin presented the Levi Award to Sister Louise Akers who was prohibited from teaching in any organization, including parishes, directly related to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The second recepient of the Levi Award was Ruth Kolpack who was fired by Bishop Morlino from the pastoral position that she held for 26 years at St. Thomas Parish in Wisconsin.

This prestigous award was presented to both these women for their courageous witness to Gospel equality.

Since, neither of these women could be present, Jack and Helen Duffy, leaders in the Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, accepted the award on their behalf. http://www.lydiasgathering.org/
http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/
http://www.marymotherofjesus.org/
Brief Clip introducing award: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps00oe54Ec0

"The Pieces of the Puzzle Are Falling into Place: Catholic Officials, a Global Web of Childhood Sexual Abuse, and the Judgment of History"

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20100218.html

The Pieces of the Puzzle Are Falling into Place: Catholic Officials, a Global Web of Childhood Sexual Abuse, and the Judgment of History
By MARCI A. HAMILTON
Thursday, February 18, 2010
In 2002, the Boston Globe broke the story of Cardinal Bernard Law's cover-up of widespread childhood sexual abuse by serial pedophiles in the Boston Archdiocese. In the wake of the coverage, United States Senator Rick Santorum, himself a Catholic, declared what many assumed to be true -- that the problem was peculiar to Boston. According to Santorum, the child sexual abuse had been caused by the lax morals of a very liberal city.
Santorum's particular theory was laughable, but his core assumption that the problem was geographically limited needs to be examined carefully – for although this claim of exceptionalism has proved completely false, it has continued to be repeated, in other contexts, all over the country and the world. And as long as the problem of Catholic clergy child sex abuse is seen as local, ending it will be elusive – because strings are being pulled from high up in the hierarchy.
Pretending Each City's – and Diocese's – Problems Were Specific to It AloneYet, in 2002 and after, the media still covered the Boston story as if it were distinctive to Boston. And, after the Boston scandal broke, the Bishops held an emergency meeting in Dallas and declared that the issue was behind them. Of course, today we know that was hardly the case.
After the Boston situation received publicity, victims of child sex abuse by Catholic priests started coming forward in many other American cities, with the pattern of abuse and cover-up repeating itself again and again. There is no room here to list them all, but they have included Bridgeport (Conn.), Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, and Spokane. There were recycling bins for the abusers in New Mexico, Maryland, and Canada. A priest could abuse several children in just about any state, take a break in New Mexico (where more children could be abused), and then be sent back to either the original diocese for re-posting, or another city. A handful of honorable prosecutors made the issue a priority, documenting the problem through grand jury reports -- but only a handful. The assumption continued to be that this must be a localized problem in certain dioceses, not one that was endemic to the organization – that is, entrenched throughout the entire Catholic hierarchy and system.
The media in each city focused on the abuse in that city, and the bishops in each city said, after some abuse was finally brought to light, that it was all history now.
The Growing Realization that the Problem Was – and Is -- Greater and More GeneralThen the list of dioceses with sexual abuse allegations grew longer and longer -- to the point that no state was untouched. Priests started to complain that the "scandal" had started to taint all priests unfairly. Many lifelong – and especially, older -- Catholics rejected out of hand the notion that the problem was deep-seated, or that it might involve the entirety of the Church. For them, this was a short-term bump in the long history of the Catholic Church. Some, though, saw the pattern and formed the Voice of the Faithful -- a collection of devoted Catholics who see the child sex abuse scandal as having revealed an unfortunately built-in problem, not just an isolated set of criminal and tortious acts.
Editors began to treat the stories of abuse, though, as simply redundant, and often caved to the pressure from bishops not to engage in alleged "anti-Catholic bias" by covering one story after another about abuse by priests. The bishops hired public relations firms to spread the word that legislative reform in response to the knowledge of priest abuse was nothing but anti-Catholicism, and to repeat the false claim that all of the abuse had been publicly reported and was safely in the past.
However, lawsuits were filed in numerous jurisdictions, and discovery was demanded, with concomitant news coverage of the lengthening list of abuse allegations. The ambitious American bishops then began to vie among themselves as to who would be the most successful in turning back lawsuits and related legislative reform. Once again, there was an apparent pattern of behavior in response to the public revelations and the lawsuits. The very same arguments against the victims, their attorneys, and legislative reform in this area were floated in far-flung states -- from California, to Delaware, to Wisconsin, and more.
A Problem that Crossed Not Just State, But National Boundaries
Still, the media treated the cases as location-specific. Editors were driven by the need for a contemporary and local "news hook" and did not invest in investigative reporting to cover the (much) larger story. National coverage of the Holy See's 1962 document, Crimens Solicitationes, which threatens excommunication for bringing "scandal" to the Church by telling outsiders about the sexual abuse of children was – and remains -- sparse. Yet that document provides an embarrassingly obvious hint that the problem was – and is -- endemic and entrenched, and that the cover-up has been constructed from the top down. Was the media in denial over child sex abuse (which is common in our society) or over heinous behavior by the largest church in the United States -- or both? Who knows? Either way, the denial was deep-rooted and pernicious, and unless one has been watching closely, the larger story has escaped the attention of most Americans.
The stories then started to float across the Atlantic from Ireland that many priests there had sexually abused Irish children. Lots and lots of children. Irish prosecutors dug deep and produced two reports. One report detailed how the Irish Church had victimized numerous children in church-run residential schools. Horrifying in itself, the report also served as a reminder of the many stories from Australia – stories that were never widely circulated in the United States -- of the omnipresent sexual and physical abuse of children in church-run residential schools there. The second report, which was 700 pages long and dubbed the "Murphy Report," and focused on the Dublin Archdiocese, painstakingly established that the hierarchy and the police had covered up persistent patterns of abuse. It also pointed to the Holy See as responsible in part for the perpetuation of abuse.
In the end, some Irish bishops were held accountable, with four even resigning after being shamed out of their offices. Then, the current Irish bishops demanded a meeting with the Pope, because they placed significant blame for the pattern of behavior on the Holy See. That meeting took place this week at the Holy See.
The Murphy Report also confirmed that Irish abusers were being shipped to the United States, where they abused American children. Some were sent back and some were permanently dumped here.
Meanwhile, at the same time that the Irish bishops were demanding accountability from the Holy See, discovery in a Wisconsin case -- as I discussed in my last column -- showed that the Holy See and in particular, then-Cardinal Ratzinger (who, of course, is now the Pope) were the official handlers for abusing priests in the United States. The exchanges that litigation unearthed show that there is little question that bishops operated under orders from the highest levels of the Roman Catholic hierarchy on the issue of clergy who had been caught sexually abusing children.
Thus, we have come to know with a certainty that at a minimum, Ireland, the United States, and the Holy See have been linked. And only the Holy See has transnational powers within the group.
Even while all of this information was developing, moreover, there was still a pervasive belief that certain clerical orders were beyond reproach on the issue, especially the widely-respected Jesuits. The lawsuits against the Jesuits for abuse in Alaska were not covered nationally in the media. Then, Germany erupted with stories of pervasive abuse in Jesuit-run schools. The sex-abuse victims are still coming forward, but one rector was recently quoted as saying that he expected that, in the end, they would identify over 100 victims of a single Jesuit perpetrator. And abuse is not limited to this one perpetrator; once again, it is pervasive. In other words, the situation in Germany is a mirror image of that depicted in the first Irish report and of the Australian experience with church-run residential schools. There is an undeniable pattern and web of connections, even for those who would do all that they can to deny child sex abuse and deny wrongdoing by the Roman Catholic Church. That pattern has led to suffering that is beyond human imagination.
Let's face it: there are only two options here: Either the repeated pattern of abuse and cover-up around the world constitutes a giant set of uncanny coincidences, or there is a single source of power directly responsible for the global pattern. The answer is obvious and that is why there are lawsuits currently pending against the Holy See in the United States. History will judge all of us if we do not bring this institution to account for the suffering of children. The Church officials' current behavior makes the selling of indulgences in the fifteenth century almost look quaint.
Marci Hamilton, a FindLaw columnist, is the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge 2008). A review of Justice Denied appeared on this site on June 25, 2008. Her previous book is God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005), now available in paperback. Her email is hamilton02@aol.com. In the interest of full disclosure, she represents clergy abuse victims and other victims of childhood sexual abuse on constitutional and federal statutory issues, including one who is currently in litigation against the Holy See..

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: "What the World Needs Now is a New St. Patrick" by David Gibson How about St. Brigit too!

"At this point in the Catholic Church's long-running saga of the sexual abuse of children by priests there are few surprises and fewer heroes. The two-day "summit" in the Vatican that wrapped up on Tuesday brought the bishops of Ireland together to meet with Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the issue, much as leaders of the American hierarchy were summoned to Rome for an overnight palaver with Pope John Paul II in 2002. "

Bridget Mary's Reflection:

What the church needs now is a new St Patrick and St. Brigit!

How about a renewed church, rooted in partnership and equality that is Christ-centered, Spirit-led and justice oriented! Perhaps, a modern day verison of the the early Celtic model of St. Brigit of Kildare where women and men, celibate and married, lived side by side in a double monastery and raised their children in Christian Community. The church in Ireland needs a vibrant transformation that is rooted in Celtic spirituality. Some of this treasury includes a celebration of creativity, poetry, hospitality to the stranger, a warm welcome to all who cross our path, service to the poor, connectedness to earth and living beings, equal partnership between women and men, a mystical sense of communion with life and a dynamic embrace of a loving God who is very fond of us and the communion of saints as family members.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Vatican Warns Supporters of Women Priests

Sarasota, FL, United States (AHN) - The Vatican has threatened to excommunicate Catholics who support the ordination of the first women priests and deacon in Florida by an excommunicated former nun. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7017834179

Response by Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan
First clarification I am not a former nun. While I belonged to a canonical community for ten years, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters (Philadelphia) I now am a Sister for Christian Community which is an independent order of Sisters whose charism is to build Christian community wherever we are and to celebrate all people as God's family. Our prayer is "that all may be one".

Second clarification: We did not receive a letter from the Vatican or from our local bishop before these ordinations as this all headline news article seems to imply.


The good news is that Catholics are not afraid of excommunication!
Pat Ferkenhoff, a member of a local parish in Sarasota, Florida, was quoted in the Herald Tribune article as saying: "Well, I'm not going to get my hed chopped off or be burned at the stake." ( Church Disapproval doesn't deter crowd", Herald Tribune, by Anna Scott, Feb.7, 2010)

An atmosphere of joy permeated the jam-packed church with over 250 supporters of Roman Catholic Womenpriests for the ordinations of three women in Florida despite Bishop Frank Dewane's excommuniation decree. (See pictures and articles below on blog)

Actually, the bishop's threat (Sarasota Herald Tribune article reported by Anna Scott on Feb. 6th, 2010) increased our attendance. Several people told us they came to be in solidarity with the women being ordained and to support our justice movement for women in a renewed priestly ministry in our church. The people of God seem to regard this punishment as a badge of honor.

It is ironic and sad to read about the meeting of the Irish bishops with Pope Benedict this week. None of the Irish bishops were fired for their handling of the horrific pedophilia crisis. Not one bishop in Ireland or elsewhere has been excommunicated for their handling of the pedophilia crisis which has destroyed lives of Catholic children! Yet, the Vatican threatens faithful Catholics who support Roman Catholic Womenpriests with excommunication. I believe Jesus would weep ! In this Lenten season, our church needs major reform and renewal.
The Vatican has a long history of excommunicating, interdicting and punishing people in one century and canonizing them in another century. Pope Benedict canonized Mother Theodore Guerin, an excommunicated nun in 2005, and will canonize Mother Mary MacKillop, another excommunicated nun in 2010. Mary Ward, a foundress of a religious order modelled on the Jesuits, was villified by church authorities. She was imprisoned at one point, and recently has been declared Venerable, a step on the path to sainthood. One, of course, cannot forget St. Joan of Arc, patron of France, who rejected giving assent to church authorities and followed her conscience. She was burned at the stake and later declared a saint! St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the church's greatest theologians, was excommunicated after his death!

So, the supporters of Roman Catholic Womenpriests who attended the Florida ordinations are in good company, and perhaps even on a fast tract to Sainthood! We are not leaving the church. We are leading the church into a new era of justice and equality for women in the church, reclaiming our twelve-hundred year heritage of women deacons, priests and bishops, and following Jesus' example of Gospel equality.

Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP
Bishop serving Southern region

Roman Catholic Womenpriests reject the automatic excommunication issued by the Vatican.
http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/

Roman Catholic Womenpriests Ordinations in Florida: Links to Gallery Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/here.in.faith/SarasotaOrdinationsFeb62010?authkey=Gv1sRgCKStx4XPjMmhyQE&feat=directlink#

Permission to use with note below:
Hello! I was at the Sarasota ordinations... Feel free to forward the link in any way you think is appropriate and to use the photos as you'd like.http://bit.ly/cX2cffDeborah WinarskiChicago, IL=

Other Gallery:
http://spotted.heraldtribune.com/galleries/index.php?id=323733

Catholic Priest Breaks Silence on Women's Ordination

Catholic Priest Breaks Silence on Women’s Ordination
Release date: February 16, 2010
Media Contacts: Fr. Roy Bourgeois at 706-570-5359
Janice Sevre-Duszynska at 859-684-4247, rhythmsofthedance@msn.com
Bridget Mary Meehan at 941-955-2313, 703-505-0004, sofiabmm@aol.com
Visit: http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/ and http://www.bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/
On Saturday, February 20, 2010, Father Roy Bourgeois, Maryknoll priest of 38 years, founder of the School of the Americas Watch and Nobel Peace Prize nominee will speak in support of women’s ordination and the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. The presentation will take place from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. at St. Andrew United Church of Christ, 6908 Beneva Road in Sarasota, FL 34238. The event is sponsored by Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community and is part of a national tour. "Sexism is a sin," said Fr. Roy Bourgeois in an August 2008 homily at the ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska in Lexington, KY. "No matter how hard we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is always wrong and immoral." Bourgeois, a Roman Catholic priest, is facing excommunication for his public support of women’s ordination and the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. "The hierarchy will say, it is the tradition of the church not to ordain women," Bourgeois continued. "I grew up in a small town in Louisiana and often heard, ‘It is the tradition of the South to have segregated schools.’ It was also ‘the tradition’ in our Catholic church to have the Black members seated in the last five pews of the church. Our Church leaders at the Vatican tell us that women cannot be ordained . With all due respect, I believe our Catholic Church’s teaching on this issue is wrong and does not stand up to scrutiny." In addition to his religious work, Bourgeois is the founder of the School of the Americas (SOA) Watch, and is internationally known for his work to end U.S. government–funded training of Latin American soldiers in torture techniques. Fr. Roy and SOA Watch were recently nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee. In 1994 Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter Ordination Sacerdotalis which states that Catholics may not even speak about women’s ordination. Fr. Roy is breaking this glass ceiling on his national tour. Bridget Mary Meehan, Roman Catholic Woman bishop of the Southern Region and pastor of Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Community, said, "Women served as deacons, priests and bishops in the early Church. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are leading the Church into a new era of renewal by reclaiming our ancient tradition of women as disciples and equals." Bourgeois and Dorothy Irvin, archaeologist and theologian known for her work on women priests in the Early Christian tradition, will present the Levi Award in absentia to Ruth Kolpack and Sr. Louise Akers. Established by the Minnesota-based Lydia’s Gathering Foundation, the Levi Award recognizes Catholics dismissed from employment or excommunicated by the Church for supporting women’s equality. For more information, contact Dorothy Irvin at 612-387-3784.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests Challenge Cardinal George, U.S. bishops and Pope Benedict XVI

PRESS RELEASE
Roman Catholic Womenpriests challenge Cardinal George, U.S. bishops and Pope Benedict XVI
Release date: February 15, 2010
Media Contacts: Janice Sevre-Duszynska at 859-684-4247 rhythmsofthedance@ msn.com
Bridget Mary Meehan at 941-955-2313, sofiabmm@aol. com
Visit: http://www.romancat holicwomenpriest s.org/ and http://www.bridgetm arys/blogspot. com/

Roman Catholic Womenpriests challenge Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who said that New Ways Ministry does not provide "an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching," in a February 5, 2010 statement.Roman Catholic Womenpriests challenge Cardinal George, the USCCB and Pope Benedict XVI to be open to the Christ in all people, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) persons. RCWP also challenges the Vatican to bless and affirm the LGBT community, the New Ways Ministry to them, and to welcome the prophetic witness and challenge of both, as well as their struggles, joys and gifts. RCWP sees Cardinal George’s statement as exclusionary and unacceptable for Catholics who embrace Jesus’ Gospel of inclusivity, equality and justice: a discipleship of equals. New Ways Ministry, co-founded by Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Salvatorian Father Robert Nugent, is based in Mount Rainier, Md. It is a 33-year-old "gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics and reconciliation within the larger Christian and civil communities. "On May 23, 2000, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, issued a document ordering Gramick and Nugent to cease ministry to gays and lesbians because they were not strong in teaching that homosexual acts were intrinsically "disordered" and that the homosexual inclination was objectively "disordered" . The central issue, according to theologian Mary Hunt, was that neither Gramick nor Nugent was willing to agree that homosexual acts were intrinsically evil and that the teaching was virtually infallible and unalterable. Gramick rejected the 2000 order and has continued to provide support to the LGBT community. In the formal document she was informed that she "may not speak or write on homosexuality, on the notification, or on any ecclesiastical processes that led to it..." further, that she "may not encourage the faithful to publicly express their dissent from the official Magisterium, nor protest decisions of the Holy See, nor criticize the Magisterium in any public forum whatsoever." Gramick, however, as a matter of informed conscience, defied the Vatican’s edict and continues to lecture widely on behalf of justice for the LGBT community. She believes that only if all people are treated with dignity and respect will there be peace and harmony in the world. RCWP supports and celebrates her courage.Catholics continue to speak out against prejudice. In 2009, before a Maryland House of Delegates committee, Francis De Bernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, said: "It would be a grave error in judgment – both politically and morally – for government leaders to assume that the Catholic hierarchy reflects the belief of most Catholic people." The hierarchy is not the Catholic Church; the Catholic Church is the People of God. Roman Catholic Womenpriests walk in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the LGBT community. We support New Ways Ministry and their compassionate ministry to the People of God.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Church Opposes Female Priests/UPI Story

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/02/15/Church-opposes-female-priests-ordination/UPI-74461266253702/

....Bridget Mary Meehan, a member of the movement, is responsible for the ordination of two women priests and one deacon in Sarasota, Fla. ...

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: "Bishop Welcomes Controversy" Article in Miami Herald Tribune/Tampa Bay/AP Florida

Miami Herald
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100206/ARTICLE/2061054/-1/NEWSSITEMAP?tc=ar

"Good!" said Bridget Mary Meehan, the former nun who is performing today's ordinations and is one of five bishops in the national movement. "They're upping the ante. People will have to be courageous to support us and that is what this is about. Like our sister Rosa Parks, we refuse to sit on the back of the bus any longer."

Tampa Bay
http://www.tampabay.com/incoming/in-sarasota-catholics-buck-church-doctrine-on-women-as-priests/1073234

Roman Catholic Womenpriests; Bishop Joan Houk Speaks at Vanderbilt Divinity School

http://www.wildhair95.blogspot.com/
"I was at Bishop Joan Houk’s talk last evening at Vanderbilt. It was really my first up close experience with the issue of the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church. I came away very impressed."

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Florida Ordinations: NBC/Ft.Myers TV Program Link

http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=11978332

The Underground Priesthood

SARASOTA: "They call themselves servants of God and are joining the ranks of more than 100 women around the world.
Earlier this month the Roman Catholic Women Priests held the first ordination of women Priests and Deacons in the state of Florida. These women are taking positions reserved for men under Catholic Church law."