Links to Stories on Vatican Mandated Apostolic Visitation of Nuns/Time to End Sexism in our Church

http://ncronline.org/apostolicvisitation
Bridget Mary's Reflection
Anyway, you slice it, the nuns won this one! Let's hope the Vatican learned not to harass the women religious!
Now it is time for the nuns to talk back and take action!
Nuns have served the church for many decades and some have been doing priestly ministry quietly in priestless parishes with their orders' approval. I hope that the religious orders in which women are called to priestly ministry will find a way to proceed. The women priests movement does catacomb ordinations for those under threat, but, the ideal of course is to celebrate the call of the community to serve as a priest with the community in an open, prophetic way. 
Sisters, it is time to cross the line of patriarchy's oppression, and join us in the prophetic journey to bring justice for women to our church in grassroots communities. We must be the change that we have dreamed of now.  
Jesus set the pace. He called women as well men to follow him and treated them as equals and partners. In Luke 8, we read there were many women disciples! Jesus entrusted the most important message of Christianity to a woman apostle, Mary of Magdala, the apostle to the apostles! The  Catholic Church should follow the example of Jesus. The Vatican cannot continue to discriminate against women and blame God for it.  Sexism is a sin and must not be tolerated. The renewal of our church is in the hands of the people of God, which includes, of course, the nuns! This is a call to action!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
sofiabmm@aol.com
www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org

An opportunity whose time has come" by Dorothy Pedtke

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/opinion/sbt-20120224sbtmicha-05-05-20120224,0,4049026.story

"...At the Saturday presentation, several women who had long felt frustrated and put down when they spoke of feeling called to ordination were encouraged to speak of their own experience. Some had been insulted for their "presumption." At best they were just told "no!" Priests who are nice guys felt ashamed to speak so to these women, knowing no real cause for this treatment. Others are not so compassionate. Many of us at the talk had never thought much about the question, but on hearing about the experiences and the shattered feelings of the women who felt called, we began to see the injustice of the church's stance. Some attending who felt vocations heard for the first time that a few women have already been ordained. They were in tears with excitement. They don't feel they're defying the church. They feel called by God and frustrated at not being able to accept. Now they have hope...."

What an abortifacient is -- and what it isn't by Jamie L. Manson/NCR Online

http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/what-abortifacient-and-what-it-isnt

"...The most important point that emerges from all of this research is that, so far, there is no scientific evidence that any FDA-approved contraception is capable of destroying an embryo. To say that any of these drugs are abortifacient is not only misleading, it does a profound disservice to women who find themselves in a situation where they might have to use one of these drugs or devices.According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, an average of 207,754 sexual assaults is reported in this country every year. And according to a study at Princeton, more than 25,000 women become pregnant every year after being sexually assaulted.The CHA did a fine job of arguing why emergency contraception should be available to all victims of sexual assault, regardless of the hospital's Catholic affiliation...Regardless of the situation, it is for a woman to decide what is best for her health and well-being.As we saw last week in the all-male panel testifying before Congress about contraception and in the statements of the Rick Santorum and his financial backers, the culture of shaming women for taking control of their sexuality is still a powerful force in this country. And the desire by men to take control of women's bodies seems equally powerful..."[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]

"Misguided Missal" Learn What You Can Do

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs094/1101674625527/archive/1109180565844.html

Lent: Pray, Fast and Give to Challenge Injustice

http://www.christfaithpower.com/2011/03/09/ash-wednesday/  (Check out this great site, the following reflection is from Ash Wednesday entry there.) 
Joel (2:12-18) calls for a fast... Joel does not call individuals to repentance. He calls the whole community...

 When we look at Jesus’ life and his final days, one thing stands out. Jesus suffered the agony of capital punishment crucifixion because he challenged unjust structures—Roman occupation and priestly burdens upon his followers. Lent is then about following Jesus and challenging the unjust structures in our government and our church which hold us captive. John Dear offers ten principles of resistance to the vagaries of empire during Lent http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/lent-practice-spirituality-resistance.

... We are so often complicit in the injustices of empire that we do not even realize it. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving prepare us to challenge injustice wherever we may find it.
We sometimes restrict our concept of fasting to moderation in food and drink. Fasting refers to all consumption. Descartes’ “I think therefore I am” has morphed into “I consume therefore I am.” Merton railed against technology and commodification. He decried our focus on things and doing. He bemoaned conspicuous consumption. He reminds us that we are human beings. We ARE in the great I AM.
Isaiah expands the concept of fasting that is acceptable to God:

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

releasing those bound unjustly,

untying the thongs of the yoke;

Setting free the oppressed,

breaking every yoke;

Sharing your bread with the hungry,

sheltering the oppressed and the

homeless; Clothing the naked when

you see them, and not turning your

back on your own. (58:6-7)

Ash Wednesday/ New Inclusive Lenten Liturgy/ Penitential Rite

Contraception Furor v. Catholic Realities The current flap over health care is about birth control, it is not about religious liberty, and it is not over. By Mary E. Hunt

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/5713/contraception_furor_v._catholic_realities http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/5713/contraception_furor_v._catholic_realities 

• "Not Religious Liberty, but Religious Influence
   The bishops’ issue is not religious liberty, but religious influence, namely, their own which is on the wane. The institutional Roman Catholic Church squandered the political clout it once enjoyed. Clergy sexual abuse cases and their cover-up by bishops are unspeakable crimes that cost more than just the billions of dollars spent to adjudicate cases and compensate victims. They cost credibility...The bishops remain dissatisfied with the Obama compromise and vow to fight on. Most Catholics are just glad that most women will have access to contraception, provided that the insurance companies step up to the plate. But the question that is far from settled in a democracy is how one huge religious group gets its many voices heard. Catholic voters will have a chance to express their commitment to women at the ballot box"

'Call to Disobedience': A Rift in the German-Speaking Catholic Church

A call by reform-minded Catholics in the German-speaking world for the
church to soften its stances on homosexuality, divorce and celibacy
among priests and to end its ban on women in the clergy is drawing loud
criticism from conservatives. They argue the group is threatening to
create a schism within the Catholic Church.
You can download the complete article over the Internet at the following
URL:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,816528,00.html


More about this issue
---------------------------

Assessing the Pope's Visit: Germany At Odds With Benedict XVI
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,788388,00.html

The World From Berlin: 'The Pope Can't Neglect What's Happening in His
Own Church'
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,788048,00.html
Mission Clarity: Pope Benedict's Blunt New World
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,788054,00.html

The Pope Comes Home: Benedict Criticizes Lack of Religiosity in Germany
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787791,00.html

Fighting the Dictatorship of Relativism: The Pope's Role in the New
Battle for Religion
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787808,00.html

Theologian Hans Küng on Pope Benedict: 'A Putinization of the Catholic
Church'
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,787325,00.html

Disillusioned German Catholics: The Pope's Difficult Visit to His
Homeland
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787314,00.html

Santorum Exalts Inequality/ Op. Ed. New York Times/ Mentions Women Priests Hiring as Example of Employment Discrimination Issues

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/opinion/blow-santorum-exalts-inequality.html?_r=1&src=recg

Then again, Santorum is becoming increasingly unhinged in his public comments. Last week, he said that the president was arguing that Catholics would have to “hire women priests to comply with employment discrimination issues. Also last week, he suggested that liberals and the president were leading religious people into oppression and even beheadings. I kid you not. Santorum said: “They are taking faith and crushing it. Why? When you marginalize faith in America, when you remove the pillar of God-given rights, then what’s left is the French Revolution. What’s left is a government that gives you rights. What’s left are no unalienable rights. What’s left is a government that will tell you who you are, what you’ll do and when you’ll do it. What’s left in France became the guillotine.”
Bridget Mary's Reflection
It is hard to imagine that Rick Santorum is serious, but apparently he is. Yes, indeed, women priests would make a difference, a huge structural change in the Catholic Church that would be welcomed by millions of Catholics. It is true that gender inequality is at the heart of the institutional church's major issues. This is rooted in sexism and yes, results in discrimination against women in barring the doors to priestly ministry, However, the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement have found a way around the hierarchy and are now serving in grassroots communities in 8 countries.
Bridget Mary Meehan
sofiabmm@aol.com
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/

"What People Talk About Before They Die" by Kerry Egan

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/28/my-faith-what-people-talk-about-before-they-die/

"Even in these cases, I am amazed at the strength of the human soul. People who did not know love in their families know that they should have been loved. They somehow know what was missing, and what they deserved as children and adults.When the love is imperfect, or a family is destructive, something else can be learned: forgiveness. The spiritual work of being human is learning how to love and how to forgive. We don’t have to use words of theology to talk about God; people who are close to death almost never do. We should learn from those who are dying that the best way to teach our children about God is by loving each other wholly and forgiving each other fully - just as each of us longs to be loved and forgiven by our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters."

"Bad Reaction"/Commonweal Editorial on Bishops and Contraception Mandate/ Attack on Women's Health Care Rights/Conscience/Religious Freedom

http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/print/6166#.Tz_wJz6Yyl0.mailto

"Even before all the details of the president’s proposal were known, the bishops rejected it and then upped the ante by insisting that the only possible solution was to repeal the mandate altogether. In other words, the bishops are now demanding that no employer be required to offer free contraception coverage to its employees. To justify their response, they offered only the most tendentious reading of the possible flaws in Obama’s proposal. Now the USCCB is threatening a concerted political and public-relations campaign—during an election year—that casts the president as a determined enemy of religious freedom."

Bridget Mary's Reflection
The bishops attempt to demand the mandate is an attack on women's rights to health care, their conscience and religious freedom. Why do the bishops have the right to impose their views on Catholics and non-Catholics alike? We do have separation of church and state in the U.S. Isn't that one of the basic tenets of our democracy?  

Darrell Issa's First Panel on Contraception Coverage Had Zero Female Witnesses

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/02/16/issa_s_first_panel_of_witnesses_on_contraception_hearings_included_no_women_.html
"Refusing to acknowledge that their stated concerns were addressed is simply revealing that the Republican war on contraception coverage is in fact a war on contraception itself, and no amount of hyperbole Rep. Darrell Issa uses in titling hearings can change that..."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
It appears that the Republicans are following the U.S. bishops in their war on contraception and on women by excluding them from sharing their experiences about family planning and women's health care issues. Like the Panel on Contraception, the U.S. Bishops have zero females in decision making and they certainly did not consult any woman. 98% of Roman Catholic women have used contraception at some point in their reproductive lives, and a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute reported that even among Catholics, 52 percent back the Obama policy: they believe that religiously affiliated universities and hospitals should be madated to include birth control coverage in insurance plans. The majority of Catholics are supportive of this policy because it protects women's health. So are women and the rest of the population. Women's health and well-being should be discussed by a panel that includes women in proportion to the population.  By excluding women from the Panel on Contraception, the Republicans are following the example of the bishops whose misogynist behavior excludes women from the priesthood and decision-making in issues that impact their lives including human sexuality. The agenda is elimination of contraception not just for Catholic women, but for all women. Is this the Republican agenda too? Listen carefully to what the candidates are saying about contraception.

"Contraception Crusade" on Colbert Report/ On the Lighter Side

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/408347/february-14-2012/contraception-crusade?xrs=playershare_fb

Catholic Bishops Step Up Campaign Against Contraceptive in Parishes Across U.S./Time to Oppose Bishops by Calling Representatives to Support Contraceptives and Family Planning as Pro-Lfe and Pro-Woman

The USCCB has sent out a bulletin insert to be included in parish bulletins. Please include this in next weekend's bulletin, as its timeliness is dependent upon Congressional action. If you have other methods of distributing this content (websites, Facebook pages, etc), that would be wonderful. More information regarding the HHS Mandate is likely forthcoming. Thank you for your support in this effort to restore religious liberty and freedom of conscience!

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 Fourth Street NE - Washington DC 20017-1194 - Fax 202-541-3166
BULLETIN INSERT
Sweeping HHS Mandate Stands, Violating Conscience Rights and Religious Liberty
Congress Must Act to Fix the Problem


On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule that virtually all private health care plans must cover sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception. The exemption provided for "religious employers" was so narrow that it failed to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations-including Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities-that help millions every year. Ironically, not even Jesus and his disciples would have qualified for the exemption, because it excludes those who mainly serve people of another faith. On February 10, the Obama Administration made this rule final "without change"; delayed enforcement for a year against religious nonprofits that were still not exempted (our charities, hospitals, and colleges); and promised to develop more regulations to "accommodate" them by the end of that additional year. But, as explained below, that promised "accommodation" still forces them to pay for "services" that violate their religious convictions. The original rule that violated our religious liberty so severely has not been changed, but finalized. After touting meaningful changes in the mandate, HHS instead finalized the original rule that was first issued in August 2011 "without change." So the offensive definition of "religious employer"-which excludes our charities, hospitals, and colleges because they serve people of other faiths-is still in place, and those institutions are still subject to the mandate. HHS has promised some kind of "accommodation," but only after the election. HHS said it would take an additional year to develop more regulations to "accommodate" religiously-affiliated charities, schools, and hospitals that still fall outside the "religious employer" exemption. The impact of these additional rules will not be felt until after the election, the only point of public accountability for the Executive Branch. This eliminates an important incentive for HHS to provide the best protection for religious liberty The promised "accommodation"-even at its best-would still force our institutions to violate their beliefs. Under the proposed "accommodation," if an employee of these religious institutions wants coverage of contraception or sterilization directly from the insurer, the objecting employer is still forced to pay for it as a part of the employer's insurance plan. Since there is no other source, the funds to pay for that coverage must come from the premiums of the employer and fellow employees, even those who object in conscience.
There is no exemption for objecting insurers, secular employers, for-profit religious employers, or individuals.
The U.S. bishops defend religious liberty for all, and so have repeatedly identified all the stakeholders in the process whose religious freedom is threatened by the mandate-all employers, insurers, and individuals, not just religious employers. Now, all insurers, including self-insurers, must provide the coverage to any employee who wants it. In turn, all individuals who pay premiums have no escape from subsidizing that coverage. And only employers that are both non-profit and religious may qualify for the limited "accommodation." We urgently need legislation to correct the mandate's threats to religious liberty and conscience rights. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) to ensure that those who participate in the market for health insurance "retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions."
ACTION: Contact your U.S. Representative by e-mail, phone, or FAX letter:
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members' local offices. Send your email to Congress through http://www.flacathconf.org/religiousfreedom Additional contact info can be found on Members' web sites at: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
MESSAGE: "Please co-sponsor and support the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, S. 1467). The Obama administration's decision to mandate coverage of sterilization and contraceptives, including drugs that can cause an abortion, makes passage of this measure especially urgent. Please ensure that the religious liberty and conscience rights of all participants in our nation's health care system are respected."

Billy Atwell
Director of Communications
Diocese of Venice in Florida
941-484-9543 (office)
941-484-1121 (fax) www.dioceseofvenice.org
www.facebook.com/DioceseofVenice
www.vimeo.com/DioceseofVenice
Bridget Mary's Reflection;
Contact your congressional representatives to oppose the bishops campaign and provide cover for women's health and reproductive family planning as a matter of their conscience and freedom of religion. The U.S. bishops do not represent the majority of Catholics. Tell Congress and the White House that the health of women including contraceptive coverage is what you support as a Catholic and a citizen of the United States. This is an issue of human rights and justice for women as equal images of God who can and should make their own moral decisions on family planning including use of contraceptives.
 Jesus had no policy on contraceptives so the bishops should not act as if this is an issue for him. Jesus treated all with compassion and non-judgment. One could argue that Jesus would be angry with the bishops as he was with the religous leaders of his time for placing heavy burdens on  the people. Now the bishops are imposing their ethics on women, specifically women who cannot afford children and do not want to became pregnant. They are denying women their rights to be free moral agents who make these decisions according to conscience. 
 What ever happend to the bishops pro-life stance that aimed to prevent abortions? Contaceptives prevent unwanted pregnancies and abortions.
Yes, indeed, get in touch with your congressional representative as the bishops advise, but tell him to support women's health, freedom of conscience and religious liberty to chose when to bring children into this world. 98% of Catholic women have used contraceptives, the bishops do not represent them in this campaign. The bishops cannot continue to discrimnate against women and blame Obama for it. (as in Obama health care that mandates insurance coverage for contraceptives.)
Bridget Mary Meehan
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
sofiabmm@aol.com

Cardinal Cushing Had No Desire to Impose Church's Moral Judgments on all Faiths/in Contrast to U.S. Bishops Today

Boston College Magazine

Legal aid
by Seth Meehan
"When the Massachusetts legislature voted in 1966 to end the last all-out ban on contraceptives in the nation, it was with the approval and assistance of the Boston Archdiocese On February 15, 1963, Boston’s cardinal Richard James Cushing (1895–1970) was the guest on “Conversation Piece,” an afternoon talk show on local radio station WEEI. Not for the first time since the campaign and election of President John F. Kennedy, a Boston Catholic, Cushing addressed public concerns about the role of the Catholic Church in politics. As Kennedy himself had done, Cushing offered the assurance that Catholics did not believe religious viewpoints should control political decision making in the democratic arena. The leader of 1.8 million Catholics in the Boston Archdiocese, Cushing told the radio audience that he had no desire to impose the Church’s moral judgments, by using his considerable influence over Massachusetts legislation, on people of other faiths. .."


Seth Meehan is a Ph.D. student in history at Boston College. His essay is drawn and adapted from an article titled “From Patriotism to Pluralism: How Catholics Initiated the Repeal of Birth Control Restrictions in Massachusetts.” Published in the Catholic Historical Review in July 2010, the article earned Meehan the Peter Guilday Prize from the American Catholic Historical Association.

Winnipeg Statement of Canadian Bishops Dissenting from Contraception Teaching

Below are key passages giving reasons for Canadian Conference of Bishops dissent on contraception:
17. It is a fact that a certain number of Catholics, although admittedly subject to the teaching of the encyclical, find it either extremely difficult or even impossible to make their own all elements of this doctrine. In particular, the argumentation and rational foundation of the encyclical, which are only briefly indicated, have failed in some cases to win the assent of men of science,or indeed of some men of culture and education who share in the contemporary empirical and scientific mode of thought. We must appreciate the difficulty experienced by contemporary man in understanding and appropriating some of the points of this encyclical, and we must make every effort to learn from the insights of Catholic scientists and intellectuals, who are of undoubted loyalty to Christian truth, to the Church and to the authority of the Holy See. Since they are not denying any point of divine and Catholic faith nor rejecting the teaching authority of the Church, these Catholics should not be considered or consider themselves, shut off from the body of the faithful. But they should remember that their good faith will be dependent on a sincere self-examination to determine the true motives and grounds for such suspension of assent and on continued effort to understand and deepen their knowledge of the teaching of the Church.
Preliminary Pastoral Guidance
26. Counsellors may meet others who, accepting the teaching of the Holy Father, find that because of particular circumstances they are involved in what seems to them a clear conflict of duties, e.g., the reconciling of conjugal love and responsible parenthood with the education of children already born or with the health of the mother. In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assured that, whoever honestly chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience.


27. Good pastoral practice for other and perhaps more difficult cases will be developed in continuing communication among bishops, priests and laity, and in particular in the document we have promised to prepare. In the meantime we earnestly solicit the help of medical scientists and biologists in their research into human fertility. While it would be an illusion to hope for the solution of all human problems through scientific technology, such research can bring effective help to the alleviation and solution of problems of conscience in this area.

"Birth Control,Bishops and Religious Authority" by Gary Gutting/New York Times/Canadian Bishops Dissent on Contraception/Winnipeg Statement

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/birth-control-and-the-challenge-to-divine-authority/?src=twrhp

"Since, as I’ve argued, members of the church are themselves this source, it is not for the bishops but for the faithful to decide the nature and extent of episcopal authority. ...The mistake of the Obama administration — and of almost everyone debating its decision — was to accept the bishops’ claim that their position on birth control expresses an authoritative “teaching of the church.” (Of course, the administration may be right in thinking that the bishops need placating because they can cause them considerable political trouble.) The bishops’ claim to authority in this matter has been undermined because Catholics have decisively rejected it. The immorality of birth control is no longer a teaching of the Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI meant his 1968 encyclical, “Humanae Vitae,” to settle the issue in the manner of the famous tag, “Roma locuta est, causa finita est.” In fact the issue has been settled by the voice of the Catholic people."

Bridget Mary's Reflection
I agree. The bishops, indeed the institutional church's position on Humanae Vitae, reflects the minority opinion and has been soundly rejected by the Catholic people. If teaching is not received by the faithful, it is not valid teaching. This is often referred to as the "sense of the faithful".

"Although many Episcopal Conferences published statements regarding Humanae Vitae, it is the Canadian Bishops' statement which has been the subject of the most controversy, as has been widely interpreted as a loophole whereby Catholics may feel permitted to use birth control. Central to the debate is the role and importance of personal religious freedom of conscience." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Statement

"Quite Serious" by Bridget Mary Meehan/ Naples Daily News

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/feb/15/letter-quite-serious/ Naples Daily News
I am responding to some misperceptions about me and about the Roman Catholic Women Priests movement in a letter to the editor titled "Are you serious?

"Beneath the Conflict" by Joan and John Houk

The contraception -- freedom of conscience conflict set new records for speed of bishops’ reaction and administration accommodation. Never before have our bishops responded in a matter of hours to anything. Years of collective discernment has been the norm. Never before has any administration reacted in a bureaucratic flash to any critique by anyone. One may guess that both bishops and administration saw this conflict coming a long time ago. In that sense alone, it was (past tense) a manufactured conflict.
The U.S. Bishops know they lost the war on contraception years ago so it wasn’t about contraception unless you are an exceedingly dense bishop. It wasn’t really about freedom of conscience either. No one was being required to use contraceptives, and the bishops had already accepted alternative policies in various states. So what is left? There is good reason to suspect an orchestrated attempt by our bishops to discredit President Obama and his administration, and at least for some bishops, it may be a case of “scarlet fever,” i.e., how does this look at promotion time.
There may be something to be gained by continuing to dissect this make-believe conflict, which is to remember an often forgotten teaching from Jesus himself. Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, but you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. (Luke 11:46) It is not right to lay burdens of the law on people that because of your wealth, position, gender or race you yourself do not have to carry.
Our bishops never need to make a decision of conscience regarding the personal use of contraceptives. Then by what Christian judgment do they lay their anti-contraception burden of law on others? We can turn this dust-up into an opportunity to remember how Jesus taught us to live together. We can make people’s lives better from the bottom up by avoiding laying on heavy burdens, especially those that we ourselves don’t have to carry.
Joan and John Houk
2/13/12

Strong Majority Support Contraceptive Coverage/Not U.S. Bishops by Marjorie Connelly/ New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/us/politics/poll-finds-support-for-contraception-policy-and-gay-couples.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23
"Majorities in the New York Times/CBS News poll backed an insurance requirement for religiously affiliated employers and legal status for same-sex unions. On contraceptive coverage, 65 percent of voters in the poll said they supported the Obama administration’s requirement that health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, and 59 percent, said the health insurance plans of religiously affiliated employers should cover the cost of birth control. "

On the contraception mandate: Can the bishops speak credibly about a women's health issue? by Bryan Cones- in US Catholic

http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2012/02/contraception-mandate-can-bishops-speak-credibly-about-womens-health-issue
By Bryan Cones - in US Catholic
..."The fact is, church teaching addresses women's bodies and their health care in profoundly intimate and different ways than it does the bodies of men. (One wonders how the conversation would be different if we were talking about prostate exams or erectile dysfunction.) It does not help the bishops' credibility that women have had no deliberative voice in the creation of church teaching on birth control, and since none of the bishops are married, they are not in the position to consider more than intellectually the economic, emotional, and psychological dimensions of an unplanned pregnancy.The fact remains that half of pregnancies in this country are unplanned, and half of those end in abortion. The emotional, psychological, economic, and moral costs of these pregnancies (and abortions) fall most heavily on the women affected, and I think it incumbent upon Christians to consider these women and their children--born and unborn--as we examine this moral issue.I do not see how preventing a woman from using a legal medical means to decide when or if she becomes pregnant impinges on my right to excercise my faith. Indeed, my hope that greater access to birth control would reduce the number of abortions more than makes up for any concerns I have about the legal complexities surrounding the mandate's effect on Catholic employers."

WHO'S CONTROLLING WHOM?/Bishops at War About Women and Reproductive Capabilities

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/311102/whos-controlling-whom?SESSb1e1ef98fce7d4a918305aa2a63a1dad=google
Church is not the victim here
By Katy Burns
..."Make no mistake. It is a war. And it's not a war about "religious freedom," as the crusading bishops and their conservative supporters, including a parade of pandering Republican presidential wanna-bes, would have you believe. It's a war about women and who will control their reproductive capabilities. It is a war about birth control, especially the relatively easy, inexpensive and effective birth control provided by the Pill, IUDs and other devices that have in the past 50 years revolutionized the world. For the first time in human history, women have been able to participate fully in the world in which they live. The results have been dramatic as women have moved in force into academe and into the workforce.This includes millions of Catholic women, in this country and elsewhere, despite the fact that their church holds that using artificial birth control of any kind whatsoever is a "grave" sin. Such liberation - particularly when some of those women start questioning their subservient role in the Church as well - doesn't sit well with many members of the Catholic hierarchy, an authoritative and autocratic bunch of celibate men who seem obsessed with controlling the reproductive lives of the rest of the world...."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Excellent analysis that leads to the heart of the problem- sexism and sad, but true, misogyny. Until we have women priests and a married priesthood in the institutional church, the Roman Catholic hierarchy will attempt to control women's sexuality as they have in the past. We have a prophetic movement of Roman Catholic Women Priests that is causing a holy shakeup in the Vatican now. We stand in solidarity with women worldwide in opposition to the U.S. bishops over this latest affront threatening contraceptive coverage as an issue of human rights and religious freedom for women worldwide. And the majority of Catholics affirm our position.
 Women of the U.S. and world are waking up to the bishops' debacle as a power and control grab by the institutional Roman Catholic Church! I agree that it is a war of the male hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church against contraceptives for women of the world.
Bridget Mary Meehan
 sofiabmm@aol.com
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/

Birth Control Debate: Why Catholic Bishops Have Lost Their Grip on U.S. Politics—and Their Flock m Padgett/TIME

http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/13/birth-control-debate-why-catholic-bishops-have-lost-their-grip-on-u-s-politics-and-their-flock/

"Yet in his refusal to cave completely to the religious liberty campaign, Obama has illustrated the reality that the bishops no longer speak for most U.S. Catholics—the nation’s largest religious denomination and a critical swing-voter group—on a host of moral issues, according to polls.

Not on abortion or the death penalty (a majority of Catholics believe those should remain legal); on divorce or homosexuality (most say those are acceptable); on women being ordained as priests and priests getting married (ditto); or on masturbation and pre-marital sex (ditto again, Your Excellencies). And especially not on contraception. Ever since Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Church’s senseless ban on birth control in 1968, few doctrines have been as vilified, ridiculed and outright ignored by Catholics – evidenced by a recent study showing that 98% of American Catholic women have used some form of contraception. It’s hard to believe, as the bishops would have it, that those women simply succumbed to society’s pressure to do the secular thing. They’ve decided, in keeping with their faith’s precept of exercising personal conscience, that family planning is the moral and societally responsible thing to do—for example, preventing unwanted pregnancies and therefore abortions. And it explains why a recent Public Religion Research Institute poll found most Catholics support the contraception coverage mandate even for Catholic-affiliated organizations. Presumably most endorse Friday’s compromise."
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/13/birth-control-debate-why-catholic-bishops-have-lost-their-grip-on-u-s-politics-and-their-flock/#ixzz1mMqDNOlX

"Birth Control and Bloviators- What Just Happened?" by Angela Bonavoglia

http://www.womensmediacenter.com/feature/entry/birth-control-and-the-bloviators-what-just-happened
"That is why the targets of the church’s sexual repression—right here, right now—are not just Catholic women, but all American women. If that feels like mission creep, it is. If that scares you, it should."
Angela makes argument for women priests in article above as part of structural change necessary for true equality of women in the Catholic Church. I agree. Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com

"Did the Bishops Forget About Women?" by Jon 'Brien/Washington Post/ Bishops' Actions Hostile toward Women, not Christ-like

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/did-the-bishops-forget-about-women/2012/02/10/gIQAnIwo4Q_blog.html.

"It’s perplexing that the bishops have used their authority to declare that the vast majority of Catholic women who do use a modern form of birth control--only two percent rely on the natural family planning method endorsed by the Vatican--are beyond the pale. So much so that the campaign to avoid paying for this birth control overshadows any analysis of these women’s needs.The bishops’ media firestorm is hollow, because it reflects a failure of the imagination. Instead, the bishops are called to a different, quieter kind of action. It starts with asking, “What do you need, my sister?” and being patient and humble enough to really listen. If the bishops are going to go around yelling to the heavens about their conscience rights being abrogated and their religious liberties being threatened, and all the while ignoring the health needs of women right in front of them, they’re never going to hear the conscience where it already is: quietly, assuredly, directing ordinary people in the sacred task of living everyday life."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
This latest fiasco with the U.S. hiearchy reminds us how much we need women priests, women bishops and women in leadership positions in every area of decision-making in  the Catholic Church. We are visbile reminders that women are equal images of God. Indeed ,Rick Santorium may be half right, if we had women priests in every parish in the Catholic Church, the bishops would not have embarked on this ill-advised campaign to cut contraceptive coverage.  Presidential candiate, Rick Santorium recently said that Obama would force U.S. bishops to put women priests in every Catholic parish!
Just imagine what that could mean!! First, women priests would speak truth to power as we are doing now.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests issued a news release on Feb. 10th (see blog below that castigated the U.S. bishops for demanding an exemption to the mandate of providing contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act.
 Can you imagine Jesus who lambasted the religious leaders for putting heavy burdens on the people allowing the male hiearchy to condemn Catholic women for using contraceptives to plan families and avoid unwanted pregancies. Many women were among Jesus closest disciples. (Luke 8.),  The bishops' attempts to exempt themselves from the demands of justice, lacks compassion, and is hostile toward Catholic women, and all their employees who depend on contraceptive coverage for responsible family planning.  It is time for the bishops to treat women as Jesus did, beloved sisters and equal partners in the Gospel.  
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
703-505-0004
sofiabmm@aol.com
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/

"Beyond Pelvic Politics" by Nicholas Kristof in today's NewYork Time's Sunday Review./Bridget Mary's Commentary on Kristof's Op.Ed.

"Does America’s national health policy really need to make a far-reaching exception for Catholic institutions when a majority of Catholics oppose that exception?"
at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/opinion/sunday/kristof-beyond-pelvic-politics.html?_r=1&hp
"Kristof: The cost of birth control is one reason poor women are more than three times as likely to end up pregnant unintentionally as middle-class women. "
Bridget Mary: Contraceptives prevent unwanted pregnancies that often result in abortion. It makes no sense for the bishops who claim to be pro-life to oppose contraceptives that could possibly reduce the number of abortions. Or is the real agenda here something else, control of women's sexuality. Read article below on Minority report- the reason the Vatican rejected contracpetives is fear of loss of power and control. Another major point is that the Vatican's teaching prohibiting birth control has never been "received"by the church.  Here are the reasons: 1 )the teaching must reflect the faith of the people of God, the Catholic community; 2) the teaching must be affirmed the majority of the church's theologians and 3) the teaching must be proclaimed by the pope and bishops in communion with him-- not by the pope alone or a minority. 

Kristof:... a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute reported that even among Catholics, 52 percent back the Obama policy: they believe that religiously affiliated universities and hospitals should be obliged to include birth control coverage in insurance plans.
Bridget Mary: The majority of Catholics are supportive of this policy because it protects women's health. That should be the bishop's pastoral concern too. Vatican II taught that the people of God are the church, not the bishops alone. 

Kristof: After all, do we really want to make accommodations across the range of faith? What if organizations affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses insisted on health insurance that did not cover blood transfusions? What if ultraconservative Muslim or Jewish organizations objected to health care except at sex-segregated clinics?
Bridget Mary: And the furor is all about protecting the Catholic hierarchy's freedom of religion even though it is well known that they do not reflect their fellow Catholics views or practices. Will our political leaders give the same protection to Sharia Law as they are to Church Law in the name of freedom of religion? This debate will open more questions and issues than the politicans can imagine. But right now, by promoting the U.S. hiearchy's rejected teaching, the politicans have walked into a hornet's nest that has already done a lot of damage.  They have certainly alienated many Catholics and Catholic women!

Kristof: In this case, we should make a good-faith effort to avoid offending Catholic bishops who passionately oppose birth control. I’m glad that Obama sought a compromise. But let’s remember that there are also other interests at stake. If we have to choose between bishops’ sensibilities and women’s health, our national priority must be the female half of our population.

Bridget Mary: I agree completely!  Catholic women perform about 80% of the ministry in Catholic parishes. Now that we have women priests, we are finding that more and more Catholics want a more inclusive, egalitarian church. Catholics are finding a spiritual home with married priests and women priests in new Eucharistic communities where all are welcome to receive sacraments. So, perhaps, it is ironic, but the alienation of  Catholics and specifically ofwomen in the church may result in the growth of a renewed Catholic Church.
Bridget Mary Meehan
sofiabmm@aol.com

Homily Reflection by Woman Priest Katy Zatsick on History of Teaching on Contraception/ Minority Report is Shocking which 98% of Catholic Women Reject

Judge Scalia 's Opinion in 1990 May Impact Current Bishops' Campaign to Deny Contraceptive Coverage

At http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/10/1063513/-Justice-Scalia-solves-the-contraception-debate is a Daily Kos reference to a history of circumstances similar to the current contraception issue, going back to 1879.
Here's an excerpt from Scalia's opinion on this topic in 1990:
"... We have never held that an individual's religious beliefs excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate. On the contrary, the record of more than a century of our free exercise jurisprudence contradicts that proposition...".

Press Release: from Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Supporting Contraceptive Coverage for Women/ Opposition to U.S. Bishops

Press Release: from Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests: February 10, 2012
Media Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, rhythmsofthedance@msn.com, 859-684-4247
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004
See http://www.blogger.com/goog_470927499
http://bridgetmarysblogspot.com/

Who Better to Speak for Roman Catholic Women Than Women Priests and Women Themselves?
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests support contraceptive coverage for women as an issue of conscience and religious freedom. We applaud the part of President Obama's plan that would require that insurance companies offer contraceptive coverage at no cost.
The U.S. bishop have no right to impose their dogma in the public sphere.
Who are they to take from women power over their own bodies?
Who are they to withhold from women their God-given authority to make their own choices, including reproductive choices?
We women priests of ARCWP stand in solidarity with Roman Catholic women and all women. We believe all women have the divinely human right to make reproductive decisions on their own behalf -- without consulting male priests or bishops.
We know from Catholics for Choice that 98% of sexually active Catholic women use a method of contraception banned by the U.S. bishops.
We are also aware of our sisters who live in abject poverty in the U.S. and across the globe. Many of these women may have been denied access to affordable birth control by their governments. Others are forcibly denied the use of contraceptives by husbands or male partners who have no regard for their female partner's safety or volition. Complicit in this suffering is the all-male boys' club at the Vatican and their male bishops throughout our world community who influence public policy at all levels including the United Nations, that affects women, their choices and their children.
We continue to pray for our spiritually bereft brother priests at the Vatican and U.S. bishops. The scandalous behavior of too many across our world community and their idolatry of male power and privilege is a sin against women and our our Loving God who calls both men and women to the priesthood.
Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum who has a zero track record on women's rights, has said that ..."President Obama may force Roman Catholic churches to hire women priests." Despite his facetious remark, women priests exist and their communities are growing. The Vatican is running scared. We celebrate Eucharist and speak out for the voiceless in the U.S. and in eight other countries. We remember what Jesus taught us and are consciously living out the Gospel mandate to empower and liberate.
"The Spirit blows where She will."
The days of the Vatican's influence are numbered.

Santorum: "President Obama may force Roman Catholic churches to hire women priests". ..

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/09/10363693-santorum-fear-the-guillotine
Santorum: Fear the guillotine

Just over the past couple of days, Santorum argued that evidence from climate scientists are an elaborate "hoax"; he said President Obama may force Roman Catholic churches to hire women priests; and he argued gas prices "caused the housing bubble to burst."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Talking about bizarre,  this comment by Santorum is clearly over the top! But it sure does appear that the bishops and Santorum are on the same page about women priests. We are  among their worst nightmares, along with contraceptive coverage for women! I believe I see a pattern here, do you? Power and control over women's bodies and sexuality, sexism, patriarchy.....

Furor Over U.S. Bishops on Contraception/Women, Stand Up to U.S. Catholic Bishops on Contraceptive Coverage/"Tales from Kitchen Table" by Gail Collins/NYTimes

Gail Collins hits the nail on the head in her New York Times article below. The U.S. Catholic bishops are desperately trying to impose a rejected dogma on the prohibition of contraception on the public. It is hard to believe that these bishops have any moral credibility left after their cover-up of pedophile priests who sexually abused thousands of children. Now the bishops are trying to dictate public policy that will deny contraceptive coverage to women! This is truly outrageous. Women of all faiths and no faith should demand that their freedom of conscience and their freedom of religion be honored in all public policies since our country was founded on the separation of the church and state. Women, stand up to U.S. Catholic bishops on contraceptive coverage or face rejected Catholic dogma becoming the law of the land!
Bridget Mary Meehan,
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
sofiabmm@aol.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/collins-tales-from-the-kitchen-table.html?hp

February 8, 2012
By GAIL COLLINS
EXCERPTS:
The problem here is that they’re trying to get the government to do their work for them. They’ve lost the war at home, and they’re now demanding help from the outside.
Religions don’t get to force their particular dogma on the larger public. The government, in return, protects the right of every religion to make its case heard.

Catholic Women Priests Served Church Before, Can Do Now/ By John McNally

http://www.news-press.com/article/20120208/OPINION/302080006/1015/opinion/Guest-opinion-Catholic-women-priests-served-church-before-can-do-now?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Ordination Liturgy- Judy Beaumont in Ft. Myers, Florida

The argument for women priests in the Catholic Church is based in Scripture, where we find that Jesus Christ had many women associates in his ministry on Earth.
Besides his own mother and other women he had a close relationship with Mary of Magdala, who was the first of his disciples to learn that he had risen from the dead. And St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, who was the first to write any of the New Testament scriptures, writes of several women who were his very close associates and whom he refers to as deacons.
Scripture scholars now realize that Jesus did not ordain anyone, and that the first bishops and priests to serve the church were installed long after Jesus had left the Earth. They probably came to be as a result of the destruction of the Jewish temple in 76 A.D. and the consequent demise of the Jewish priesthood. At any rate, the Bible indicates that Jesus thought women and men were equals and should be treated as such.
Our Catholic bishops today like to characterize themselves as successors of the apostles. However, most of the apostles were dead and gone before we ever had any bishops in our church. And our leaders like to describe our church as a monarchy. But in reality our church started out as a democracy. The first religious services in our church were conducted by mothers and fathers and laymen and laywomen in private homes, in secret, because it was dangerous to be identified as Christian or Catholic in the Roman Empire at that time.
Leaders of these services were chosen by their peers. Thus the Catholic Church was originally a democracy and did not identify herself as a monarchy until the fourth century, when the Roman Emperor Constantine became her protector. The church then patterned herself after the Roman Empire. And don’t let anyone tell you that it is an unbroken tradition in the church that women can not be priests. Dorothy Irvin, a local scholar, has done a lot of research in Rome and early Christian sites and located engraved inscriptions which depict women as bishops and priests. And up until the ninth century, women were being ordained as deacons. It is worthwhile noting that a lady, Ludmila Javorova, was ordained a priest secretly on Dec. 28, 1970, behind the Iron Curtain when male priests were not allowed to function. She was able to give the sacraments to people without the authorities getting suspicious by virtue of the fact that she was female.
Today women are no longer asking church authorities to be ordained. They know that’s a dead end. They are taking back their God-given place in the church. They are demanding equal rights with men and want to be treated as Jesus treated them. They want to function again as women did in the early church.
They do not believe that it is as important to obey a man-made law as it is to serve God’s people. Their idea is that an unjust law (women can’t be priests) is no law at all.
They will not go away. Since women were first ordained in 2002 there are women priests in 23 states. Judy Lee and Judy Beaumont are women priests serving in Fort Myers.
Since church authorities bar them from serving as parish priests they have made serving the homeless in our area their ministry, finding housing, clothing, transportation, and government help for them, and providing meals for them. Yes, indeed, there is good reason why women should be priests as well as men.
John W. McNally is secretary of the Catholic Call to Action Conference of Southwest Florida. He lives in Estero.

Statistics Show Catholics Use and Support Access to Contraception/ Majority of Catholic Women Do NOT Follow Church Teaching/ Catholic Hierarchy on Contraceptive Use

According to these statistics, the U.S. hierarchy's efforts to bully the Obama administration into granting an exemption to coverage for contraceptives is out of touch with the majority of Catholic women. US Catholics, including Catholic women, follow their conscience and support contraceptive coverage. Catholic women are the experts on birth control, not the male celibate hierarchy. Their wisdom speaks for itself in the statistics below. It is time for the bishops to "listen up" since women are half of the church's membership!
Bridget Mary Meehan
sofiabmm@aol.com

Catholics Use Contraception.
98% of sexually experienced Catholic women have used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning as compared to 99% of the general population. "Countering Conventional Wisdom: New Evidence on Religion and Contaceptive use, Guttmacher Institute, April 2011.
Only 2 % of Catholic women, including those who attend church once a month or more, rely on natural family planning. Guttmacher Institute, April 2011

Catholics Support Contraceptive Coverage.
More than 6 in 10 Catholic voters surveyed in 2009 supported health insurance coverage- whether it is private or government insurance - for contraceptives. (Belden Russonello &Stewart , "Catholic Voters Views on Health Care Reform and Reproductive Health Care Services," Catholics for Choice, 2009
A 2010 poll showed that Catholic women voters are more likely to support health plan coverage for birth control- 77% versus 71% of the population at large. (Hart research, "Survey: Nearly Three in four Voters in America Support Fully Covering Prescription Birth Control," Planned Parenthood, October 12, 2012
85% of Catholics believe in extending birth control coverage to those who want it but cannot afford it- this is more than 82% of the general population.( Public Religion Research Institute, "The Morning Buzz," January 23, 2011)

Catholics Support Contraceptive Access for Minors
Catholics (55%) are as likely as the general population (57%) to believe that 14  to 16 year-olds should be able to access contraception, even if their parents do not approve. (General Social Survey 2007.

Catholics Believe in Limits on Religious Exemptions
Two thirds (65%) of US Catholic voters believe that hospitals and hospitals and clinics taking taxpayers dollars show not be allowed to refuse to provide certain medications or procedures.
((Belden, Russonello &Stewart , "Catholic Voters Views on Health Care Reform and Reproductive Health Care Services," Catholics for Choice, 2009)
Nearly 8 in 10 Catholics (78%) oppose allowing  pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. ((Belden, Russonello &Stewart , "Catholic Voters Views on Health Care Reform and Reproductive Health Care Services," Catholics for Choice, 2009)

 Catholics Put Conscience First
A 2011 survey revealed that only 10% of US Catholics believe that church leaders have the final say about contraception. 66% believe individuals alone decide what is right or wrong about abortion. (National Catholic Reporter, "Right and Wrong: Who has the Final Say?" , October 24, 2011. )
When a 2005 poll asked whether they were more likely to follow the pope's teaching or their own conscience on difficult more questions, 74% of US Catholics questioned said they would follow their conscience. (Jeffrey M. Jones, "US Catholics' Reaction to Pope Benedict XVI More Positive Than Negative,' Gallup News Service, April 20, 2005.

Catholics Support Changing Church Teachings
When asked in 2005 about the next pope, 78% of US Catholics polled said that birth control should be allowed by the church.  (CNN/Gallup/USA Today Poll, April 2005.

(Source: Jon O'Brien, Catholics for Choice)

Majority of Catholics Support Coverage for Contraception/ Majority of Women Support Coverage for Contraception/Catholic Hierarchy Should Provide Contraception Coverage: Issue of Conscience for Catholics and for Women

Here are some telling statistics from a Public Religion Research Institute survey published today at http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/02/january-tracking-poll-2012/


Roughly 6-in-10 Catholics (58%) believe that employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception. This percentage is actually three points higher among Catholics than the national average of 55%. Among women nationwide, it is 62%.


A majority of Catholics (52%) say that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should have to provide coverage that includes contraception.

Bridget Mary's Reflection
Since the majority of Catholics support coverage for contraception, it indicates the obvious, the sense of the faithful. Unfortunately, the hierarchy has abandoned this cornerstone principle of Catholic theology. Church teaching should  reflect the faith of the believing community. In this issue, over 98 percent of Catholic women do not follow the ban on artificial birth control. Once again, the bishops are tone deaf and have lost credibility by attempting to bully the Obama administration into giving them an exemption that the majority of their fellow Catholics do not support. The male conservative pundits who are the hierarchy's cheer leaders should get in touch with the people in the pews , who are the church, and not presume that the hierarchy is the church. Just because the bishops oppose contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act, does not mean millions of Catholics do too!
Bridget Mary Meehan
sofiabmm@aol.com

Congratulations, President Obama, for Safeguarding Religious Freedom! by Angela Bonavoglia in Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/angela-bonavoglia/congratulations-president_1_b_1256228.html?ref=email_share
"So thank you President Obama. You protected the religious liberty of the hundreds of thousands of Catholic women -- and non-Catholic women -- who work for these important institutions. You saw to it that these women have this crucial element of primary care, which, by helping them to space births, will go a long way towards protecting their health as mothers and the health of their infants. Actually, it was a very pro-life move. "
Bridget Mary's Reflection;
Amen, Angela Bonavoglia! One wonders, as I have said before, how can a pro-life hierarchy  oppose contraception which prevents abortions? Makes no sense! Women should rise up for their rights - primacy of conscience and religious liberty. They should demand that the bishops treat them as equals images of God with the ability to make their own moral decisions motivated by conscience. I believe this is another reason that the male bishops are threatened by the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement.  Women priests are visible reminders that women are equal images of God and therefore, worthy to preside at the altar and to fill any position of ministry for which they are qualified.

Church's Ban on Contraception Starves Families and Damages Ecosystem/ Jamie L. Manson/ NCR

http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/churchs-ban-contraception-starves-families-and-damages-ecosystem
"As the battle over contraception coverage raged in our national debate last week, a small report on "PBS NewsHour" demonstrated the devastating effects that the Catholic church's ban on contraception has on poor nations..."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
If we had a married priesthood, do you think they'd have large families? Would contraception be even an issue? I know that women priests are affirming primacy of conscience on this issue as well as other moral issues.  The institutional church's ban on contraception contributes to global poverty in the third world as Jamie Manson argues. Is this not a serious sin? Can you imagine Jesus of Nazareth supporting the Catholic Church's ban on contraception? Jesus criticized the religious leaders for placing heavy burdens - rules and rituals- on the people that did not draw them closer to God. Catholic hierarchy, take heed!

"Workers, Not Catholic Hierarchy, Should Choose Their Health Care"/Washington Post/ Time to Hear from Millions of American Women and Men Who Practice Contraception

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/workers-not-catholic-hierarchy-should-choose-their-health-care/2012/01/31/gIQAMRW9pQ_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop

..."Michael Gerson imputed nefarious motives to President Obama for his administration’s requirement that contraception be made more affordable and available for American workers. He lamented the decision’s effects on a bishop, a priest and the vice president. Tellingly missing from this analysis: the profound and beneficial effects on the millions of American women and their families, Catholic and non-Catholic, Democrat, Republican and independent, whose health-care decisions are too often thwarted by a small, powerful cadre of men who have zero credibility with many lay Catholics when it comes to contraception. Churches across the country are filled with good Catholics, the majority of whom use contraception and have no objection to it...."

Catholics, Speak Up for Conscience, Do not let U.S. Bishops Bully Politicans or Control Women's Access to Contraceptives/Affordable Health Care

http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/unconscionable-consequences-conscience-exemptions
...."The provision is called the Affordable Care Act. This new law is intended to ensure the just treatment of women and couples who cannot afford adequate medical treatment when it comes to contraceptives and who want to raise families in a safe, responsible manner.This act is a promising attempt to prevent unwanted pregnancies and offers perhaps the most ethical and realistic approach to reducing the abortion rate.
The bishops' reaction was characterized by increasingly typical cries of victimization and hysteria. This self-pity only further diminishes the seriousness with which U.S. Catholics take the hierarchy. The sad truth is, if the numbers of Catholics leaving the church are any indication, most Catholics in the United States probably see the hierarchy more as victimizers than victimized.Some have labeled this decision as President Barack Obama's attack on Catholics, echoing the inflammatory, paranoid spin bishops are putting on any government decision that doesn't go their way lately. This decision is not an attack on Catholics, but rather a groundbreaking move to protect women and to guarantee them greater access to adequate, affordable health care...."
[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
I agree with Jamie Manson that the bishops are not the church. The Catholic Church's "official teaching" on contraception has not been accepted by the majority of Catholics.  According to the Guttmacher Institute 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women have used some form of contraception. The Affordable Care Act does not violate the consciences of Catholic women as the hierarchy claim, but rather helps them get the health care they need. In claiming an exemption, the bishops will be imposing their  beliefs on birth control on their employees and forcing them to follow a teaching that the majority of Catholics do not  even obey. How can the bishops who claim to be "pro-life", refuse to support contraceptives that will prevent abortions? It makes no sense. The outrage here is not the Obama administration's policy, but the Roman Catholic bishops who, if this exemption was given, would deny contraceptive coverage to their employees, and enforce their teachings on others in violation of their employees' consciences. The bishops are not the church, the people are the church and that includes women who practice birth control according to their consciences.  One could certainly argue that this is yet another attempt of the Catholic hierarchy to control women's sexuality when they have failed to control  male celibate priests who have sexually abused thousands of children worldwide. Catholics, it is time to speak up and make your views heard! Don't let the bishops bully politicans when they do not reflect you beliefs and practices.  We, the people, are the church!

A PhD Student of Liturgics and Homiletics Affirms Roman Catholic Women Priests Liturgies

Grace and Peace -
I am a PhD student studying homiletics and liturgics.
We've never met, but I wanted to share an amazing experience that I recently had - that has to do with you and your spiritual kinfolk. I'll try to be brief - this actually just occurred yesterday. I am currently taking a readings course on preaching and liturgy - the class consists of two students (the other doctoral student in my program and I) and the professor is brilliant.
The three of us gather once a week and discuss academic readings from within the liturgical movement and prepare various documents, exam questions, and teaching aids that will assist us later in life when we are (hopefully) teaching MDiv students at a seminary or div. school.
This week we read history and historiography about the liturgical reform movement in the twentieth century - Theresa Berger's fantastic, reflective work examining that history in "Women's Ways of Worship." The assignment was to analyze an interesting theme within the readings and find a video or audio recording that was somehow related to the readings. Ideally, something we could show a classroom of students - something that would spark conversation centered on and informed by the readings.
There are millions and millions of youtube videos out there to choose from - we do this sort of thing quite often.The video I chose for reflection was your Holy Thursday Foot Washing liturgy. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6P7xL_GanI)
It is such an incredibly moving video. The conversation was brilliant and fascinating - I love everything about that video. I love the way it is framed, the way the music seems to start and stop and start again, the sense of togetherness and comfort - it is liturgically fascinating! This isn't the important part - I just wanted you to know that I was deeply moved by that brief presentation. Here's the really wild part -
After my presentation, my cohort showed her video. There stood a row of women in vestments behind the communion table, the three of us watched together for a full minute before we realized it was you again! It was the video of the eucharist consecration at the ordination service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsBgK3c-Ymo&feature=youtu.be
It was amazing! We were stunned by the participatory movement - the lifting of hands toward the chancel. And suddenly, incredibly, the entire church lifted their voices and joined the words of consecration! I again felt deeply moved by witnessing this event. It felt profoundly holy.
I was saddened by the comments left below the videos. There is work to do, I suppose.
I wanted to let you know that you are doing a good work - and, I think, enriching the creation - by having these videos posted online. Our conversation continued beyond the classroom and throughout the day.
Please keep posting the videos and doing this important work and thank you!
In Christ,
A Ph.D. Student/Liturgics/Homiletics
(Shared with Permission, Letter directed to Bridget Mary Meehan/See links to liturgies above)

St. Brigit of Kildare- Abbess and Bishop of Kildare/Table Blessing

St. Brigit of Kildare in St. Patrick's Chapel in Ballyroan, Ireland

"Then, being filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Mel read the form of ordaining a bishop over Brigit. While she was being consecrated, a brilliant fiery flame ascended from her head...."

St.Brigit’s Table Blessing

I should welcome the poor to my feast,
for they are God’s children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast
for they are God’s joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place
and the sick dance with the angels.
Bless the poor, bless the sick,
bless our human race.
Bless our food, bless our drink, all homes,
O God embrace.
Praying with Celti Holy Women by Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver
on http://www.amazon.com/Praying-Celtic-Regina-Madonna-Oliver/dp/0764809296

"One Person’s Response To Bede Griffith’s Vision" by John Chuchman

The beauty of language can be found

not only in the Greek epics "Iliad" and "Odyssey"


but also in the Indian epics of "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata".


An understanding of Christian expressions of Truth


from the Eastern Orthodox


can be read in


"The Chronicles of Kiev"


and the epic-like tales of "Marko" coming out of Serbia.


Native American, Asian and tales from Oceania


present the highest qualities of humanity


(and love of God---however God was called.)


Where did this goodness,


this desire for truth,


and the exhibition of natural dignity come from?


Is it only to be found in the Western world?


Is it found only in writings of those who belong to the Catholic Church?


The study of the World's great literature


can be a foundation


to uncovering the greatness of humanity's desire


to reach to the stars,


to touch the face of God,


and then to be hugged by that God in return.


The Catholic Church has long listed “Universal” as one of its Marks.


But the term “universal” is deceptive.


Is it that the Church is found all over the world


(a tribute to the men and women missionaries)?


That is only a geographic sense of universality,


and the Church isn't thinking here about possible intelligent beings


on other solar systems---when using the term “universal.”


While geographic universality is no small achievement,


geography does not even begin to touch upon


the spiritual/philosophical concepts of universality.


Bede Griffiths' vision is so much wider, deeper and more sensitive


than anything we have seen expounded


recently from the Catholic Magisterium.


Since the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI,


Christian denominations seeking to become part of the Catholic Church


must adopt its doctrine, discipline and also its schizophrenia


especially in dealing with married men as priests,


women as priests, and with the lives of gays/lesbians.

The Catholic Church has shown little desire to discuss


with an open mind


the universality of the separated churches that are called "Christian".


If the Catholic Church is unable to engage in dialogue


(openness to listening as well as to speaking)


with other Christian confessions,


how will it be able to dialogue with peoples of other cultures, other religions?


What the hierarchy is doing now


is beating a retreat back to the fortifications of Trent.


That world is structured, settled,


and has a hierarchically ecclesiastical typology


that, in reality, thumbs its nose at those who are searching,


who value the prophetic and the charismatic,


at those who call themselves the People of God.


Benedict XVI favors Augustine's concept of reality,


the City of God (Benedict's concept of Church)


vs. the City of Man,


the relative, secular modern world.


In Benedict's "City of God"


the inhabitants must be prepared to engage in battle with


the pagan concepts of secularism and relativism.


Those who do combat


must embrace obedience, unity of thought,


compliance, docility, regimentation,


and discipline under their superiors:


the hierarchy and of course, the Curia and the Pope


(Commander in Chief).


The real tragedy is that


instead of helping people of all religions grow in their Faith,


Catholicism has been relegated by its hierarchs into being


just another competing "ism."

Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB- Refusal to Endorse "New" Vatican Liturgy

Father Anthony Ruff, OSB to U.S. bishops, in which he explains his reasons for withdrawing from a speaking tour to introduce the new missal translation across the country. He had served as chairman of the music committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), the group at the center of the English translation process until the Vatican rejected its work and imposed its own version.


http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12688&comments=1


http://www.praytellblog.com/


http://futurechurch.org/podcasts/#ruff

"Bless You" by William J. Schuch, Naples and East Aurora, N.Y./ Naples News

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jan/29/letter-bless-you/
Notwithstanding Bishop Frank Dewane's stern warning to former nun Judy Beaumont not to attempt ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood ("Church warns for woman's soul,'' Jan. 21 Daily News), I attended her valid ordination later that day at Lamb of God Lutheran-Episcopal Church in Fort Myers, which has been supporting Beaumont and Roman Catholic woman priest Judy Lee in their ministry to the needy and homeless at Joshua House, which the two women founded.
It was an inspiring event despite the mean-spirited threat of automatic excommunication for those participating in the ordination. Who knows? Maybe even I qualified for that badge of distinction.
Prior to the ordination and Mass, presided over by Bridget Mary Meehan, one of 12 validly consecrated female Roman Catholic bishops in the world, the crowd viewed the film "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican," a well-documented history of the first 12 centuries of the Church when there were married priests and female priests and bishops, and the centuries since then when females have been arbitrarily denied response to Christ's call to the priesthood by our male hierarchs who insist they are Christ's only sanctioned intermediaries.
I'm appalled at women's willingness to accept second-class church citizenship.
Maybe if they all stayed home next Sunday, the semi-empty churches might send a message to the wannabe monarchs in the chanceries throughout the Catholic world?
Be true to your gender and give it a try, ladies. Make us men proud of you.

"PINK SMOKE OVER THE VATICAN" by Jules Hart CAN NOW BE PURCHASED ONLINE

The DVD Pink Smoke Over the Vatican by Jules Hart can now be purchased online!

Go to http://www.pinksmokeoverthevatican.com/

Vatican Official Warns Pope of Corruption/Needed a "Vatican Vigil" by a People-Empowered Church/ and Women Priests

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2012/01/26/vatican_official_warns_pope_of_corruption/
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
– VATICAN CITY – An Italian news program has obtained letters from a top Vatican official to the pope in which he begs not to be transferred after exposing corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts that cost the Holy See millions of euros (dollars).
Bridget Mary's Reflection
Anyone ready for another movie like the Da Vinci Code? We need a "Vatican Watch" Vigil by a people-empowered Catholic Church!

Slideshow of Judy Beaumont's Ordination as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest on Jan. 21, 2012, Ft. Myers, Fl./Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Judy Beaumont's Ordination as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest in Ft. Myers, Florida- Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests- Clips of Videos on Youtube

Litany of Saints:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKHFzsltk90&feature=youtu.be

Homily:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ7hpuaRcXQ

Approximately 300 P:eople Attended Ordination of Judy Beaumont in Ft. Myers, Fl. on Jan. 21, 2012

Link to Picasa Album for Ordination Photos of Judy Beaumont's Ordination in Ft. Myers, Florida on Jan. 21, 2012

Newly Ordained Priest Judy Beaumont gives communion to Joelle, a child from Good Shepherd Community

https://picasaweb.google.com/113861846354577318112/JUDYBEAUMONTSORDINATIONJanuary212012?locked=true#