Projecting the Catholic Church as an All-Male Community is wrong/ IrishTimes.Com

SOLINE HUMBERT,

www.IrishTimes.Com

April 17, 2012

"RITE & REASON: An icon commissioned for the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin next June depicts the church as an all-male community. Why?
The 2012 Dublin International Eucharistic Congress has commissioned four icons to reflect the theme of the congress: communion with Christ and with one another.
These icons are travelling to parishes throughout the country.
One of these icons, entitled Pentecost, is a reproduction of a 16th-century icon from Mount Athos, representing the Christian community being sent on mission.
It depicts 12 men receiving the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire. It would appear that through this lens the Christian community, the church, like Mount Athos, is an all-male community! The Pentecost event as related in the Acts of the Apostles is very inclusive: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. And suddenly out of the sky came a sound like a strong rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared tongues as if of fire which parted and came to rest upon each one of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit . . .” (Acts 2:1-4).
While no names are given of members of this group, biblical scholars assume that the “all” refers to an earlier list of Jesus’ disciples and family members gathered in constant prayer in the upper room. Besides the 11 leading male apostles listed by name, we are told that “with them were some women and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers”. ( Acts 1:13-15).
That community numbered about 120 disciples.
The icon belongs to a long line of what the theologian Elizabeth Johnson calls “the product of an androcentric imagination that erases women and insignificant men”. That narrow imagination permeates our tradition.The most widely used Confirmation workbook for children, Alive-O, contains two illustrations of Pentecost. One has 12 men only.
The other one on the cover is even more telling and disturbing: there are two women with the 12 men, but the tongues of fire are only over the men! What message is being communicated?
And this in a scriptural context where the gender inclusiveness of the Spirit is clearly affirmed with Peter quoting the prophet Joel: “. . . And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy. . .” (Acts 2:17-18)
The narrow imagination that blinds us to the gender inclusiveness of the Spirit at the birth of the church is at work in our images and in our texts.
The Missal puts in “the apostles” where Acts say “they”, so most people at Mass on the feast of Pentecost will be led to believe there were only 12 male recipients of the Spirit. Official church texts do the same.
Pope John Paul II’s encyclical on the Holy Spirit (Dominum et Vivificantem) tells us that “the era of the church began with the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem, together with Mary, the Lord’s mother.”
Here Mary is included with the 12 male apostles, but the wider group of disciples is excluded. In that wider group were the faithful women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, who supported his ministry financially, who had been witnesses to his crucifixion, his entombment and his being risen from the dead.
Women were the first to understand the resurrection faith that is the church’s foundation. Mary of Magdala was the first to encounter the risen Christ and to be commissioned by him. (John 20:17-18): Apostle to the apostles, equal to the apostles . . . first apostle?
The congress icon Pentecost is a powerful testimony to our blindspot. Unless women are again an integral part of the picture, there will be no wholeness and no true communion."

---

Soline Humbert has a pontifical diploma in spiritual guidance and is an advocate for womens ordination.

Bridget Mary's Response:
Right on, Soline!  The hierarchy's efforts to nullify history to exclude women is ridiculous.
Women's equality in the church is the voice of God in our time. Let us affirm that the apostle to the apostles,Mary of Magdala, Mary Mother of Jesus and the other women who stood by Jesus in his sufferings were the first witnesses to encounter the Risen Christ. The church leaders need to follow Jesus' example and treat women like he did as equals and partners in the Gospel.
 Justice is rising up in the church with the Irish Priests Association standing in solidarity with the Roman Catholic Women Priests' movement. And there is nothing the Vatican can do to stop it!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

"Irish Priests Association Rallies Behind Cleric Silenced by Hierarchy"/ Irish Priest, Fr. Fagan Leads the Way to Justice For Women in the Church/Challenges Vatican in Irish Independent

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/priests-group-rallies-behind-cleric-silenced-by-hierarchy-3081567.html
By Luke Byrne

Monday April 16 2012

"AN organisation representing hundreds of priests last night described the silencing of Fr Sean Fagan over his writings as "outrageous".
The 84-year-old Marist priest was ordered to stop writing and commenting in public after he had called for an inquiry into clerical sexual abuse in all dioceses of the State.
All available copies of a theological book written by Fr Fagan were also bought up by his religious order and he was required to give an undertaking not to write again.
The move came after he had advocated allowing women and married men to be ordained as priests.
Last night, Fr Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests said the silencing of Fr Fagan was "just outrageous". He accused the church of "throwing a fatwa" at the priest and said that some of the church's recent actions were like a return to the Inquisition.
"This isn't the time for heresy hunting," Fr McDonagh said. He added that Fr Fagan was clear, well written and interesting and that he had wanted to start a conversation about the church's views on sexuality.
Fr McDonagh said that he believed that the silencing of priests by the Vatican was out of a desire for "control", rather than because of sincerely held belief or intelligent argument.
A spokesman for the Irish bishops last night refused to comment and referred the issue to the Marist order.

Calls to a superior of the order by the Irish Independent, which was seeking comment, went unreturned last night.

In January 2010, following the publication of the Murphy report, Fr Fagan argued that all dioceses within the State should be examined.
He said the church should begin with "the three As" approach -- to admit, accept and adjust.
This was among the last public comments he made before he was silenced three months later, following an anonymous complaint made against him to the Vatican.
Inquisition
Fr Fagan authored three books, including 'Has Sin Changed?', 'Does Morality Change?' and 'What Happened to Sin?'
In 2004 the Irish Bishops' Conference cited 'Does Morality Change?' as an example of an error in modern theology.
Following the publication of 'What Happened to Sin?' in 2008, Fr Fagan advocated the ordination of women and married men.
All unsold copies of the book were subsequently bought up by his order."

- Luke Byrne

Roman Catholic Womenpriests USA Ordain Maria McClain a Priests and Four Deacons

The Midwest Region celebrated a beautiful ordination in Indianapolis
yesterday, ordaining Maria McClain as priest and Corene Besetzny, Irene
Senn, Martha Sherman, and Bernie Sykora as deacons! An Indianapolis
television station interviewed Maria before the ordination; the story
and video can be found here:

http://www.wthr.com/story/17413563/indiana-woman-seeks-to-be-ordained-as-roman-catholic-priest

Google Alerts for Roman Catholic Women Priests

News 2 new results for roman catholic womenpriests

A woman's place is at the Altar Calgary Herald She is the only female priest in Calgary, one of eight such priests (and one female bishop) in Canada and one of more than 100 in North America and Europe who are part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP), an international group seeking to reform ... See all stories on this topic »

Ordination rites Saturday St. Augustine Record Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell of Palm Coast will be ordained priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests at 2 pm Saturday. The organization is not affiliated with the Catholic Church. The presiding bishop will be Bridget Mary Meehan ... See all stories on this topic »

Radical Disobedience: Why Roman Catholics Won't Heed the Pontiff's Call for Radical Obedience by Michele Somerville/Huffington Post/Excellent Article!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-somerville/radical-disobedience-roman-catholic_b_1407925.htm
"God's Rottweiler" seized an opportunity during Holy Week to growl, whimper and call upon Roman Catholic dissidents to choose "radical obedience" to the Magisterium over fidelity to such causes as women's ordination, compulsory celibacy for priests and divorce. Two years ago Joseph Ratzinger declared the discussion of women's ordination over. Is the pontiff changing his tune? According to the The New York Times the group at whom Ratzinger's snapping is aimed is an Austrian group called Preachers' Initiative. 

The initiative was started in 2006 by the Rev. Helmut Schüller, the former director of a Catholic aid agency, Caritas Austria, to combat a shortage of priests. Since then, more than 400 Austrian priests have endorsed him, according to news media reports, as well as priests in the United States and across Europe.
The Vatican fears that the initiative could cause a schism in the church. Father Schüller has called the Vatican an "absolutist monarchy" and said that the church's resistance to change might lead to rupture anyway.

Does Ratzinger really fear a schism? It is hard to know. An old man fighting a losing battle, Don Quixote-style, Ratzinger may be too out of touch to genuinely fear a schism. Even so, he must be quaking even if just a little in those scarlet shoes because when it comes to selling "radical obedience" (to the Magisterium) to most Roman Catholics, Ratzinger hasn't a prayer! "Radical disobedience" is fast becoming the norm in the church Ratzinger is said to lead. Whole religious orders and individual priests are thumbing their noses at this pontificate in increasing numbers.

Many experts on the Vatican think Ratzinger has been yearning for some kind of unofficial schism for decades. Many believe think he was the brains behind the John Paul II pontificate and that Ratzinger was militating for a purer more Magisterium-honoring church long before he became pope. But Catholics who leave take their money with them, for which reason a weird "good cop-bad cop" zeitgeist has ensued. One one hand, we have hard-line cardinals like Timothy Dolan cracking down in "sin cities" like New York; on the other hand we have slick "Come home" campaigns designed to make Catholic worship appear more cozy.
Ratzinger has a problem in the form of a growing trend wherein Catholics under protest stick around, refusing to let the hierarchy take their church from them. Often these Catholics are active on parish pastoral councils and in liturgical and social justice ministries. Often they are catechists entrusted with formation, and their message of conscientious disobedience filters down, in nuanced and hard-to-govern ways, to children and adults preparing for the sacraments.
For these Catholics "radical obedience" to Christ supersedes "radical obedience" to Joseph Ratzinger.
Not quite two years ago, Ratzinger dug in his heels as he reminded Roman Catholic priests that even engaging in the debate about the ordination of women was a form of disobedience. He compared the severity of this transgression to that of juvenile rape. The bishops had taken up the question, he told us, and the matter was closed.
As he reminds Catholics all over the world, this week, that the church does not have the authority to ordain women, Ratzinger comes off like a teacher in an loud unruly classroom who raises her voice when she should be lowering it.
The pope has lost control of the class.
Most North American and European Roman Catholics support women's ordination and believe it is only a matter of time before the Vatican ordains women. Many of Roman Catholicism's most accomplished theologians and bishops believe there are no substantive theological impediments to ordaining women.
So why does Ratzinger bring it up now?
The Vatican is beginning to recognize that disobedience in the church is now the norm. In the United States and Europe, from whence most Vatican income streams, there are far more excommunicated Catholics in the pews than there are doctrinally-compliant Catholics.
Disgusted Catholics in North America and Europe are leaving the church in droves. The chance is slim that a generation growing up now -- amid the pedophilia crisis and the wars on gay marriage and contraception -- might be more faithful to the Magisterium than were their parents.
Increased media attention to the fiscal corruption in the Vatican is hurting the Holy See, siphoning off what little credibility the Vatican has left.

Many dissident Catholics who might once have left the church are now electing to stay. They don't expect to change the Vatican's mind, but changing the pope's mind in order to change the church is no longer seen by radically disobedient Catholics as necessary.
Many parishes are all but run by women. Gay married Catholics work as catechists, lectors and ministers of Holy Communion. Male Roman Catholic priests serve as spiritual ministers to Roman Catholic women priests. Elderly Roman Catholic nuns are active in the Women's Ordination movement. "Radically disobedient" (to the Magisterium) Catholics are finding community and safety in numbers. Each year these numbers increase. With greater and greater frequency, we see "radically disobedient" Catholics hiding their "plain truth" in plainer sight. "Radically disobedient" Roman Catholics often contribute "time and talent" in lieu of cash to their parishes. They are changing the church while declining to kick back to the Vatican.
The increased media attention to Vatican fiscal impropriety has helped the "radically disobedient" church along. Certainly church history has taught us that dogma and doctrine become malleable when great sums of cash are at stake. While Joseph Ratzinger and ilk might prefer selling Absolution to caving in to the demand to ordain women, the Vatican might have to change its mind on women's ordination for economic reasons.
The juvenile sexual abuse crisis will become more and more expensive for the church. Apparently the problem of juvenile sexual rape by priests in African nations and India is ongoing, severe and just beginning to come to light. When the scope of the scourge of child abuse and juvenile rape in the developing world comes to light, the Vatican is likely to take a huge hit. If (when!) these human rights cases are finally heard in the Hague, the defendant (the Vatican) stands to lose a fortune.
When it comes to fighting Catholic dissidents, the Vatican is also out of ammo. Take excommunication, example, the threat of which has almost entirely lost its sting.
It is possible that the majority of Roman Catholics in the North America and Europe who will attend Easter Mass this year will be self-excommunicated Catholics.
If they have used birth control, have had abortions, support legalized abortions, are women priests, have taken Communion at a mass celebrated by a woman priest, are gay and sexually active, are single and sexually active, are divorced and remarried -- or are married outside of the church -- and receive Communion on Sunday they risk self-excommunication. A priest who knowingly gives Communion to those he knows are are culpable of the aforementioned "sins" also risks self-excommunication. What that means is that vast number so priests, bishops and pastors are also excommunicated.
The Vatican has already lost the battle to keep women out of the priesthood. Vocations among women are up; among men, they are down. Conservative Catholic spokespersons enjoy ridiculing the hundreds of women who have been ordained but even they know that such ridicule is a blessed badge of honor in Roman Catholic history, hagiography and tradition.
Show me a saint, and I'll show you someone who in his or her lifetime was taken as a wack-job.
As the Vatican loses its ability to punish them, dissident priests become emboldened. Take, for instance, Father Roy Bourgeois. For three years the Vatican has sought to make an example of the Nobel Prize-nominated founder of SOA Watch (a group that works to shut down WHINSEC, the former School of the Americas, an academy for torture.) The Vatican has strong-armed Father Bourgeois's Maryknoll order, demanding that they defrock Father Bourgeois for the transgression of attending and supporting women's ordinations. Maryknoll, an order with an uncommonly Christ-like commitment to social justice, took a lot of heat from all Catholic sides about moving to defrock Bourgeois -- all the while supporting this him in defending himself against forced laicization.
It now appears that the Maryknoll order will refuse to defrock Father Bourgeois.
Strong Roman Catholic precedent for saying "no" to the pope (so as to say "yes" to Christ) is being set. Ratzinger knows that the Roman Catholic priesthood originated as a result of "radical disobedience." Although the pope may honestly believe the church lacks the authority to ordain women, he can not deny that the rogue character of the Woman's Ordination movement reflects the tradition, history and origins of the Roman Catholic (mostly male) priesthood. Lockstep Catholics can say that women who are ordained through Roman Catholic Womenpriests are not "real priests," but the truth is that the male priests and bishops, who have themselves been ordained by bishops in the apostolic succession, beg to differ.
And there's not a thing Joseph Ratzinger can do to stop Roman Catholic women from becoming Roman Catholic priests.
Alleluia. Alleluia."

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests: Ordination Video Clips of Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell in Florida on April 14, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF5ecwNNPI4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ublUnkCoEC0&feature=colike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTfTJ-ZTAVw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-c4PrFXguw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlrXpzcGcN0
Article in Daytona Beach News Journal/ by Annie Martin
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2012/04/15/bishop-womens-ordination-a-holy-shake-up-whose-time-has-come.html

Ordination of Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell in Ormond Beach, Florida by Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2012/04/15/bishop-womens-ordination-a-holy-shake-up-whose-time-has-come.html

Bishop: Women's ordination 'a holy shake-up whose time has come'

By ANNIE MARTIN, Staff writer  

ORMOND BEACH -- "Two Palm Coast women who "stand on the margins" were ushered in Saturday to a role that's been reserved for men for hundreds of years.
Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell were ordained into the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, a group that's urging the Catholic Church to welcome women into its clergy. About 150 people attended the ceremony Saturday afternoon at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Ormond Beach.
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, who presided over the ceremony, said the movement is "a holy shake-up whose time has come."
"One could say this is the church's best-kept secret," Meehan said. "But no more."
The Catholic Church won't recognize the women's ordination as valid, but Picconi and Russell say they plan to worship out of their home with a small group of people.
Meehan said her group is seeking justice for all people, particularly for women in the Catholic Church. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests has ordained about 130 women worldwide since 2002.
At the start of the ceremony, others presented the soon-to-be priests to Meehan and the rest of the group. Russell's daughter, Monica Leavitt, recalled that as a young child, she often stayed late at her church, waiting for her mother to emerge from her Bible study group or wrap up other business there. The church is Russell's passion, she said.
"This was meant to be," Leavitt said. "My mother was born a priest. I know that from the bottom of my soul."
Since the two women moved to Palm Coast nearly three years ago, they've attended St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Palm Coast. Picconi teaches adult Sunday school classes and occasionally preaches to the congregation there.
"She is a wise woman, and we benefit greatly from her presence," the Rev. Bradley Hauff, the pastor of St. Thomas, said during the ceremony.
Picconi and Russell said finding a congregation to host their ordination ceremony wasn't easy. Some told the women they supported their cause but didn't want to offend Catholics or their clergy.
But Bud Murphy, the pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Society in Ormond Beach, said his denomination is "radically hospitable or inclusive."
"We felt very comfortable with what is happening here because, in a way, they're doing what should have been done years ago," Murphy said.
He also said the Unitarian movement emerged when some Christians, who were considered heretics at the time, broke with their church.
"We feel a kinship because they are speaking truth to power," Murphy said.
Fran Leavitt, whose son is married to Monica Leavitt, traveled from New Hampshire to attend the ceremony and spend a few days in Florida. A Catholic since age 19, Fran Leavitt said in an interview she's "amazed at the positive reception," that Picconi and Russell have received from other people.
"I think it's wonderful," Leavitt said about the two women's decision to be ordained. "I think it's inspirational."
At the end of the ceremony, Picconi and Russell changed into their new priests' robes, taking Meehan's hands and raising their arms before the audience.
Picconi cried "tears of joy," telling the crowd "my cup runneth over."
"My heart could burst right out of my body," Picconi said."

Palm Coast Women, Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell to Become Ordained as Priests/ Media Coverage List

Palm Coast women follow passion to become ordained as priests

By ANNIE MARTIN

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2012/04/13/palm-coast-women-follow-passion-to-become-ordained-as-priests.html
PALM COAST -- "Miriam Picconi remembers sitting before a life-sized crucifix adorned with the body of Christ at her church as a young teenager.
"I would just see Jesus on the cross and I kept thinking, 'If you did that for me, what can I do for you?' " she said.
Picconi, 68, said she was "called to minister" early in life. By age 16, she was teaching disabled children about Christ and visiting isolated people who were unable to leave nursing homes and hospitals. She said she became a nun at age 20, delivering communion and praying with people who were too ill to attend church.
"I always had a deep love for the Eucharist, in the way Jesus shares himself with us," Picconi said.
There was one thing she couldn't do -- becoming a priest was off limits.
The Catholic Church doesn't ordain women but some are seeking to change that. Picconi and Wanda Russell, both of Palm Coast, will be ordained into the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Ormond Beach.
Together they're challenging a centuries-old tradition of an all-male clergy within the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations. The ceremony will include the same rite used to ordain male Catholic priests..."
http://www.wjct.org/radio/shows/wjct_news#fcc

(Select "First Coast Connect"  4-11-2012 show

go down to FOLLOW THE PODCAST at the bottom of the page and click on it.

Then select today, 4-11-12 "Two Fl Women ordained RC Women priests")
Palm Coast Women To Be Ordained As Priests
http://www.palmcoastobserver.com/news/palm-coast/News/041120123885/Palm-Coast-women-to-be-ordained-as-priests
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features-the-religion-world/2012/04/12/women-catholic-priests-ordination-saturday-in-ormond-beach/
On Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 2 p.m. Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell of Palm Coast will be ordained priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.  The presiding bishop will be Bridget Mary Meehan of Sarasota and Falls Church, Virginia. The ceremony will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 56 North Halifax Dr., Ormond Beach www.uuormond.net/.

 From 12:30 – 1:30 p. m. Catholic theologian and archaeologist Dorothy Irvin, whose ground-breaking research reveals evidence of women deacons, priests and even bishops, has provided a historic foundation for the female priest movement, will give a lecture with slides of Women’s Ordination in the Early Church. All are welcome to the ordination and pre-ordination lecture.
 The Women Priests movement in the Roman Catholic Church advocates a new model of priestly ministry united with the people with whom they minister. Women priests stand in prophetic obedience to Jesus who calls women and men to be disciples and equals. The movement began with the ordination of seven women on the Danube in 2002. Today there are more than 130 in the movement worldwide. The Roman Catholic Women Priests initiative is to live Gospel equality and justice for women in the Church and in society now. The women priests work with the poor and marginalized for transformative justice in partnership with all believers. Their vision is to live as a community of equals in decision making both as an organization and within all our faith communities. They advocate the renewal of the vision of Jesus in the Gospel in our Church and world.
 Miriam and Wanda are theologically prepared and have many years of experience in ministry.  Miriam (Mary Ann) Picconi spent 25 years with the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity, becoming certified in Theology and teacher training, while earning a degree in Special Studies and a Masters in Religious Studies, in addition to completing over 400 hours in Clinical Pastoral Education. She has administrated and directed a variety of parish programs. Wanda Y. Lavinghouse Russell has one married daughter, Monica Leavitt. She has a B.S. degree in Psychology, coursework in Parish Ministry and a Masters in Education, Counseling. She has been a social worker for 25 years and has volunteered in a variety of parish ministries.
 Both Miriam and Wanda are Associates with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky. In Palm Coast they lead a bible study group and advocate for the homeless.  They also participate in ecumenical ministry, Miriam sometimes preaching and teaching at a local Episcopal church, and they host a theology club.
 The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests rejoices in a “holy shakeup” that millions of Catholics worldwide welcome. The good news now is that male priests, bishops, a cardinal as well as theologians have expressed their support of female priests. They are following in the footsteps of Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois whose prophetic call for a dialogue on women priests is being heard in more and more places today in our Church.
 “Nothing can stop the movement of the spirit toward human rights, justice and equality in our world and in our Church,” said Bridget Mary Meehan. “The full equality of women is the voice of God in our time.”
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-11/story/two-palm-coast-women-be-ordained-priests-breakaway-catholic-group
Two Palm Coast women will be ordained priests Saturday in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, an independent group that claims ties to the Roman Catholic Church.Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-11/story/two-palm-coast-women-be-ordained-priests-breakaway-catholic-group#ixzz1rsadlrgr
http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2012/04/two-palm-coast-women-to-be-ordained.html

http://m.jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-11/story/two-palm-coast-women-be-ordained-priests-breakaway-catholic-group

Majority of Irish Catholics Want Women and Married priests

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/majority-of-catholics-want-women-and-married-priests-3079737.html
THE vast majority of Irish Catholics want women and married priests... 
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Powerful-Association-of-Irish-Priests--warns-Vatican-over-heresy-hunting-146785045.html
"Fr Tony Flannery’s silencing by Vatican is condemned by 800-strong priest’s group" by Antoinette Kelly, Irish Central Staff Writer  "In a remarkable development, the 800-strong Association of Irish Priests told the Vatican they were deeply disturbed over the recent decision by the Holy See to silence one its members for his liberal views.The Irish group said in a statement: 'At this critical juncture in our history, the ACP believes that this form of intervention - what Archbishop Diarmuid Martin recently called 'heresy-hunting' - is of no service to the Irish Catholic Church and may have the unintended effect of exacerbating a growing perception of a significant 'disconnect' between the Irish Church and Rome."

More Vatican

• Powerful Association of Irish Priests warns Vatican over “heresy hunting”
• Irish Priest who supported Prime Minister’s Vatican criticism related to Fine Gael party strategist
• Pope Benedict confirms he will not attend Eucharistic Congress in Dublin
• Pope Benedict reaffirms no women ordination and continued celibacy in Catholic Church
• Hoover FBI tactics used against Irish priests by Vatican, claims superior

Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Powerful-Association-of-Irish-Priests--warns-Vatican-over-heresy-hunting-146785045.html#ixzz1ri3ZyWtR

Media Coverage of Ordination of Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell as Priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Bishop: Women's ordination 'a holy shake-up whose time has come'

By ANNIE MARTIN, Staff writer  

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2012/04/15/bishop-womens-ordination-a-holy-shake-up-whose-time-has-come.html

Palm Coast women follow passion to become ordained as priests

By ANNIE MARTIN

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2012/04/13/palm-coast-women-follow-passion-to-become-ordained-as-priests.html

http://www.wjct.org/radio/shows/wjct_news#fcc

(Select "First Coast Connect"  4-11-2012 show

go down to FOLLOW THE PODCAST at the bottom of the page and click on it.

Then select today, 4-11-12 "Two Fl Women ordained RC Women priests")


Palm Coast Women To Be Ordained As Priests
http://www.palmcoastobserver.com/news/palm-coast/News/041120123885/Palm-Coast-women-to-be-ordained-as-priests
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features-the-religion-world/2012/04/12/women-catholic-priests-ordination-saturday-in-ormond-beach/
On Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 2 p.m. Miriam Picconi and Wanda Russell of Palm Coast will be ordained priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.  The presiding bishop will be Bridget Mary Meehan of Sarasota and Falls Church, Virginia. The ceremony will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 56 North Halifax Dr., Ormond Beach www.uuormond.net/.

 From 12:30 – 1:30 p. m. Catholic theologian and archaeologist Dorothy Irvin, whose ground-breaking research reveals evidence of women deacons, priests and even bishops, has provided a historic foundation for the female priest movement, will give a lecture with slides of Women’s Ordination in the Early Church. All are welcome to the ordination and pre-ordination lecture.
 The Women Priests movement in the Roman Catholic Church advocates a new model of priestly ministry united with the people with whom they minister. Women priests stand in prophetic obedience to Jesus who calls women and men to be disciples and equals. The movement began with the ordination of seven women on the Danube in 2002. Today there are more than 130 in the movement worldwide. The Roman Catholic Women Priests initiative is to live Gospel equality and justice for women in the Church and in society now. The women priests work with the poor and marginalized for transformative justice in partnership with all believers. Their vision is to live as a community of equals in decision making both as an organization and within all our faith communities. They advocate the renewal of the vision of Jesus in the Gospel in our Church and world.
 Miriam and Wanda are theologically prepared and have many years of experience in ministry.  Miriam (Mary Ann) Picconi spent 25 years with the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity, becoming certified in Theology and teacher training, while earning a degree in Special Studies and a Masters in Religious Studies, in addition to completing over 400 hours in Clinical Pastoral Education. She has administrated and directed a variety of parish programs. Wanda Y. Lavinghouse Russell has one married daughter, Monica Leavitt. She has a B.S. degree in Psychology, coursework in Parish Ministry and a Masters in Education, Counseling. She has been a social worker for 25 years and has volunteered in a variety of parish ministries.
 Both Miriam and Wanda are Associates with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky. In Palm Coast they lead a bible study group and advocate for the homeless.  They also participate in ecumenical ministry, Miriam sometimes preaching and teaching at a local Episcopal church, and they host a theology club.
 The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests rejoices in a “holy shakeup” that millions of Catholics worldwide welcome. The good news now is that male priests, bishops, a cardinal as well as theologians have expressed their support of female priests. They are following in the footsteps of Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois whose prophetic call for a dialogue on women priests is being heard in more and more places today in our Church.
 “Nothing can stop the movement of the spirit toward human rights, justice and equality in our world and in our Church,” said Bridget Mary Meehan. “The full equality of women is the voice of God in our time.”


http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-11/story/two-palm-coast-women-be-ordained-priests-breakaway-catholic-group
Two Palm Coast women will be ordained priests Saturday in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, an independent group that claims ties to the Roman Catholic Church.Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-11/story/two-palm-coast-women-be-ordained-priests-breakaway-catholic-group#ixzz1rsadlrgr

http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.com/2012/04/two-palm-coast-women-to-be-ordained.html

http://m.jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-04-11/story/two-palm-coast-women-be-ordained-priests-breakaway-catholic-group

Roman Catholic Women Priests - A Revolution and Holy Shakeup/Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

Women Priests Now- A Revolution in the Catholic Church/MSNBC: Lawrence O'Donnell/The Last Word/ Helmut Schuller/Austrian Priests Challenge Vatican on Women Priests

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/47000236#47000236

“I See You” - Catholic Women Priests Part 8 by Diana Milesko

           When you meet someone walking along a path in Sub-Sahara Africa you say, “Hello, how are you.” In the Western world we’d expect them to say, “I’m fine. How are you?” But in this “backward” country the answer is surprising and much more profound. When you say, “Hello, how are you?” they respond, “I see you.”  More than feigned concern about your health, “I see you,” means they recognize and respect you.

            Often we don’t “see” others because, from an early age, we are taught a prejudice based solely upon someone’s membership in a group--racial, gender, national or cultural. Such early teaching is powerful. It creates emotional attitudes that, for the rest of our lives, make it hard for us to “see” a different point of view. But prejudice is eroded when people are in a group where they share a common goal, equal status, interpersonal contact and equal promotions. There’s a lesson here for the Church.

            The Catholic Church can abrade prejudice against women by welcoming them into all levels of the clergy; by respecting their morality, wisdom and intelligence; by  “seeing” the historical truth of women clergy in the Catholic Church. (Archaeological evidence reveals the history of women as Church priests/presbyters, prophets and patrons. At least 114 well-documented references are recorded by Kevin Madigan and Carolyn Osiek. These are the tip of an iceberg, as more were suppressed by the selective writing of male historians.)

A LITTLE GIRL’S WISDOM

            A priest in Missouri asked sixth graders to write their description of God. One young girl wrote, “ God is a mirror.” This wise child knew that our behavior reflects our image of God. So too does the institutional Church’s behavior reflects it’s image of God. And it’s not flattering.

            The teachings of Jesus directs the Church mission and were reemphasized in Vatican II--that all people are made in the image of God and are worthy of respect, love, and justice. To “see” women according to these teachings, the Church must renounce it’s prejudices.

            “God wants a world where all brokenness is mended, all divisions reconciled, where shalom (unity and peace) prevail and every human person is loved, respected and honored as a son or daughter of God.” [Integrity in the Service of the Church. 2011. Australian Catholic Bishops.]

            Everything else is puffery. Catholic doctrines change; for example, that slavery is moral, that coeducation is against natural law, that the sun revolves around the earth, that anyone not Catholic and all the unbaptized--including newborn babies and everyone born before Jesus--go to hell because of original sin; that religious freedom is wrong, etc.

            Scour away such institutional balderdash and one teaching emerges: Jesus wants us to “see” each other with loving respect, not through the myopic glass of prejudice. Jesus said, ‘I give you a new commandment; love one another; by your love for one another everyone will recognize you as my disciples.’

            It’s as simple as that.

An Open Letter to Prof. Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI Saturday, April 7, 2012 fromProfessor Leonard Swidler

Dear Joe,

Some years back when you were still the head of the Holy Office (“of the Sacred Inquisition” is, as you know, stilled chiseled in stone over its dark building immediately next to St. Peter’s square), I wrote you an open letter concerning the role of women in the Catholic Church. At that time I addressed you with a familiar “Dear Joe,” relying on our relationship from the late 60s/early 70s when I was frequently a Visiting Professor at the Catholic Theology Faculty of the University of Tübingen, and you were Professor Ordinarius there. I did so in the thought that this form of address would tell you that I seriously hoped you might open your mind and heart to hear what I wanted to say to you. I have no way of knowing what success I may have had, if any, in that regard. However, relying on our former “collegiality,” I am approaching you once again in this fraternal fashion.

I am disturbed that especially of late you have been giving signals that are in opposition to the words and spirit of Vatican Council II, during which you as a leading young theologian helped to move our beloved Catholic Church out of the Middle Ages into Modernity. Further, while a professor at our Alma Mater University of Tübingen, you, along with the rest of your colleagues of the Catholic Theology faculty, publicly advocated 1) the election of bishops by their constituents, and 2) limited term of office of bishops (see the book Democratic Bishops for the Roman Catholic Church).

Now you are publicly rebuking loyal Catholic priests for doing precisely what you earlier had so nobly advocated. They, and many, many others across the universal Catholic Church, are following your youthful example, trying desperately to move our beloved Mother Church further into Modernity. I deliberately use the word “desperately,” for in your own homeland, Germany, and elsewhere in Europe, the churches are empty, and also are so many Catholic hearts when they hear the chilling words coming from Rome and the “radically obedient” (read: “yes-men”) bishops. In my own homeland, America, the birthplace of modern freedom, human rights, and democracy, we have lost — in this generation alone! — one third of our Catholic population, 30,000,000, because the Vatican II promises of its five-fold Copernican Turn (the turn toward 1. freedom, 2. this world, 3. a sense of history, 4. internal reform, and above all, 5. dialogue) have all been so deliberately dashed by your predecessor, and now increasingly by you.

Joe, you were known as one of the Vatican II theologians who promoted Pope St. John XXIII’s call for aggiornamento (bringing up to date) by the reforming spirit of returning to the energizing original sources (resourcement!) of Christianity (ad fontes!—to the fountains!). Those democratic, freedom-loving sources of the Early Church were exactly the renewing “sources,” the “fountains,” of renewal that were spelled out in detail by you and your Tübingen colleagues.

I am urging you to return to that early reforming spirit of your youth. I am reminded of that spirit now in preparation for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies (JES), which my beloved wife Arlene and I launched in 1964. There in the very first issue of JES are articles by your friend and fellow Vatican II theologian Hans Küng, and yourself (!), looking to bridge over the isolating Counter-Reformation gulf that divided the Catholic Church from the rest of Christianity, and indeed the rest of the modern world.

Joe, in that spirit, I urge you to return to your reforming fountains: Return ad fontes!

Pax!

Len

Leonard Swidler, Ph.D., S.T.L. dialogue@temple.eduProfessor of Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue, Temple University

Women Priests in Santa Barbara/ The Santa Barbara Independent

www.independent.com/news/2012/apr/05/women-priests-sb/
..."Perhaps in some prior century, Suzanne Dunn and Jeannette Love might have been burned at the stake as heretics. These two gray-haired women ​— ​both quick to smile, soft-spoken, and light of spirit ​— ​are exactly what the Pope and Vatican insist can never be: ordained women priests. Yet three years ago, Dunn ​— ​a one-time parish administrator at St. Joseph’s in Carpinteria ​— ​was ordained in Santa Barbara by female bishop Dana Reynolds, who claims she can trace her own ordination back to St. Peter, the first Pope..." The two have been saying Mass, giving out Communion, and tending to the sick for a small, slowly growing congregation throughout the South Coast...Late last Saturday evening, Dunn and Love co-celebrated Palm Sunday services in consecrated space they rent from the First Congregational Church in downtown Santa Barbara. The congregation of about 30, most of whom appeared to be in their sixties, were an enthusiastic group, singing together in vigorous, clear voices. As services go, it was decidedly unorthodox. To an exceptional degree, the laity took an active role in saying the Mass, going to the altar, for example, en masse to proclaim ​— ​along with the two priests ​— ​the Eucharistic prayer, the most sacred part of the Mass, when Catholics believe the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ."

"What Would Jesus do at the Masters?" by Maureen Dowd/New York times

"...Finally, in the perverse pantheon of reactionary men in robes, we have God’s Rottweiler, as Pope Benedict is known. He welcomed Easter by sitting on a golden throne and denouncing the “disobedience” of Catholic priests who want the decaying, ingrown institution that sheltered so many abusive priests to let in some fresh air and allow female and married priests, as well as Holy Communion for Catholics who have remarried without an annulment.

“It seemed like a bitter statement,” said Kenneth Briggs, the author of “Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns.” “It further erodes, almost tragically, the respect for the papacy because it looks like what you want is institutional conformity rather than obedience to the Gospel.”

The message of Jesus, after all, is not about exclusion, but inclusion...

The Rev. Alberto Cutié, the handsome Miami priest who defected to become an Episcopal priest when he fell in love and married a woman from his parish, found the pope’s timing ironic.

“They say women can’t be priests because Jesus only called men to be apostles,” he said. “But the women close to Jesus were the first witnesses of the resurrection. When the men were afraid and hidden, the women went to the tomb and said, ‘Jesus is risen!’ If Easter is the most important part of Christianity, the first to proclaim the message were women. Who could make more effective preachers?” 

800 "Priests Warn Vatican over Gag Move"/ Justice is Rising Up

Irish Independent, Monday April 09 2012
http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/priests-warn-vatican-over-gag-move-3074830.html

"An 800-strong group of Irish priests has said it is disturbed over the Vatican's silencing of one of its members for his liberal views.
The Association of Catholic Priests has warned that forcing Father Tony Flannery to stop writing for a Redemptorist magazine will fuel belief of a disconnect between Irish Catholics and Rome.
"We believe that such an approach, in its individual focus on Fr Flannery and inevitably by implication on the members of the association, is an extremely ill-advised intervention in the present pastoral context in Ireland," the group said.
"We wish to make clear our profound view that this intervention is unfair, unwarranted and unwise."
Fr Flannery, a founder of the association, has had his monthly column with the religious publication Reality pulled on orders from Rome. A second priest, Father Gerard Moloney, the magazine's editor, has been ordered to stop writing on certain issues.
Both priests hold liberal views on contraception, celibacy and women priests. At least a dozen priests had already publicly declared support for Fr Flannery and Fr Moloney in messages on the association's website.
In a strongly worded statement, the group said Fr Flannery's writings should not be seen as an attack on or rejection of the fundamental teachings of the church but a reflection on issues surfacing in parishes nationwide. It said they also reject their portrayal in some circles as a "small coterie of radical priests with a radical agenda".
"At this critical juncture in our history, the ACP believes that this form of intervention - what Archbishop Diarmuid Martin recently called 'heresy-hunting' - is of no service to the Irish Catholic Church and may have the unintended effect of exacerbating a growing perception of a significant 'disconnect' between the Irish Church and Rome," the group said.
Fr Flannery, who has written on religious matters in the Redemptorist magazine for 14 years, is under investigation by the Vatican over his views. As well as expressing opposition to the church's ban on contraception and women priests, Fr Flannery publicly backed Taoiseach Enda Kenny's unprecedented attack on the Catholic hierarchy in the aftermath of the Cloyne Report last year.
In a Holy Thursday homily at St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Pope Benedict warned that the church will not tolerate priests speaking out against Catholic teaching."


Bridget Mary's Reflection
Hooray, justice is rising up! Kudos to the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland for their prophetic witness to women's equality in our church. Your sister priests stand in solidarity with you and give thanks for your courage to speak truth to power. Faithful Catholics here in the United States are rejoicing that you display such boldness of spirit. 
Bridget Mary Meehan (bishop), born in County Laois, Ireland, 
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests in the United States. 
www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004

Theologian claims there is 'ominous divide' in church by Patsy McGarry/Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0409/1224314549035.html


"AS CONTROVERSY over the silencing by the Vatican of Redemptorist priests Fr Tony Flannery and Fr Gerard Moloney grows, an Augustinian priest has written about “an ominous division” in the Catholic Church.
Theologian Fr Gabriel Daly has said “one party is now in control and is presenting its views as ‘the teaching of the church’.”
He continued: “Its more voluble members dismiss those who differ from it as ‘a la carte Catholics’ – a witless enough phrase in a legitimately diverse church.”
Fr Flannery, a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, has had his monthly column with Reality, the Redemptorists’ monthly magazine, discontinued at Vatican direction, while Fr Moloney, the magazine’s editor, can no longer write on certain issues.
Both priests hold liberal views on contraception, celibacy and women priests.
Writing in the current issue of Doctrine Life magazine, Fr Daly said the secular press unwittingly encouraged such “bad theology” by identifying the Vatican’s Curia and even the bishops, with the Catholic church “thus failing to recognise the role of the people of God and legitimate differences in the church.”
He recalled how at the end of the second Vatican Council in 1965, “power once again devolved to the body which was most in need of reform, namely the Vatican Curia, which has slowly but inexorably been re-establishing its former authority.
“The control it exercises is systemic, structural and fiendishly difficult to reform.”
Aided “by secrecy and the unchallenged exercise of power, the Curia has established effective control over the whole church”. Fr Daly observed that “there is little or no concern for those faithful Catholics who are quietly appalled by what is happening. They are seen as simply wrong,” he said.
Most churches and religions had “a fundamentalist wing that sees itself as the sole possessor of authentic truth that has to be proclaimed and defended firmly against challenge. It would appear that there has to be an enemy that one can condemn to be assured of one’s own orthodoxy.”
Much fundamentalism “simply proclaims, as distinct from arguing a case. It counters opposition with a sort of contempt and regards it as self-evidently misguided: indeed it seems argument as unnecessary, since the matter concerned is already decided. It simply condemns, as the most efficient course of action, writings or publicly expressed views of which it disapproves,” he said.
Meanwhile a slew of priests have publicly asserted their support for Fr Flannery and Fr Moloney in comments on the Association of Catholic Priests website.
Included are Monaghan priest Fr Jimmy McPhillips, Redemptorist priests Fr Adrian Egan, Fr Tadhg Herbert (in Brazil), Fr Seán Duggan, Fr Ciarán Callaghan, Fr Michael Dempsey, Fr Brian Nolan, Fr Michael Forde; Dominican priest Fr Wilfrid Harrington, Dominican nun Sr Maeve McMahon, Canon Stephen Neill, Church of Ireland rector of Cloughjordan, Tipperary, and Co Galway parish priest Fr Declan Kelly.
As Fr Seán Duggan wrote on the website last Saturday: “First they came for Tony and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Flannery. Then they came for Reality and I didn’t speak out because I don’t read it. Then they came for Moloney and I didn’t speak out because he is well able to speak for himself. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Easter Vigil at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community on April 7, 2012 in Sarasota, Florida

Melinda Gates: Women Need Birth Control on Global Health Agenda

In an address with potentially far-reaching health care consequences, Melinda Gates today called upon governments to set as goals universal access to birth control for women who want it. She said the measure could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year.

"A Catholic, Gates is a co-chair and trustee of the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, which distributes billions of dollars annually in the developing world to raise agricultural productivity, health care and education levels while it works to eradicate global diseases.
Speaking before a TEDxChange audience in Berlin, Gates stressed her Catholic identity and values, saying they have shaped her career at the Gates foundation, adding that it has been her Catholic education that led her to question her church’s official teaching that artificial birth control is sinful.
She said each year some 100,000 women who don’t want to be pregnant die in childbirth and some 600,000 women who don’t want to be pregnant give birth to infants who die in their first month of life.
She said the use of contraceptives is a broadly accepted idea, adding that couples use them because they want the power to plan their own lives and to raise healthier, better-educated, and more prosperous families.
“But for an idea that is broadly accepted in private, birth control generates a lot of opposition in public,” she said.
“Some people think contraceptives are code for abortion, which they’re not. Some people are uncomfortable because contraceptives have to do with sex. Some people worry that the real goal is to control populations. All these side issues have attached themselves to the core idea that men and women should be able to decide when to have a child. As a result, birth control has almost disappeared from the global health agenda.”
She wants to change this, adding the consequences of this disappearance has led to much suffering and death. The greatest victims, she said, have been in sub-Saharan Africa and the poorest parts of South Asia which contraceptives are frequently unavailable.
Gates contrasted modern contraceptive use in countries such as Germany where the proportion of people currently using modern devices is 66 percent (Thailand, 64 percent; El Salvador, 66 percent) with Nigeria, 10 percent (Chad, 2 percent; Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state in India, 29 percent).
Gates insisted that her call for a wider distribution of contraceptives has nothing to do with abortion or population control.
“We are talking about giving women the power to save their own lives and their children’s lives — and to give their families the best possible future...”

---

Source URL: http://ncronline.org/news/women/gates-women-need-birth-control-global-health-agenda

Links:
http://ncronline.org/users/thomas-c-fox
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Three cheers for Melinda Gates for speaking out to save women and children's lives. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests are in solidarity with giving women the power to make decisions of conscience about contraception. 

Priest Whose Movement Targeted by Papal Criticism says Pope only Asking for Reflection/Roman Catholic Women Priests Stand in Solidarity with Courageous Male Priests in Austria and Around the World

http://www.newser.com/article/d9tupkpg3/priest-whose-movement-targeted-by-papal-criticism-says-pope-only-asking-for-reflection.html
By NICOLE WINFIELD | Associated Press
The Rev. Hellmut Schueller said Benedict was merely asking for reflection on whether their disobedience can help reform the church. In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Schueller noted that Benedict didn't forbid what the dissident priests were doing or advocating.
In his Holy Thursday homily, Benedict said the dissidents of the Pfarrer Initiative claim to be motivated by concern for the church. But he suggested that in reality they were just making "a desperate push to do something to change the church in accordance with (their) own preferences and ideas."The Pfarrer Initiative is at http://www.pfarrer-initiative.at
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Now that hundreds of male priests are publically advocating for married priests and women priests, Pope Benedict has reluctantly responded. It is a clear sign of the Spirit's power at work in a renewed model of priestly ministry. We stand in solidarity with our brother priests who have the courage to follow their consciences and name the injustice of gender inequality. Jesus  who called both women and  men, married and unmarried as disciples, stood with the margnalized for justice. He was put to death for challenging the religious and civil leaders for their oppression of God's people. According to all four Gospels it was the women who accompanied Jesus to Calvary and were the first to witness his resurrection. Today women priests, like the Easter women, are taking our rightful place as leaders in our church in grassroots communities of enthusiastic Catholics.
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com
703-505-0004

Critics Challenge Pope’s Stance Against Ordaining Women /CBS News/Chicago/ RCWP Priest Barbara Zeman Speaks Out

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/04/05/critics-challenge-popes-stance-against-ordaining-women/

"Barbara Zeman is one of several Chicago area Catholic women who have been “ordained” as priests in recent years by other rebellious clergy.

“As Catholics, first and foremost, we speak to the primacy of conscience. Conscience trumps any obedience,” she says.

“We have disobeyed a law,” she adds. “I will not argue with that. However, it is a law that is made by human beings, specifically by men.”

"The former pastor of St. Gertrude’s parish in Chicago believes in the ordination of women.

“It’s going to happen eventually,” says Father Bill Kenneally.

He’s not afraid of speaking out against church doctrine. He’s retired.

“I’m in a position where you can say whatever you want to say, because they can’t take anything away from you,” says.

Kenneally believes most active priests secretly agree with him.

Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George agrees with the Pope. He has been quoted as saying the Sacrament of Ordination of male priests  is a gift from Jesus."

The Ordination of Women in the Catholic Church: a survey of attitudes in Spain in Journal of Gender Studies

http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ina3CTdhm2rHSvZAfJGP/full 

This paper examines the correlation between socio-economic factors and attitudes to the ordination of women in the Catholic Church against a background of the existing literature on the perception of the Pastoral Ministry of Christian women. The struggle to find theories of economics that assist in formulating expectations in such research is identified and a part-solution offered through the Sraffian account for innovation.

A survey was carried out on 110 postgraduate students at the University of Granada (Spain) in 2006. The results demonstrate that the perception of the Catholic Church as sexist is positively related to the gender, political ideology and family size of those surveyed with discrimination perceived to be more prevalent in non-Christian religions. Respondents with a male image of God had less enlightened attitudes to gender equality and believers took a more conservative approach to gender equality than non-believers. Surprisingly, a conservative attitude to gender equality was correlated with a favourable attitude to the ordination of women.

“When Old Models Become Corrupt” - Catholic Women Priests Part 7 by Diana Milesko

              On Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI criticized clerics who champion the ordination of women priests and married clergy. Thus the Pope demonstrated again that ancient Middle Eastern prejudices have hobbled today’s institutional Church; that Church hierarchy is impossibly out of touch with today’s vibrant Catholic movement to live the potential of God’s love within us.

            It’s a shame the Pope chose Holy Thursday to censure women and married priests when there were far better topics to dwell upon. He is to be forgiven, I suppose, for he is an old man used to having his way.

            But instead of sour jeremiads about the inferiority of women, he could have reflected upon God’s egalitarian love for everyone, “There is neither Jew nor Greek...neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:28

            He could have examined the expansive news Jesus himself announced on Holy Thursday, "A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you." John 13:34.

            But he didn’t. And that’s too bad. Because women and men priests (married and unmarried,) are working hard to turn the Church into a model for the world. They create high ethical standards in the clergy; they show by their lives and instruction that moral behavior produces good outcomes; they teach that individuals, organizations and societies must know the difference between right and wrong. Together, women and men priests embody the compassion, wisdom and justice of our loving God.

            And justice is the Church’s mission. “Let justice flow like water, and uprightness like a never failing stream.” (Amos 5:21, 24) “You have been told what God requires of you: To act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.”(Micah 6:8) Jesus took up this same message in his stories and actions.

            Women and married priests know what it means to be marginalized; they are uniquely equipped to help the Church advocate God’s love for everyone. They can help liberate the Church from it’s narcissism and renew the good news upon which it was founded; love your neighbor as yourself; forgive others; and help the poor, the marginalized and the suffering attain justice.

            When one attends church services of Women Priests, one sees the generosity, tenderness and compassion of our loving God honored by everyone through the Eucharist; everyone joins in the blessings of the Mass and participates in Gospel related-homilies; everyone is invited to serve God by working for justice, by practicing charity, and by sharing in a community of equals. Roman Catholic Women Priests are proof that women and men priests, working together, can help the Church live God’s mission of compassion, justice, and decency.

            Still, the Pope grasps at faded prejudices, trying to make things stay the same as they were in an ancient, ignorant time. His words show that, more than ever in this complicated world, we need a renewed, transparent, and accountable Church in which women and men are true equals and partners in ministry, and are included as decision makers on all levels including the Vatican.

Women's Ordination Conference and Roman Catholic Women Priests Challenge Pope's Slam on Women Priests and Our Supporters

Once again the Vatican is the gift that keeps on giving. Roman Catholic Women Priests are leading the Church into a renewed priestly ministry in grassroots communities. For some, like Pope Benedict, this is a revolution, but for millions of Catholics, including many male priests and some bishops, including one cardinal who are rising up for gender justice, it is a welcome holy shakeup!

Next weekend, two USA bishops, Regina Nicolosi and Bridget Mary Meehan will preside at women's ordinations in Indiana and Florida!

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

www.arcwp.org

703-505-0004

sofiabmm@aol.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 5, 2012

Contact: Erin Saiz Hanna, 202.675.1006 

On holiest of days, Pope slams women's ordination supporters

Response from Erin Saiz Hanna, Executive Director   

   

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Roman Catholics globally joined together for the feast of Holy Thursday, to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus the Christ and welcome the Easter Triduum, the holiest days for Catholics.  It was during the Last Supper that Jesus gave those gathered a new commandment -- to "love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

While during these holy days we would presume to hear Pope Benedict XVI echoing Jesus' call for love and inclusion, instead the Pope put forth a message of fear, intimidation, and oppression. In his homily earlier today, he denounced "disobedience" within the church and strongly reprimanded priests who support women's ordination.

The Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) is discouraged that the Pope would use this sacred time in our religious tradition to attack his fellow priests, who in good conscience, support women's full inclusion in the Roman Catholic Church. It is not these priests who are disobedient, it is the hierarchy who has lost touch with the people of God.

Out of fear of the growing numbers of ordained women and the overwhelming support they receive, the Vatican is trying to preserve what little power they have left by attempting to extinguish the widespread call for women's equality in the church. It will not work.

More than 63 percent of U.S. Catholics, and millions of Catholics worldwide, support the ordination of women. The Vatican's own Pontifical Biblical Commission found in 1976 that there is no scriptural reason to prohibit the ordination of women.  The Bible describes how women were prominent leaders in Jesus' ministry and early Christianity.  In all four gospels, Mary Magdalene was the primary witness to the central event of Christianity-Christ's resurrection. 

It is long overdue for the Vatican to listen to its own research, its own theologians and its own people who say that women are equally created in the image of God and are called to serve as priests in a renewed and inclusive Roman Catholic Church.  

                                                                          ###

Women's Ordination Conference, founded in 1975 and based in Washington, D.C., the is the oldest and largest national organization working for the ordination of women as priests, deacons, and bishops into an inclusive and accountable Roman Catholic Church. WOC also promotes new perspectives on ordination that call for less separation between the clergy and laity.  

Roman Catholic Women Priests Denounce Pope Benedict XVI's Holy Thursday Message

Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, Inc. 
Suzanne Avison Thiel, President

Portland, Oregon USA  suzthiel@yahoo.com
romancatholicwomenpriests.org  

Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Media ARCWP

Lexington, KY. rhythmsofthedance@gmail.com

            859-684-4247      

5 April 2012 

This Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI,  in another heavy-handed move,  denounced all priests who have questioned church teachings on celibacy and the ordination of women but he surely cannot denounce the millions of Catholics who no longer believe that such practices are what Jesus would want.  The Catholic people through the sensus fidelium have already accepted women priests.  We in this prophetic movement continue to experience the support of Catholics throughout the world who are in favor of a married priesthood and of women who are answering their call from God to be their priests.  For the pontiff to so boldly speak against the men and women who have taken the risk to question these teachings is simply a misused tactic and exercise of the sin of arrogance and sexism. His unwillingness to even participate in a dialogue with the so called "dissidents" is nothing but a  punitive, radical, authoritarian attempt to squelch any freedom of conscience and so-called disobedience. We call on all Catholic women to speak out for their equality and justice. Our Church must continue to evolve and be renewed in the signs of the times. Let us not forget that there were married men and women participating in the events of Holy Week- holy women that Jesus knew and loved and trusted with priestly ministry.  

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has denounced priests who have questioned church teaching on celibacy and ordaining women, saying Thursday they were disobeying his authority to try to impose their own ideas on the church.

Benedict made the rare and explicit criticism from the altar of St. Peter's Basilica in his homily on Holy Thursday, when priests recall the promises they made when ordained.

In 2006, a group of Austrian priests launched the Pfarrer Initiative, or pastor initiative, a call to disobedience aimed at abolishing priestly celibacy and opening the clergy to women to relieve the shortages of priests.

Last June, the group's members essentially threatened a schism, saying the Vatican's refusal to hear their complaints left them no choice but to "follow our conscience and act independently."

They issued a revised call to disobedience in which they said parishes would celebrate Eucharistic services without priests, that they would let women preach, and they pledged to speak out publicly and frequently for female and married priests.

The group now claims more than 300 Austrian priests and deacons as well as supporters in other countries, and its influence has grown to such an extent that top Austrian bishops met with Vatican officials in January to discuss how to handle them, Italian news reports said.

So far, neither the Vatican nor the archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, have imposed any canonical penalties on them.

In his homily, Benedict said the dissidents claim to be motivated by concern for the church. But he suggested that in reality they were just making "a desperate push to do something to change the church in accordance with (their) own preferences and ideas."

"We would like to believe that the authors of this summons are motivated by concern for the church, that they are convinced that the slow pace of institutions has to be overcome by drastic measures, in order to open up new paths and to bring the Church up to date," he said. "But is disobedience really a way to do this?"

He said Jesus always followed true obedience to God's will, not "human caprice."

Benedict's straightforward, "lucid" homily reaffirming mandatory celibacy for priests shows that the pontiff is in solid command at the helm of the Catholic church, said the editor of the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

The pope, who turns 75 this month, has recently taken to using a cane and other devices to help him move during public ceremonies, and some observers have speculated that the less physically vigorous pontiff's leadership grip of the church might be loosening.

But Benedict's strong call to priests to staunchly embrace church teaching on celibacy "once again erases the stereotype of a weak pope who supposedly isn't governing the church," wrote Vatican editor Gian Maria Vian in an unusually prominent front-page commentary on the papal homily.

Early in the evening, Benedict went to Rome's St. John in Lateran Basilica to preside at the traditional Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony. There, two aides helped the pope down the few steps from the altar, but otherwise Benedict walked steadily and briskly on his own to the array of priests who sat, each with one foot bare, so the pope could pour water over the foot in a symbol of humility and service. In remarks at the service, Benedict denounced "arrogance" as the "true essence of sin."

In the same spirit of service, the pope earmarked the collection of money offered by faithful during the Mass to help refugees of the violence in Syria.

The head of the Pfarrer Initiative, Rev. Hellmut Schueller, downplayed the severity of Benedict's message and said the pope was merely asking for reflection on whether disobedience can reform the church.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Schueller noted that Benedict didn't forbid what the dissident priests were doing or advocating.

"We are listening with interest to this message," he said. "I cannot see it as a very sharp wording."

The members of the initiative, Schueller said, will reflect on Benedict's words as part of a dialogue he hopes to open with Austrian bishops.

"We have decided to go this way because it's the way of our conscience, as faithful, and we are expressing only the opinion of the people at the base of the church."

He said the initiative did not seek to split the church or create schism, saying the positions articulated in the call for disobedience increasingly reflected the will of ordinary Catholics.

Any divisions that are being created, Schueller said, are between the base of the church and the hierarchy.

Holy Thursday homilies are often unusual in that the pope uses them to issue direct messages to priests. In 2006, for example, Benedict read a letter written by a cleric who was killed as he prayed in Turkey.

And on Holy Thursday in 2002, Pope John Paul II broke his silence over the explosion of the U.S. sex abuse scandal, denouncing the sins of priestly abusers and the "grave scandal" that was casting a "dark shadow of suspicion" over all priests.

___

AP writer Frances D'Emilio contributed to this report from Rome.

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