Roots of Sexual Abuse in Catholic Church is Clericalism

http://bilgrimage.blogspot.com/2013/02/peter-isely-on-systemic-roots-of.html

Radio Interview with Fr. Tony Flannery/ Irish Priest under Vatican Censure

http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2013/02/03/dissident-iri sh-priest-censured-by-vatican/

Roman Catholic Woman Priest Olga Lucia Alvarez Presides at Liturgy in a Barrio El Quintal, Bogota, Colombia

Olga Lucia Alvarez, ARCWP presides at a ltiurgy in Bogota, Colombia

Why Did the Pope Shame Cardinal Mahony, but Cardinal Brady of Ireland? by Jerry Slevin

http://christiancatholicism.com/why-did-the-pope-shame-las-mahony-but-not-brady-of-ireland
"Pope Benedict XVI for the first time publicly shamed a voting Cardinal, Mahony of Los Angeles. The Pope’s pawn, Archbishop Gomez, publicly referred to Mahony’s child abuse cover-up conduct as “evil”. This unprecedented and selective public papal condemnation, in my view as an experienced retired lawyer, significantly increases the risk for Mahony that he will yet still be criminally prosecuted, possibly for obstruction of justice or perjury. Prosecutors now have a papal blessing to go after Mahony. Yet the Pope has also just permitted Ireland’s voting Cardinal Brady to exit gracefully, without papal condemnation. Brady was reportedly involved in priest abuse cover-ups at least as “evil” as Mahony. Why the different treatment for two Cardinals?
The likeliest explanation is current papal election politics. Conservative Cardinals in the Vatican clique, including American ones like Burke, Law, Stafford and Rigali, and their right-wing U.S. Republican contributors, have for years targeted Mahony, often an ally of U.S. Democratic political leaders, as an obstacle to the Vatican clique’s efforts to maintain Vatican domination of the Catholic Church worldwide, through groups like Opus Dei that Gomez and convicted criminal Bishop Finn are members of. Brady, on the other hand, supports domination by the Vatican clique, as evidenced by his acquiescence in the current unchallenged attack on one of Brady’s most popular priests, Fr. Tony Flannery, by the Pope’s new German Inquisitor. Flannery’s brother is a top ally to Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who has strongly opposed papal domination in Ireland.
The signal is clear. The Vatican is prepared, it appears, to use selectively the criminal prosecution risks inherent in the worldwide abuse scandal to intimidate voting Cardinals who oppose the current Vatican clique’s candidate to be next Pope. Since most Cardinals likely have been involved in some cover-up activity, this election blackmail is a significant threat. It also is a compelling reason for Cardinals to call now for a worldwide conference as explained at: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-gW .
Children in the USA cannot be used as leverage in a papal election. The Pope and local political leaders and prosecutors have repeatedly failed to curtail effectively priest sexual abuse of children. The President has the clout needed to curtail this abuse and he must now step-up and use it. A petition has been opened for signatures asking President Obama to set up a national investigation commission into the sexual abuse of children by priests, rabbis, ministers and other religious leaders. Already many have begun to sign it, including abuse survivors and their supporters. Please take 30 seconds to sign it no matter where in the world you live. This is a worldwide epidemic. Just click on the below link at:
http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-investigate-child-sexual-abuse-by-priests-rabbis-religious-leaders

American Priests Join ACP (Irish Priests Association) in Support of Redemptorist Tony Flannery, Roy Bourgeois, Bill Brennan- Priests who support women prriests

http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2013/02/american-priests-seek-to-join-acp-to-support-tony-flannery/#comment-29254
"We want to join the ACP in support of Father Tony Flannery in the hope that his many years of dedicated faithful priestly ministry might be respected in the discussion with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.We are concerned about similar penalties imposed upon American priests such as Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Fr. Bill Brennan, S.J. Not all of our members may agree with the statements of these priests, but they deserve to be treated more compassionately by Vatican officials. The fact that their penalties are more severe than those imposed upon bishops and priests involved in the recent paedophilia scandals certainly raises questions of fairness and justice.We stand in solidarity with our brother priests in the sense of “Presbyterium Ordinis” from Vatican II and “Pastores Dabo Vobis” from Blessed Pope John Paul II, and we assure them of our prayerful support and remembrance in our Masses."
Bridget Mary's Response:
The growing solidarity of male priests around the issue of standing up for justice for women in the church including women priests is a sign of hope and change. Too bad the Vatican is so afraid! Jesus chose women to be among his closest followers-- many women- according to Luke 8. So it is time for the Vatican to follow Jesus too and affirm women's call to serve God and our beloved church. Women priests are presiding at inclusive liturgies, and many Catholics are happy with this blessed change. Some even seek out women priests communities when they travel. Last evening we met several visitors who attend Good Shepherd in Milwaukee area where there is a woman priest, Alice Iaquinta, in ministry. They expressed their delight at being able to attend another community where there were women priests in Florida.
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org

Pastor Phil Garrison Co-Presides at Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community Celebration of Celtic Spirituality-A New Model of Ecumenism

On Sat. Feb. 2nd, Rev. Phil Garrison, pastor of St.Andrew UCC, co-presided with Bridget Mary Meehan at a liturgy that celebrated Celtic spirituality. Phil shared insights from his recent sabbatical in Ireland with the assembly. Bridget Mary shared the story of St. Brigit's ordination as a bishop from one of the ancient

documents of Brigit's Life. Just as St. Brigit lived Gospel equality and partnership so we too at MMOJ rejoice in the partnership we share with St. Andrew's UCC community.

Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp, www.arcwp.org

 

Editorial: In Los Angeles, a victory for truth | National Catholic Reporter

Editorial: In Los Angeles, a victory for truth | National Catholic Reporter
A powerful indictment of clerical culture that hid sexual abuse of thousands of Catholic youth for decades in Los Angeles archdiocese.

"Authority and Dissent" by David Ryan in Commonweal

http://commonwealmagazine.org/orthodoxy-dissent

"Statement to U.S.Bishops for Justice for Women in the Church" by Janice Sevre-Duszynska

Janice Sevre-Duszynska is now a Roman Catholic Woman Priest with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. She issued this Statement to the Bishops for Justice for Women in the Church in 2000. Unfortunately, they are still dragging their feet on the issue of women's ordination in a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals as an issue of justice rooted in Jesus' example in the Gospels.

"I'm here to use my voice for many who cannot speak. There is an injustice within our church that affects the whole world. We must address this wrong. I am calling you to bring about justice for women in the church. Women's Calvary has not been gentle -- since we are called by God to ordination. Be compassionate to your sisters. Take us women down from the cross and experience the liberating joy that comes from justice-making. Roll away the stone of fear from the tomb and your hearts. Brothers in Christ, hear and feel the Spirit in our midst -- calling you and all of us to deeper conversion. Believe us Easter morning women who are holy conveyors of God's sacraments to the world -- and as such must be given ordination. Believe us Easter morning women who have witnessed the Resurrection. What the Spirit desires is compassion and faithfulness to the Truth. These virtues are more important that mere obedience. Hide no longer in your fear. Believe us Easter morning women. Ordain women. Become Easter morning men...:"

Janice Sevre-Duszynska November 2000 -- USCCB, Hyatt Regency, Capitol Hill, Wash., D.C.

"Will Cardinals Try To Delay Benedict XVI's Choice For Next Pope?" Watch "Mea Maxima Culpa" on Monday, Feb. 4th on HBO/Sex Abuse of deaf boys

..."The current problem, however, is that Benedict and his immediate predecessor have made a real mess of the Catholic Church. He has failed to resolve in any significant way the priest sexual abuse scandal. Apparently, the Vatican’s child abuse legal defense is overseen by a sole practioner from California. Nine months now after firing the head of the Vatican Bank in the midst of financial scandals, Benedict has not replaced him. Meanwhile, the Vatican is incurring losses daily from its tourist business due apparently to related banking restrictions from the Bank of Italy. Apparently, the same California sole practioner is also advising the Vatican on its European banking law problems.Given this track record of failures, how many Cardinals really want to leave their financial and legal fates over the next few decades to the papal candidate selected by Benedict and his incompetent Vatican clique. The next couple of years will surely see an increase in international criminal investigations of child abuse and financial misdeeds. The major Australia abuse investigation commission is just the beginning. President Obama will face increasing demands to establish a comparable commission as the still ongoing LA Archdiocesean revelations shock almost everyone. Moreover, beginning next Monday evening, February 4, HBO will begin airing initially in both English and Spanish the award winning documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa”. This powerful and moving documentary tells of the alleged sexual abuse over several decades by a single Milwaukee priest of over 200 deaf boys. It also points out clearly the Vatican’s failures to curtail this. HBO reaches over 25 million subscribers in the US and many more in over 150 other countries."
Read whole article by Jerry Slevin, an international Harvard trained lawyer
http://christiancatholicism.com/will-cardinals-try-to-delay-benedict-xvis-choice-for-next-pope/

A Celtic Profession of Faith from the Iona Community, Scotland

Presider: Let us affirm our faith.

All: We believe that God is present
in the darkness before dawn;
In the waiting and uncertainty
where fear and courage join hands,
Conflict and caring link arms
And the sun rises over barbed wire.
We believe in a with-us God
Who sits down in our midst
To share our humanity,
A feasting God.*
We affirm a faith,
That takes us beyond a safe place
Into action, into vulnerability,
Into the streets.
We commit ourselves to work for change
And put ourselves on the line;
To bear responsibility, to take risks,
Live powerfully and face humiliation;
To stand with those on the edge;
To choose life
And be used by the Spirit
For God’s new community of Hope. Amen.
(from Iona Abbey Worship Book by The Iona Community)

"Priest Who Supports Women Priests Now Facing Expulsion"/ Irish Independent

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cleric-who-supports-women-priests-now-facing-expulsion-3358336.html
Bridget Mary's Response:
It is ludicrous that the Vatican is so threatened by our women priests' movement that it is excommunicating and expelling  men like Tony Flannery and Roy Bourgeois from religious orders, both faithful, prophetic, male priests  who are addressing sexism in our church. Neither priests have done anything wrong, unlike the the bishops who protected thousands of pedophiles.  The Vatican has not issued any excommunications in response to these crimes. This is the real scandal that is rocking the church. Soon another shocking documentary, "Mea Maxima Culpa" which recounts the sexual abuse of hundreds of deaf boys in a Catholic School in Miluwakee will air on HBO. There is something very wrong  with a hierarchy and aVatican that does not see the elephant in its own living room. Jesus would weep over the tragic state of the Catholic Church.  Let us continue to work for renewal and a "holy shakeup" of our church.
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org

"Catholicism's Curse"/ New York Times

Roman Catholic leaders pay too much heed to insulating, justifying and protecting their priesthood and themselves.
http://nyti.ms/WDXLzf
"And yet with imperious regularity, Vatican officials issue their relished condemnations. These officials are reliably riled by nuns, a favorite target of their wrath. And they’ve been none too pleased with an Irish priest, the Rev. Tony Flannery, 66, who was suspended from his ministry by the Vatican last year and informed, he recently said, that he could return to it on the condition that he publicly express his endorsement of a range of official positions that he had questioned, including the exclusion of women from the priesthood. Last Sunday he broke a long silence to say that the Vatican had threatened him with excommunication and to call its approach toward him “reminiscent of the Inquisition.”
..."Among the Vatican’s issues with him was his stated belief in a 2010 article that the priesthood, rather than originating with Jesus and a specially selected group of followers, was selfishly created later by a “privileged group within the community who had abrogated power and authority to themselves.”
"...That may sound like an extreme assertion, but the new book by Wills, a Pulitzer Prize winner who has written extensively about Christianity and the church, says that at the start, Christianity not only didn’t have priests but opposed them. The priesthood was a subsequent tweak, and the same goes for the all-male, celibate nature of the Roman Catholic clergy and the autocratic hierarchy that this clergy inhabits, an unresponsive government whose subjects — the laity — have limited say.
“It can’t admit to error, the church hierarchy,” Wills told me on the phone on Thursday. “Any challenge to their prerogative is, in their eyes, a challenge to God. You can’t be any more arrogant than that.”
“We Catholics were taught not only that we must have priests but that they must be the right kind of priests,” he writes in the book, which argues that priests aren’t ultimately necessary. “What we were supposed to accept is that all priesthoods are invalid ones except the Roman Catholic....”

"Combat Soldiers & Clergywomen: Problematic Equality" by Mary E. Hunt

http://www.waterwomensalliance.org/2013/01/january-24-combat-soldiers-clergywomen-problematic-equality-by-mary-e-hunt/#.UQQHU5n8_8Q.email

"When the celebrations wind down I will be looking for people who want to ask hard questions about how we humans deal with our differences without war. Before the Catholic hierarchy makes its announcement, I want to talk about how we Catholics organize ourselves for worship and service. Meanwhile, I content myself with the age-old advice, be careful what you pray for..."

Bridget Mary's Response:
Excellent question, and a thought-provoking article by  feminist theologian Mary Hunt!
I believe that a renewed priestly ministry must avoid the clerical trap of the "good old boys club."  Baptism into Christ makes us all spiritual equals. Women priests are making a bridge to gender equality from the kyriarchal model of church to a community of equals model that is truly empowered. It is a fragile bud, but it is beginning to blossom.
 In Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Fl. we have co-presiders of ordained and non-ordained at our weekly liturgy. The assembly celebrates the Eucharist. Some of the highlights are a shared homily with community participating,  the recitation of the Eucharistic Prayer is done by members of the congregation gathered in a circle around the altar. All pray Words of Institution, all do final blessing etc.  Our arcwp celebrations are not a return to the glory days of the "magic fingers" of the old clerical model of priestly ministry, but a faith-filled community celebration of the contemporary Body of Christ who shares the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ on the margins. We conclude our service with mutual blessing as a prophetic people on the edge where we are called to go forth and let the service begin anew. 
Bridget Mary Meehan,arcwp
www.arcwp.org

"Is the Pope Panicking Over Sex Scandals, Political Polls or Both" by Catholic Lawyer, Jerry Slevin

http://christiancatholicism.com/is-the-pope-panicking-over-sex-scandals-political-polls-or-both/

No Evidence of Apponting Bishops or of Peter Appointing Successors to the Twelve Apostles/ Bishops and Early Popes were "elected" by community/"Council of Baptized .org" for Historical Practices of Roman Catholic Church

http://www.councilofthebaptized.org/images/selection_of_bishops.pdf

Practice in the New Testament

"The lives of the twelve apostles in the first century after Jesus’ death provide

no evidence of their appointing bishops or of Peter’s appointing successors

to the twelve apostles in the manner practiced today. “It is not

the concern of the New Testament writers to present a coherent history

of emerging ecclesiastical structures” (Cardman 2004, 35).

The early Christian communities functioned fluidly like a movement,

not yet as a structured institution. The first writings surviving from the

years following Jesus’ death are the letters of Paul to the Christian communities

in the Greek speaking world (AD 50s). In each case Paul addresses

his letters to the whole community in a particular city, sometimes

naming men and women who are the leaders. Paul sees the Christian

community as a community of equals, where each of the members has

gifts to contribute to the community (Haight 2004). Various people assume

leadership roles within each community; Paul makes no references

to bishops or to apostolic succession. The successor to Judas among the

twelve was Matthias, chosen by the drawing of lots (Acts 1:12-26).

The gospel narratives report that Jesus himself calls and appoints the

twelve and teaches them the roles of servant leadership. “The greatest

among you must be your servant” (Matthew 23:22). “You know that

among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great

men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you” (Mark

10:42). Jesus does not mandate a model for subsequent leadership selection.

Practice in the Early Church

Evidence from early church tradition supports our initiative to call our

spiritual leaders. Luke’s writing from late in the first century suggests

church offices are beginning to take shape, yet still fluid. In Acts 6:1-6,

Peter appoints seven deacons to serve the widows in Jerusalem and free

the apostles to preach; in Acts 7 and 8 two of these deacons Stephen and

Philip are preaching, not distributing food. By the time of the writing of

the Didache (c. 100) there is an emerging local ministry of bishops and

deacons. The Didache writer urges the communities “to elect bishops

and deacons, men who are ‘gentle, generous, faithful, and well tried’ ”

(Cardman 2004, 36). The pastoral epistles reflect concern with structure

in households of faith. Scholars date the description of the ideal qualities

for bishops (1Timothy 3:1-7) about AD 100.

As the numbers of Christians grew during the second and third centuries,

they organized themselves more formally with bishops and presbyters

in a diverse number of communities. Ignatius of Antioch, c.100, is

the first recorded advocate of a structure for the community with bishops

and clergy (Haight 2004, 84). The community’s selection of its bishop was

typical in the early church. Hippolytus in AD 215 stated, “Let the bishop

be ordained…having been elected by all the people.” Bishops John

Chrysostom, Ambrose of Milan, and Augustine of Hippo, the great bishops

of the Patristic era, were selected with the people’s involvement. The

bishops of Rome were elected, as evidenced in the writing of Pope Celestine,

422-432: “The one who is to be head over all should be elected

by all. No one should be made a bishop over the unwilling; the consent

and desire of the clergy and the people…is required” (cited in McClory

2007, 31; Haight 2004).

Practice from Constantine

Through the Middle Ages

Church history from Constantine in AD 313 to the formulation of the first

code of canon law in 1917 shows a long struggle for institutional identity

and self-governance. The struggle between the Church of Rome and European

monarchies for power to govern the church ended with Rome’s

winning the centralized power to appoint bishops.

Until the end of the fourth century the church had no central ecclesiastical

power to appoint bishops. The eastern churches and the western

churches were separate even though headed by Constantine, the Roman

Emperor who accepted Christianity as the religion of the empire. They

were dependent to varying degrees on the jurisdiction of the Empire. The

bishop of Rome had recognition because of the city’s central position in

the Empire;..."
Bridget Mary's Response:
Excellent resource! Today the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is charting a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. Many Catholics are affirming the early tradition of the church as a "discipleship of equals" and are calling for more open, accountable, people-empowered structures in the election/selection of bishop and pope by the faith community. In my veiw, it is part of the spiritual revolution that is happening in Catholicism today and it is a welcome holy shakeup of the hierarchical structures! Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp. www.arcwp.org

Fr. Tony Flannery is right about priesthood/ David Quinn needs history lesson - No unbroken line of Apostolic Succession/ Response by Bridget Mary Meehan,arcwp

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/david-quinn-fr-flannery-has-cast-doubt-upon-the-core-nature-of-christs-church-3364248.html

David Quinn needs a refresher in church history. Fr. Tony Flannery is right about the priesthood.

Gary Wills, in his book, What Jesus Meant writes “Nowhere is it indicated there was an official presider at the Christian meal (agape), much less that consecrating the bread and wine was a task delegated to persons of a certain rank. It is a mark of the gospels’ fidelity to the followers’ original status that not one of them mentions a Christian priest or priesthood. When the term “priesthood” finally occurs, in the pseudo-Petrine letters, it refers to the whole Christian community (1 Peter 2.5, 2.9) and the “Peter” of this letter refers to himself not as a priest but as a “fellow elder” to the other elders… “(Gary Wills, What Jesus Meant, pp.69-70)

1. There were no priests in the first centuries of Christianity. Jesus does not call any of his followers priests. Peter, Paul, and the other apostles were not priests or bishops. Paul refers to functions and ministries, that came from gifts of the Spirit, not offices regulated by hierarchy, 1 Cor. 2.11-16) (Gary Wills, What Jesus Meant, pp.68-69)

Women were apostles. Junia (Romans 16:7), and Mary of Magdala, to whom the Risen Christ appeared and sent on mission to proclaim the core belief of Christianity, the Resurrection was the apostle to the apostles.

2. There is no unbroken line of Apostolic Succession.
David Quinn apparently has no idea that Peter was not a priest, a bishop, or a pope, or that apostolic succession comes down to us from the 1400's after the Great Western Schism. Therefore, apostolic succession does not go back to Peter and there is no unbroken line of succession. Three popes claimed to be pope at one time and Council of Constance appointed a different/new pope in 1417.

By the way, the history of the papacy is triple x rated – popes waged wars, granted indulgences for killing infidels (Crusades), Benedict X: papacy bought and sold for money; Gregory1, “When a woman has given birth she should abstain from entering a church for thirty-three days if she had a boy, sixty-six if she had a girl.”

And at least one pope wrote about women priests. He was annoyed that the bishops allowed women to preside at the altar.
Pope Gelasius wrote “Nevertheless we have heard to our annoyance that divine affairs have come to such a low state that women are encouraged to officiate at the sacred altars and to take part in all matters imputed to the offices of the male sex to which they do not belong.” (Gelasus "Letter to the Bishops of Lucania", 494) Sources: Rome has Spoken by Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben, and Gary Wills, What Jesus Meant

 Like Gary Wills, Tony Flannery gets it about the negative influences of clericalism: Wills sums it up:  “Christian priesthood, along with revived holiness codes- consecrated altars and consecrated men and “consecrating fingers,” with the extrusion of the laity (especially women) from altars from secret conclaves, from decision making from control of the believers’ money. The “rood screen” separating clergy from laity was a great barrier in the Middle Ages and it survived for a long time in the “communion railing”. Women returned to the unclean status give them by menstruation under Jewish (and other) law, were not allowed inside the sanctuary of a church- even the altar cloths had to be carried out to the nuns who washed them. For these groups, Jesus cleansed the Temple in vain.” (Gary Wills, What Jesus Meant, p. 85-84.)
Yes, the good news is that some smart, prophetic priests are now  breaking their silence and speaking about the sin of sexism, the elephant in the church's living room. Just when is the Vatican going to repent?
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com

How Much Longer Can the Vatican Avoid Priest Sex Abuse?"

http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-fj
(Article by Jerry Slevin)

"Laity Should Stand Up to Corruption of Roman Catholic Church"Father Phillip Lichtenwalter, St. Louis

"Since the break of the sex abuse scandal, the Roman Catholic Church has lost all grounds to speak on matters of faith and morals. The question now becomes, “Why does anyone continue to attend a Roman Catholic Church?”
Within the past week alone, we have heard stories of how cardinals and bishops have actively and knowingly protected pedophiles while speaking out against priests and nuns who speak out against the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. While Cardinal Mahony of California is accused of hiding sexual abuse by priests, Father Flannery, an Irish Catholic priest, is threatened with excommunication for speaking out against the Vatican. While the Religious Women’s Leadership Conference is under scrutiny for helping the poor, oppressed and marginalized, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are actively protesting the implementation of Obamacare under the guise of “religious freedom.” While Cardinal George and the bishops of Illinois are actively using their pulpits and finances to protest the newest legislation in Illinois to pass same-sex marriage, Father Donovan, a priest of the Springfield diocese, is forced to call 911 after he found himself bound and gagged, handcuffed in the church’s rectory. The list goes on and on. There isn’t a day that goes by without a news report of some form of corruption taking place within the Roman Catholic Church.

As a Catholic priest, this makes me wonder, why do so many educated men and women choose to be subjected to this corruption? With all the wonderful independent Catholic churches within the United States, such as the American National Catholic Church, which offers a modern and inclusive expression of our Catholic faith, why would the laity choose to be subjected to hypocrisy over spiritual happiness? Is the laity so brainwashed that they would refuse to go anywhere else than to give up on Roman Catholicism? Does the laity truly believe that remaining in the church and fighting for change is really going to work? At what point will the Roman Catholic Church finally stand up, raise the white flag and call it quits? I pray that it’s sooner than later.

I challenge the laity to stand up and speak out against this corruption and hypocrisy. I challenge the laity to finally say, “Enough is enough!” We will not let the church molest our children. We will not let the church hide behind tax exemption yet actively engage in politics. We will not let the church mismanage our money for their political advancement. We will not let the church cry holy when they are promoting hatred and evil. We will not let the church verbally assault our women while choosing to do whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. We will not let the church promote hatred and discrimination of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as “intrinsically evil” while promoting and protecting pedophiles, perverts and molesters. We will not endure within this Roman hierarchy of hypocrisy any longer. We are Catholics, not Roman Catholic! We have had enough! "
Father Phillip Lichtenwalter • St. Louis
Pastor, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church

"Redemptorist Priest: Vatican Threatened Excommunication for Advocating Discussion...Women Priests" by Irish journalist John Cooney/National Catholic Reporter/"Holy Shakeup" that Vatican Fears

John Cooney,a prominent Irish journalist, wrote this excellent article on Fr. Tony Flannery for the National Catholic Reporter. Like Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Franciscan Jerry Zawada, Jesuit Bill Brennan, Fr. Helmut Schüller of the Austrian Priests' Initiative, Redemptorist Tony Flannery is standing up in solidarity for women priests as an issue of conscience and justice in our church. The good news is that the holy shakeup of the Vatican's old boys' network is growing as prophetic priests and  organizations of male priests in Europe jump on board for women's ordination. I often heard my Dad, who died in Nov., play"God save Ireland" on the trumpet. Perhaps, this is one of the ways that God is going to save, not only Ireland ,but the church.  We can conclude from the Vatican's over-the-top punishments of courageous male priests, like Redemptorist. Tony Flannery, that one of the hierarchy's worst nightmares is the growing support of women priests by male priests! Where will it all end? Hopefully, we will see a renewed, vibrant church of the baptized where the gifts of all are celebrated and affirmed, and where women and men gather as partners and equals  to celebrate Eucharist in  faith communities that are inclusive and "catholic". It is time for all who love our church to join together to promote Gospel equality. Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp, www.arcwp.org
http://ncronline.org/news/global/redemptorist-priest-vatican-threatened-excommunication-my-teachings
NCR Article:
Update: The head of the Redemptorist fathers in Rome said he deeply regrets that Flannery broke the silence he had been asked to observe, Catholic New Service reported Wednesday

"Redemptorist Fr. Michael Brehl, the order's superior general, also confirmed that Flannery is under Vatican investigation for alleged ambiguities "regarding fundamental areas of Catholic doctrine, including the priesthood, the nature of the church and the Eucharist. Brehl said he wanted to "earnestly invite" Flannery "to renew the efforts to find an agreed solution to the concerns raised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."He also asked Irish Redemptorists to "join with me in praying and working together in the spirit of St. Alphonsus to maintain and strengthen our communion with the universal church."

PREVIOUS STORY
Irish Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery broke a year of silence Sunday to reveal that the Vatican had threatened him with excommunication and removal from his religious congregation because he advocates for open discussions about church teachings on ordaining women, clerical celibacy, contraceptives and homosexuality.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith removed Flannery, 66, from public ministry last February, pending the outcome of its inquiries into views he expressed in Reality, a Redemptorist-run magazine.
Flannery also said he has had no direct contact in person or writing from the congregation. All communication has come through the Redemptorist superior general in Rome, Fr. Michael Brehl.
Flannery described the actions against him as "frightening, disproportionate and reminiscent of the Inquisition."
He said he initially tried to find a compromise with the Vatican congregation, but by September, it became clear this would not happen."I gradually became aware that the CDF continually raised the bar until it got to the point where I could no longer negotiate," Flannery said. "I was faced with a choice. Either I sign a statement, for publication, stating that I accepted teachings that I could not accept, or I would remain permanently banned from priestly ministry, and maybe face more serious sanctions.

"It is important to state clearly that these issues were not matters of fundamental teaching, but rather of church governance," he said.

Flannery, a popular retreat master and writer, said the congregation also had ordered him "not to have any involvement, public or private" with the Association of Catholic Priests. Flannery co-founded the association in 2010 as a forum for discussion among Irish clergy on issues affecting the Irish church and society.

"I have served the church, the Redemptorists and the people of God for two-thirds of my life. Throughout that time, I have in good conscience raised issues I believed important for the future of the Church in books and essays largely read by practicing Catholics, rather than raising them in mainstream media," Flannery said in a statement released at a news conference. "I'm hardly a major and subversive figure within the Church deserving excommunication and expulsion from the religious community within which I have lived since my teens."The choice facing him, he said, was between deciding between Rome and his conscience.

"Submitting to these threats would be a betrayal of my ministry, my fellow priests and the Catholic people who want change," he said.
The Redemptorists in Ireland issued a strong defense of Flannery on Sunday.

"We do understand and support his efforts to listen carefully to and at times to articulate the views of people he encounters in the course of his ministry," the provincial leadership team of the Irish Redemptorists said in a statement.

They said they regretted immensely that "some structures or processes of dialogue have not yet been found in the Church which have a greater capacity to engage with challenging voices from among God's people, while respecting the key responsibility and central role of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."

The Association of Catholic Priests also affirmed "in the strongest possible terms" its support for Flannery. The association said Flannery was being targeted as "part of a worldwide effort to negate the influence of independent priests' associations in Austria, USA, Germany, France, Switzerland and other places."

Also at the news conference was Fr. Helmut Schüller of the Austrian Priests' Initiative. He criticized the "lack of basic rights and respect for personal conscience" in the church.

Former Irish President Mary McAleese spoke in support of Flannery and other dissident Irish clerics Oct. 20 at the launch of her book Quo Vadis?: Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law at the Jesuit headquarters in Dublin. There she spoke privately to Flannery, who was making a rare public appearance.

The reform group We are Church Ireland announced a peaceful vigil outside the Vatican's Apostolic Nunciature in Dublin, planned for Jan. 27, to offer unconditional support for Flannery's right "not to be forced by an abuse of his vow of obedience to submit to the secretive demands" of the doctrinal congregation.

Flannery said, "The threats are a means, not just of terrifying me into submission, but of sending a message to any other priest expressing views at variance with those of the Roman Curia."

From the West of Ireland, Flannery was born in Attymon, County Galway, and spent time as a Redemptorist preacher in Limerick. He has a large following both as preacher and retreat master. He is a popularizer, rather than a heavyweight scholar. He holds audience attention through dialogue, especially with parents who find that the clerical abuse scandals have alienated their children from religion.

Once noted for hellfire sermons, the Redemptorists have been at the forefront of the drive for necessary church change. Flannery's 1999 book, From the Inside: A Priest's View of the Catholic Church, is part autobiographical and part appraisal of Irish Catholicism. It consists of short, readable pieces, highlighting inadequate sexual and spiritual training of priests. It examines fault lines that emerged in the aftermath of Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae, upholding the church's ban on artificial forms of contraception.

In this book, too, Flannery criticized the institution's mishandling of clerical celibacy.
His Fragments of Reality, published in 2008 by Columba Press of Dublin, contains his collected writings since 1998, when he was a member of the Redemptorist Mission Team which comprised laypeople and clergy.
He saw firsthand the steady decline throughout Ireland of church attendance and of candidates for the priesthood.
He also witnessed the continued denial of any meaningful role for women in ministry. "How much longer can this policy be sustained?" he wrote. "We must be the last institution in the Western world that continues to hold such blatant discrimination against women. I don't have any doubt that there is no theological or scriptural basis for this position, but that it is purely a social and institutional construct hiding a fairly barefaced and primitive desire for male domination."

In the essay "The Ordination of Women" in Fragments of Reality, he revealed that he knows a few of the women who were ordained in the Roman Catholic women priests movement on a riverboat in Pittsburgh in 2006. He personally knows Irish-born Bridget Mary Meehan, who is a bishop in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests."
[John Cooney is a Dublin-based journalist and historian.]

"How the Vatican built a Secret Property Empire Using Mussolini's Millions"/The Guardian/British News Story

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/21/vatican-secret-property-empire-mussolini

"Papacy used offshore tax havens to create £500m international portfolio, featuring real estate in UK, France and Switzerland"

David Leigh, Jean François Tanda and Jessica Benhamou

The Guardian, Monday 21 January 2013 20.23 GMT
"Few passing London tourists would ever guess that the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, had anything to do with the pope. Nor indeed the nearby headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James's Square and Pall Mall.

But these office blocks in one of London's most expensive districts are part of a surprising secret commercial property empire owned by the Vatican.

Behind a disguised offshore company structure, the church's international portfolio has been built up over the years, using cash originally handed over by Mussolini in return for papal recognition of the Italian fascist regime in 1929.

Since then the international value of Mussolini's nest-egg has mounted until it now exceeds £500m. In 2006, at the height of the recent property bubble, the Vatican spent £15m of those funds to buy 30 St James's Square. Other UK properties are at 168 New Bond Street and in the city of Coventry. It also owns blocks of flats in Paris and Switzerland.

The surprising aspect for some will be the lengths to which the Vatican has gone to preserve secrecy about the Mussolini millions. The St James's Square office block was bought by a company called British Grolux Investments Ltd, which also holds the other UK properties. Published registers at Companies House do not disclose the company's true ownership, nor make any mention of the Vatican..."

Bridget Mary's Response:
 What a shocker to see the connection between Mussolini and the pope? Why does the Vatican hide the church's financial assets? Thiis report will probably surprise, or even shock, many Catholics in the pews.
We can see clearly the need for accountability and transparency in the Vatican and among the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. I wonder if any of this is related to the Vati-leaks or the Butler's case.
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org

President Obama Calls for Inclusivity and Equality at 2nd Inaugural Address

Obama calls for greater equality for all
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/inauguration/2013-inauguration-waiting-watching-bearing-witness/2013/01/21/7bc849ce-63b6-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee_story.html
Let us hope that one day, in not too distant future, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, including the pope, will  stand up in St. Peter's Square, with women priests, and issue a similar prophetic call! Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp, www.arcwp.org

Media Statement from the Provincial Leadership Team of the Irish Redemptorists

www.eskercommunity.org

Sunday 20th January 2013
"The Irish Redemptorist Community is deeply saddened by the breakdown in communication between Fr. Tony Flannery C.Ss.R. and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)Fr. Tony Flannery is highly regarded and respected by many in Ireland, both within and outside of the Redemptorist Congregation. He has been an effective parish missioner all over the country since the mid 1970s and from this context has raised matters which he believes need greater dialogue, debate and consideration. Within the Dublin Province of the Redemptorists there exists a very lively spirit of debate and dialogue; we are and over many years have been, committed to mature discourse. Although not all Redemptorists would accept Fr. Flannery’s views on all matters, we do understand and support his efforts to listen carefully to and at times to articulate the views of people he encounters in the course of his ministry.As Irish Redemptorists we appreciate the difficulties this situation has created for others, especially for our Superior General in Rome, Fr. Michael Brehl. He has made every possible effort to resolve the matters which have emerged between the CDF and Fr. Flannery.Our Redemptorist Constitutions require us to be obedient to God’s call to us as religious in the Church. Following our founder, St. Alphonsus, for whom thinking with the Church was a important criterion of missionary service, a further key element of our Church mandate is to listen and stay close to God’s people; to engage in missionary dialogue with the world while endeavouring to understand people’s anxious questionings; to try to discover in these how God is truly being revealed.It is of immense regret that some structures or processes of dialogue have not yet been found in the Church which have a greater capacity to engage with challenging voices from among God’s people, while respecting the key responsibility and central role of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.We sincerely hope and pray that even at this late stage, some agreed resolution can be found to this matter."

"Vatican's demand for silence is too high a price" Fr. Tony Flannery/Irish Times Article/"Holy Shakeup Continues

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2013/0121/1224329102657.html#.UP1BdnxSLg0.email

...."There are people who will say I should leave the Catholic Church and join another Christian church – one more suitable to my stance. Being a Catholic is central to my personal identity. I have tried to preach the gospel. No matter what sanctions the Vatican imposes on me I will continue, in whatever way I can, to try to bring about reform in the church and to make it again a place where all who want to follow Christ will be welcome. He made friends with the outcasts of society, and I will do whatever I can in my own small way to oppose the current Vatican trend of creating a church of condemnation rather than one of compassion.I believe that the real aim of the CDF is to suppress the ACP – attempts have been made to clip the wings of the Austrian association. I hope and pray it will not succeed.While I am dealing with these issues in my own life I believe it is appropriate for me to temporarily stand down from my position of leadership in the association. I will, however, remain an active member, and will be available to help in every way possible for the work of the ACP, which is bigger than any one person.Finally, it could be asked why I am going public now having remained silent for a year. I need to take back my voice."
Bridget Mary's Response:
The holy shakeup continues as more and more priests stand up for conscience and an inclusive church that includes women priests. I pray that one day we will have women priests in Ireland. I stand in solidarity with Fr. Tony Flannery and the Association of Irish Priests and thank them for their prophetic witness to gender equality in the Catholic Church. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com

 

Irish Priest Will Defy Vatican by Breaking Silence/Refuses to Sign Statement Against Women Priests/Congratulations Fr. Tony Flannery for Speaking Truth to Power

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/world/europe/priest-is-planning-to-defy-vaticans-orders-to-stay-quiet.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

DUBLIN — "A well-known Irish Catholic priest plans to defy Vatican authorities on Sunday by breaking his silence about what he says is a campaign against him by the church over his advocacy of more open discussion on church teachings.

The Rev. Tony Flannery, 66, who was suspended by the Vatican last year, said he was told by the Vatican that he would be allowed to return to ministry only if he agreed to write, sign and publish a statement agreeing, among other things, that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality.
“How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “If I signed this, it would be a betrayal not only of myself but of my fellow priests and lay Catholics who want change. I refuse to be terrified into submission.”
Father Flannery, a regular contributor to religious publications, said he planned to make his case public at a news conference here on Sunday.
The Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote to Father Flannery’s religious superior, the Rev. Michael Brehl, last year instructing him to remove Father Flannery from his ministry in County Galway, to ensure he did not publish any more articles in religious or other publications, and to tell him not to give interviews to the news media.
In the letter, the Vatican objected in particular to an article published in 2010 in Reality, an Irish religious magazine. In the article, Father Flannery, a Redemptorist priest, wrote that he no longer believed that “the priesthood as we currently have it in the church originated with Jesus” or that he designated “a special group of his followers as priestInstead, he wrote, “It is more likely that some time after Jesus, a select and privileged group within the community who had abrogated power and authority to themselves, interpreted the occasion of the Last Supper in a manner that suited their own agenda.”Father Flannery said the Vatican wanted him specifically to recant the statement, and affirm that Christ instituted the church with a permanent hierarchical structure and that bishops are divinely established successors to the apostles.He believes the church’s treatment of him, which he described as a “Spanish Inquisition-style campaign,” is symptomatic of a definite conservative shift under Pope Benedict XVI.“I have been writing thought-provoking articles and books for decades without hindrance,” he said. “This campaign is being orchestrated by a secretive body that refuses to meet me. Surely I should at least be allowed to explain my views to my accusers.”His superior was also told to order Father Flannery to withdraw from his leadership role in the Association of Catholic Priests, a group formed in 2009 to articulate the views of rank-and-file members of the clergy.
In reply to an association statement expressing solidarity with Father Flannery, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith denied it was acting in a secretive manner, pointed out that Father Flannery’s views could be construed as “heresy” under church law, and threatened “canonical penalties,” including excommunication, if he did not change his views.This month, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote to an American priest, Roy Bourgeois, notifying him of his laicization, following his excommunication in 2008 over his support for the ordination of women."
Bridget Mary's Response:
Kudos to Fr. Tony Flannery for standing up to Vatican oppression of women and abuse of power.  As Martin Luther King reminds us we must always challenge injustice, no matter where we find it. I am proud of your prophetc stance for gender justice in the Roman Catholic Church. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests stands in solidarity with the Irish Priests Association. We affirm our Irish brothers and look forward to the day when the Catholic Church will follow the example Jesus gave of Gospel equality. Your story is the most recent chapter in the growing spiritual revolution that is spreading in the Roman Catholic Church.  Let us lead the way to a renewed, people-empowered Roman Catholic Church!
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
 (Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests)














=

Join the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests in Mission of Justice and Equality for All with Prayers and Financial Support

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters of ARCWP:

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests in 2013 is growing as a renewed inclusive Christ-centered, justice-seeking movement within the Catholic Church emerging in more and more places led by ordained women. We give thanks for you, our supporters. In 2012 five women were ordained as priests and another six women as deacons. We anticipate the ordination of as many as nine women as priests in 2013. In spite of the Vatican-imposed punishment of excommunication our movement for Gospel equality continues to grow.

Roman Catholic Women Priests are a new vision rising up: one of inclusion, nonviolence and justice in our church and world community. We are active in ministries with those who are living on the margins due to homelessness, racism, poverty and difference. We serve as pastors for house churches and inclusive Catholic communities. We are educators and authors, retreat leaders and peace activists. We provide pastoral care in a variety of medical settings. We work with youth, families, the elderly and the disaffected to heal and build community often in ecumenical settings.

Because we are so blessed with growth we know that we need increased financial support. Our largest expenses are for our ordinations and all the ways we spread our good news by speaking to groups in colleges and universities and at showings of the documentary “Pink Smoke”, through our website, and by visiting and collaborating with our priests in South America.

That’s what ARCWP is about. We work tirelessly to bring about the Kin-dom in local communities by the giving of ourselves in ministry and by challenging the powers that be. We know that we can count on you to support our efforts. Please make your tax-deductible donation to: ARCWP at the address above. Since travel costs are one of our largest expenses, we would gratefully accept the purchase of an airline ticket through any frequent flier program.

We invite you to visit our website (www.arcwp.org) and Bridget Mary Meehan’s blog (www.bridgetmarys. blogspot.com) for the latest in our movement for a renewed, inclusive church.

We offer you our blessings as we move forward together,

The Women of ARCWP

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt charitable organization.

Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Fr. Roy Bourgeois Speaks at MLK Celebration in California

http://www.modbee.com/2013/01/17/2537624/ex-priest-to-give-mlk-day-talk.html

"Will the Next Pope Become the Vatican's Last Pope?" by Jerry Slevin/ Vatican Corruption and Need for Reform/ Women Priests Leading the Way

http://christiancatholicism.com/will-the-next-pope-become-the-vaticans-last-pope/

"The next pope, expected soon by many, will apparently be the last imperial pope elected. Thereafter, the Catholic hierarchy will likely be compelled to adopt power-sharing reforms under accelerating pressure, including from political leaders in Australia, Ireland, Germany and soon likely the USA, as well. The percentage of voting Cardinals in the Vatican, mostly Italians, has increased considerably during Benedict XVI’s short tenure. This has fortified the Vatican Cardinal clique’s veto grip on the next papal election, which likely will be of an initially younger, longer serving, but similarly imperial, pope... "
"Ongoing developments indicate that electing a new pope now, who would appear to be just another puppet of the imperial Vatican clique, would likely lead rapidly to the end of the Roman Holy Empire. These ongoing developments include: (A) the continuing disclosures of the Catholic hierarchy’s worldwide criminal conspiracies, (B) the imminent end of papal primacy and the return of accountability, (C) the steady restoration of scriptural primacy and simple Gospel values, and (D) the increasing loss of effective Vatican political power worldwide."


International prosecutors, government investigators and/or abuse survivors’ lawyers will likely continue their relentless pursuit of key Cardinals, including perhaps the pope, for child endangerment abuse cover-up practices and for bank money laundering and other financial crimes.

Pressure will continue to mount from:

(1) the ongoing revelations from the major governmental investigation commission in Australia (and probably soon in the USA as well), which will override non-disclosure agreements and compel testimony, including about the details of communications between the local hierarchy and Vatican officials;

(2) the Los Angeles Archdiocesan file revelations underlying the $660 million abuse settlement and including hundreds of previously secret and unredacted abuse related files;

(3) the award winning HBO documentary (“Mea Maxima Culpa”) about over 200 deaf Milwaukee boys sexually abused by a single priest that will begin airing internationally on February 4, which includes details of the failure of the current pope’s former CDF department to deal effectively and expeditiously with the evident predator, as well as the clip of the pope earlier slapping an ABC-TV reporter for daring to press him on the status of Father Maciel’s almost fifty-year old investigation;

(4) the seemingly unending bizarre saga of Cardinal Rigali’s former Philly Archdiocesean priests’ ongoing child sexual abuse and/or child endangerment criminal trials, and the related blatant perjury and document destruction admissions;

(5) the ongoing stonewalling by German bishops apparently to keep independent investigators like Professor Pfeiffer from getting to the Munich and Regensburg files of the Ratzinger brothers;

(6) New York Cardinal Dolan’s shameful and failed effort to try illegally to keep millions of dollars of Milwaukee funds from abuse survivors, including some of the 200 deaf boys mentioned above;

(7) the continuation in office of Kansas City Bishop Finn after his conviction for a child endangerment related crime, despite the demands of many local Catholics that he be removed;

(8) the arrest of Cardinal Egan’s and Archbishop Lori’s former Bridgeport top aide, Monsignor Wallin, reportedly a cross dressing, porn distributing, alleged drug dealer;

(9) the appointment of one of disgraced Cardinal Law’s former canon lawyers as the new chief Vatican prosecutor of predatory priests; and

(10) inevitably more obscene revelations related to the foregoing, that will just add more fuel to the demand for more and stronger prosecutorial efforts worldwide against the Catholic hierarchy.

(B) The End of Papal Primacy and the Restoration of Accountability

Anticipated disclosures from these prosecutorial proceedings from previously secret Vatican documents and likely sworn testimony from Vatican employees, such as the papal butler who can be expected to reveal more especially after Gorgeous Georg’s surprising promotion to Archbishop, and notwithstanding the apparent effort to buy the butler’s silence with a new Catholic hospital position in Rome, appear likely to raise more issues of greater papal culpability.

These issues will then serve to buttress the increasingly widely disseminated historical and scriptural evidence that shows clearly that “divine origin” claims for papal authority are mainly unsupportable. The imminent collapse of papal credibility and authority will likely lead more Catholics to revisit and to seek to restore the structure that Jesus and his first disciples left behind intentionally, where local church gatherings were overseen by locally selected and accountable leaders, both male and female..."

Bridget Mary's Response:
Excellent article by Jerry Slevin that should be read by everyone. 
The spirituality of Catholicism is profound. The Gospel and sacramental celebrations are at the heart of our faith. We have a beautiful mystical and social justice tradtion.  The community of faith, the people of God, are the church, as Vatican 11 reminded us, not the hierarchy alone.
Jesus could not stand the religious hypocrisy of the religious leaders and lashed out against their abuse of spiritual power.   It is time for Catholics to follow Jesus' example and challenge the Vatican and hierarchy to a reform that includes structural change and accountability. The Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is providing  a model of renewal that affirms Gospel equality and justice for women in the church. We welcome all celebrate Eucharist and our vision is an empowered, partnership model of church! Women priests have not left the church, as the Vatican claims, but are leading the church into its future now!
Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com