I read Dan Warner's lead article on Bishop Dewane with great interest as I am a priest who lives and serves in the Diocese of Venice. My ministry at the Church of the Good Shepherd: An Inclusive Catholic Community serves the poorest of the poor of Fort Myers and surrounding areas. We feed and clothe the poor and shelter the homeless. We celebrate Mass at 2 PM on Sundays and serve a full hot meal afterward. We also provide a full range of social and spiritual services. In reading your article I wondered if I would learn about something substantial that Bishop Dewane plans to offer the poor and homeless of this Diocese. Their needs are greater than ever and their ranks have swelled in this time of national recession. Fort Myers and Cape Coral are near the top of the list for unemployment and foreclosure and the people he claims to care for are in great pain and distress. Your article is very clear that under his administration financial assistance for the poor given through Catholic Charities has been ended and food pantries are down to being open two hours on one day a week. These facts are well known to people in need who then turn to all local churches directly for assistance as all else often fails. It is true that Catholics are generous givers, as are those of other faiths , and I commend the work of Catholic Charities but there is something very wrong when the finery of the church is maintained, including housing for the Bishop, when people are hungry, without shelter and desperate. The church can do better than a giving-tree in the Cathedral in Venice- local restaurants throughout Florida do the same. Shame, shame if we can not help empower people to attain the resources they need to live. Shame if whatever money we collect does not go to relieve the poor. There is something very wrong when Mission churches, such as St. Peter Claver, are closed when they are in the areas that serve the poorest. There is something very wrong when a Bishop claims to put the people of God foremost in his thinking and funds are no longer available for them. There is also something very wrong when a bishop claims no knowledge of the several firings of the progressive educators named in the article, and others, and the censure of spiritual leaders who see things differently, such as the leader of Call To Action, Ellen McNally, a former Sister The Mother of God House of Prayer, a Catholic Retreat House serving Catholics and the wider community was deemed "not Catholic" by the bishop. It is well known that any person or organization in the Diocese who supports women's ordination or married priests or a range of other issues of equality and dignity for all of God's children, even indirectly, or that even listens to other views is censured by the Bishop's office. How can he not know? The affairs of a spiritual leader's office should be open and transparent to all, including of course the bishop who ultimately directs his staff. In two written communications written by the Bishop Dewane in 2008, the year of my Ordination, I also was in essence deemed "not Catholic". I was warned not to proceed with Ordination with the "salvation of my soul" in question. I am a validly ordained Roman Catholic Woman Priest. Such letters are not standard for all bishops. Only some of the more than seventy validly ordained women in the United States (and over one hundred world-wide) have received such letters. We can also attest to the support of some bishops and priests, and at the very least a lack of censure. I have been told that I have separated myself from the church. I have not done so, and I do not accept his interpretation that the various ecclesial writings on women's ordination are "infallible teaching". In fact, they are simply decisions made by men that limit God's calling to males. Women were deacons, priests and bishops until the Twelfth Century. They led in the early church before the current structures developed. In Paul's letter to the Romans, Chapter 16 we hear the Apostle's praise of such women. Scholarly works demonstrating this by Gary Macy, Karen Jo Torjeson and Dorothy Irvin are available for all to read. I have remained publicly quiet until now as all of my energies go to serving God's people, but your article caused me to respond. The story about the shoes is a familiar one right here and now ,and our ministry has provided countless pairs of work boots and shoes to the poor of Fort Myers. When we run out of money to buy them new, we arrange with local Thrift Stores to provide good quality used shoes. We have served the flock that the Bishop talks about for almost three years, providing thousands of hot meals on a weekly basis as well as clothing and yes, financial aid, by the grace of God and the generosity of people of all walks of life. We have been able to shepherd twenty-five people from homelessness, from sleeping on the streets and in the woods to permanent housing. We believe that the good news to the poor includes being poor no more. We have partnered with Lamb of God Lutheran Episcopal Church in Estero in what is a blessed ecumenical effort. We have had over one hundred volunteers from various communities and churches( Roman Catholic parishes included) assist us in these efforts, including Ellen McNally, now 80, who headed one of four teams of those who cooked and served the meals for well over a year. She continues to help us and is one with the people we serve. If her "Catholicity" is in question because she heads CTA and if The Mother of God House of Prayer is not Catholic then neither are Bishop Dewane or Pope Benedict. And, in case anyone is wondering,my soul is just fine too. If Bishop Dewane's heart is moved by God's people, then let him redirect some funds to the poor and cease his censure and oppression of all who disagree with him.
Rev. Dr. Judith A.B.Lee
Pastor of The Good Shepherd: Inclusive Catholic Community
2621 Central AvenueFort Myers,Florida,33901
(My home address is 18520 Eastshore Drive, Fort Myers, Florida, 33967;
239-454-7426)
Go to Site Index/Worship, type in Bishop Dewane
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