Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Sacred Imagination Journal/Lenten Journal

Bishop Dana Reynolds (Western Region of the United States)

http://www.sacredimaginationjournal.typepad.com//

Dana Reynolds is Bishop of the Western Region of Roman Catholic Womenpriests. She is a spiritual director and writer who has been a facilitator of the spiritual/creative process for over twenty years. Dana believes that God speaks to us through the world of images and symbols and that we are invited to be co-creators with the Divine through our sacred imaginations. Visit her weblog where you will find inspiration and tools for enlivening your spiritual practices.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Gloria Carpeneto and Andrea Johnson preside at Advent Liturgy in Maryland

From right to left: Roman Catholic Womenpriests Gloria Carpeneto and Andrea Johnson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tntm7cLMJCs&feature=email

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: St. Teresa of Avila's Prayer

St. Teresa of Avila's Prayer

"Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks with compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good.
ours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world."

St. Teresa of Avila 1515 Spain, Doctor of the Church

St. Teresa of Avila, a prominent reformer of the Carmelite order, was interrogated by the Inquisition for her teachings on prayer. She is a patron for Catholics, who have been excommunicated, interdicted , and/or condemned by officials in the institutional church. St. Teresa, may we live as you did, as Christ's presence in our world. In my book, Praying with Visionary Women, I write about holy women:mystics, prophets and activists in the Christian tradition.
Bridget Mary Meehan

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Auch "Priesterinnen" wollen in die Kirche

Left to right Bishops Ida Raming, Patricia Fresen, Gisela Forster presided at first historic ordinations in the United States on July 31, 2006 in Pittsburgh, PA. USA

Bishop Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger from Austria in middle, Bill Manseau on left (president of CORPUS), RCWP priest Juanita Cordero (California) at pre-conference retreat day at Call To Action in Milwaukee, Wisconsin/ USA in Nov. 2006
Wenn es bei Lefebvrianern und Holocaust-Leugnern möglich ist, dann soll es auch für Frauen gehen: Die Aufhebung der Exkommunikation der vier traditionalistischen Bischöfe der Piusbruderschaft hat auch Hoffnungen am anderen Ende des katholischen Spektrums genährt, wie Kathpress meldet. Die Organisation "Roman Catholic Womenpriests" (RCWP) forderte jedenfalls Papst Benedikt XVI. auf, jetzt auch das Dekret über den Ausschluss ihrer eigenen Mitglieder aufzuheben.

http://www.kurier.at/nachrichten/292265.php

O zru¹enie exkomunikácie ¾iadajú pápe¾a u¾ aj kòa¾kyDNES.sk - SlovakiaZdroj: AP Organizácia rímskokatolíckych ¾enských kòa¾iek - Roman Catholic Womenpriests - vyzvala pápe¾a Benedikta XVI., aby zru¹il dekrét o exkomunikácii ...
USA: O zru¹enie exkomunikácie ¾iadajú pápe¾a u¾ aj kòa¾kyTA3 - Bratislava,SlovakiaOrganizácia rímskokatolíckych ¾enských kòa¾iek - Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) - vyzvala pápe¾a Benedikta XVI., aby zru¹il dekrét o exkomunikácii jej ...
Auch "Priesterinnen" wollen in die KircheKurier - Wien,AustriaDie Organisation "Roman Catholic Womenpriests" (RCWP) forderte jedenfalls Papst Benedikt XVI. auf, jetzt auch das Dekret über den Ausschluss ihrer eigenen ...

Catholic Network for Women's Equality (CNWE) calls on Pope Benedict to lift excommunication against all Roman Catholic Women Priests or Bishops

The Catholic Network for Women’s Equality (CNWE) calls on Pope Benedict to lift in a gesture of reconciliation toward women in the Church the decree of automatic excommunication issued on May 29, 2008 against all Roman Catholic Women priests or bishops. We are aware that the Congregation for Bishops, instructed by the Pope, removed the excommunication of four dissenting bishops on Jan. 21, 2009 for the same reason of promoting Church unity.
Rescinding the decree of automatic excommunication would be an act not of charity but of justice. By showing this leadership, the Pope would be taking a great step forward in promoting the full dignity of women. The current practice of saying there is no discrimination against women, and that women cannot be ordained ‘because this is Christ's will’ tragically shifts blame for injustice onto Christ, presenting him as one of the worst discriminators against women in history. It is not Christ who bars women from sacred ministry, it is Canon Law. Grave injustice is done not only to women but to the entire Body of Christ every single time an authentic vocation is discriminated against on the basis of one's sex. This is contrary to St. Paul ’s teaching that “In Christ there is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” It is also a gross violation of women’s human rights, as Vatican ll declares: Any kind of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, colour, social conditions, language or religion, must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design. Gaudium et Spes, art. 29, 2
The National Work Group of CNWE,
Michele Birch Conery, Marie Evans Bouclin, Therese Koturbash, Paula MacQuarrie, Jocelyn Rait.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Link to Today Show program aired on Thanksgiving Day 2008

http://www.mmacc.org/

Role of Bishops in Early Church Conversation with Roman Catholic Theologian and Archaelogist: St. Brigit of Kildare- Bishop and Abbess

Bishop Theodora and St. Praxedis (bishops depicted in mosaic in St. Praxedis Church in Rome)


St. Brigit of Kildare ( 450 AD, bishop and abbess, feast Feb. 1st)

This week Dorothy Irvin, distinguished Roman Catholic Theologian and Archaeologist and I had a conversation on the role of bishops in the early church.


1 Before Constantine, Christians met for worship in the homes.

2. The bishop's home was a gathering place for worship, meal sharing, distribution of goods to the indigent. There were multiple house churches in Rome. Hence, bishops originated in the house churches.

3. In mosaic above in St. Praxedis Church in Rome you see depictions of two women bishops, who lived 600 years apart, St. Praxedis and Theodora.

4. The church of St. Prisca and Pudentiana were early house churches.

5. After 325 A.D., when Christianity became legal, the pagan temples were turned into churches, worship moved from the homes to public buildings.

6. The bishop became a government official/ a magistrate. The diocese was a civil division like a county and the bishop had a territory to administer.

7. The Vatican still assigns cardinals as titular heads to what were formerly house churches in Rome.

I find this interesting as Roman Catholic Womenpriests elect bishops. Some of us originate in contemporary house churches!



St. Brigit of Kildare from Praying with Celtic Holy Women
by Bridget Mary Meehan and Regina Madonna Oliver

Today, Feb. 1st is the feast day of St. Brigit of Kildare, (born 450AD) who according to the Irish Life of Brigit was ordained a bishop.


Filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Mel, St. Patrick's nephew, read the form of ordaining a bishop over Brigit. While she was being consecrated a brillant fiery flame ascended from her head. Mac Caille, Mel's assistant complained that a bishop's rank was bestowed on a woman. (some things never seem to change, do they?)


Bishop Mel argued: "But I do not have any power in this matter. That dignity has been given by God to Brigit beyond every other woman. Only this virgin in the whole of Ireland will hold the episcopal ordination." Bishop Mel seemed to say that only the abbesses of Kildare could be ordained bishops. Brigit's successors would have high level authority in the Irish church. Indeed other Irish bishops customarily sat at the feet of Brigit's successors until the Synod of Kells ended this tradition in 1159.