"She served in church as a child, has been excommunicated, is married to a divorced man, and has been consecrated a bishop. How much further can a Catholic woman challenge the Vatican? Peter Stanford meets Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger
Sunday, 24 April 2011
JASON ALDEN
Bishop Mayr-Lumetzberger still hopes the papacy will relent over women
"And this is the funeral in one of our big Benedictine monasteries in Austria," explains Bishop Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, "of a young woman whose mother wanted me to officiate." Her finger moves along a row of photographs on the screen of her laptop as we talk.
"Here I am with the parish priest, making the procession to the altar together. I always try to be conciliatory. We agreed he would lead the service when we were in the abbey, and I would lead Here is Mayr-Lumetzberger, in file after file of pictures, with her bishop's cross and vestments, officiating at weddings and baptisms and Sunday services, in Catholic parish churches and abbeys, usually alongside a bevy of male Catholic priests.
"They are very respectful," she explains. "So if we are walking as a group up the aisle, they automatically get in the right formation with the bishop at the back as the church's rules teach."
Sunday, 24 April 2011
JASON ALDEN
Bishop Mayr-Lumetzberger still hopes the papacy will relent over women
"And this is the funeral in one of our big Benedictine monasteries in Austria," explains Bishop Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, "of a young woman whose mother wanted me to officiate." Her finger moves along a row of photographs on the screen of her laptop as we talk.
"Here I am with the parish priest, making the procession to the altar together. I always try to be conciliatory. We agreed he would lead the service when we were in the abbey, and I would lead Here is Mayr-Lumetzberger, in file after file of pictures, with her bishop's cross and vestments, officiating at weddings and baptisms and Sunday services, in Catholic parish churches and abbeys, usually alongside a bevy of male Catholic priests.
"They are very respectful," she explains. "So if we are walking as a group up the aisle, they automatically get in the right formation with the bishop at the back as the church's rules teach."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Isn't it interesting that Bishop Christine is ministering alongside Catholic priests in Catholic Churches in Austria?! I believe that this is a sign of the official church's acceptance of women priests in spite of the Vatican's paranoid reactions to ordained women serving the people of God. The people of God are inviting women to serve as priests. More people in the United States are attending our liturgies and supporting our movement. The Spirit is indeed a'moving and we rejoice that like the women who were the first witnesses to encounter the Risen Christ, women priests today are spreading the Gospel to a renewed community of faith on this blessed Easter Sunday!
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP
Roman Catholic Women Priests Association
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