"The ordination last weekend in Catonsville of four women as Roman Catholic priests is just one indication of continued expansion of a movement begun in 2002 on the Danube River in Germany, according to one of its leaders. That movement is “a renewed vision of the church and a renewed vision of priestly ministry,” said Gloria Carpeneto, who co-pastors the Living Water Community, the reform community in Catonsville that organized the event. The community has grown from about 20 to 100 members since 2008 and operates from Catonsville. The ordination took place at the St. John’s United Church of Christ in Catonsville, according to the Baltimore Sun. "
"The council is pushing for lay people to have a greater say in church decision-making, which is often top-down. And many are calling for women, gay and non-celibate priests, along with more of an emphasis on social justice issues rather than abortion or anti-birth control efforts. On Sunday, it plans to endorse a 10-point list of rights and responsibilities for Catholics. "
"Kathy Chateau, 54, of St. Clair Shores will be at the liberal conference in Detroit because she said she's fed up with the church's views on women and what she calls its lack of accountability over issues such as child abuse.Contact Niraj Warikoo: 313-223-4792 or nwarikoo@freepress.com
Bridget Mary's Reflection: The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida will share their stories of living Gospel equality now! Contacts: Diane Dougherty at 770-683-8101,Donna Rougeux 859-221-3082, Jack Duffy 608 - 444-2987
The Philadelphia archdiocese has been doing damage control since February, when a grand jury skewered Rigali, his bishops and staff for retaining dozens of problem priests. It charged three priests and a Catholic school teacher with rape and a priest-administrator or monsignor with endangering children by only shuffling accused priests to different posts. The panel said the Church allowed nearly 40 suspected abusers to continue working.Rigali’s replacement will be walking into a storm. Trial preparations continue for two of the archdiocese priests accused of child molestation. The two men declined to make plea deals earlier this week.
Strain on internal relations at the archdiocese has become a matter of public record. The head of the archdiocese panel on priest sex abuse last month responded angrily to criticism heaped on the panel by the grand jury. Ana Maria Catanzaro wrote at the Catholic magazine Commonweal that Rigali and his bishops “failed miserably at being open and transparent” with the panel and so panel members couldn’t perform genuine oversight and shouldn’t be made to carry blame.“What will it take for bishops to accept that their attitude of superiority and privilege only harms their image and the church’s image?” she wrote."
Once-accused priest now leads diocese inquiries into sex abuse By JUDY L. THOMAS The Kansas City Star
"The Catholic official who oversees sex abuse complaints against priests in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, has himself been accused of past sexual improprieties.A Kansas City man wrote the bishop of the diocese four years ago, alleging sexual harassment in 1984 by the Rev. Robert Murphy, a priest who is now vicar general."
"The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has clarified that girls are not allowed to serve at the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. It made clear that the Instruction on Summorum Pontificum, Universae Ecclesiae, does not permit female altar servers at the older Mass."
Universae Ecclesiae states “the Moto Proprio Summorum Pontificum derogates from those provisions of law, connected with the Sacred Rites, promulgated from 1962 onwards and incompatible with the rubrics of the liturgical books in effect in 1962″. Permission for female altar servers came with the Circular Letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments of 1994. However, the rubrics of the 1962 Missal did not allow for females on the sanctuary during Mass.
The letter, signed by Mgr Guido Pozzo, Secretary of Ecclesia Dei, said that “permitting female altar servers does not apply to the Extraordinary Form”...
This article is by Rachel Obordo
Wednesday, 8 June 2011 –
Catholic Herald UK
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
How long, O God, how long, will Catholics put up with the sexism within the institutional church.? This decree sends a hostile message to girls that they are not equals at the altar.
Girls, we need your energy, gifts, and passion for God and for serving God's people. Come and visit our communities and offer your services! We will warmly welcome you! If you feel called to be a priest, let us know, we will encourage you on this journey to justice and equality in our church. Come and see!
"According to a 2008 Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate study, in just eight years, we will have only 13,500 active diocesan priests to serve 18,000 parishes, presuming ordinations remain constant as they have for the past decade." (Future Church Newsletter/June 2011.
Bridget Mary's Reflection: The people are ready! In Mary Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, ( Mary MOJO), two women priests, two married priests and their spouses serve a vibrant faith community of empowered Catholics who are living Vatican 3 now. www.marymotherofjesus.org Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org
"In an e-mail to NCR June 7, John Hushon, co-chairman of the ACC, said, “We stated categorically to Msgr. [Robert] McClory [Detroit archdiocesan moderator of the curia] that ‘There will be only one presider, an ordained priest in good standing.’ We could not have been any clearer...”
Bridget Mary's Reflection
The American Catholic Council is gathering on Pentecost weekend at Detroit’s Cobo Hall where the first Call to Action conference on social justice hosted by Detroit Cardinal John Dearden in 1976 was held. It has apparently raised the ire of Archbishop Vigneron who has issued a severe warning to clergy and people not to attend the closing liturgy. If the priests and deacons disobey, they could be removed from the clerical state! High stakes and a major threat, indeed!
Why? Perhaps, the Archbishop found out that some Roman Catholic Women Priests, married priests and members of our enthusiastic inclusive worshipping communities will be attending the conference.
I think Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron fears that a woman priest, and/or a married priest might somehow co-preside at the closing liturgy (gasp!!) even though the ACC organizers have assured them that there will be only one priest in good standing presiding. Maybe, Archbishop Vigneron's warning to Catholics to avoid the closing liturgy is meant to assure the Vatican that he is a loyal follower of the pope, and perhaps, hopes to gain favor in the next round of promotions. (At least he won't be fired like the Australian bishop who had written a pastoral letter that entertained the possibility of women priests in response to the priest shortage. )
The good news for the American Catholic Council is that wonderful groups like Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida will be in Detroit this weekend. They will be sharing our experiences of living Gospel partnership and equality. .. Carol Ann and Lee Breyer, Michael and Imogene Rigdon, Jack and Helen Duffy and others will display a beautiful banner with photos of our community as well as prayer cards that depict Mary, Mother of Jesus attired in priestly vestments. They will "hang out" with friends at CORPUS booth and gather at Dorothy Irvin's booth too.
Some women from the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests will be there too. ..Dena O'Callaghan, Diane Dougherty and Donna LeMaster Rougeux. They will be handing out brochures at Dorothy Irvin booth where books about our movement, Come by Here, by Judy Lee and Living Gospel Equality Now by Bridget Mary Meehan will be available.
The Holy Spirit is moving in the church now in a a people-empowered church of the baptized (which includes women priests, married priests, gay priests, celibate priests) taking responsibility for living the Gospel in our world. Our inclusive communities follow Jesus who rejected no one and invited all into God's embrace of boundless love. In open, compassionate, justice -seeking grassroots communities, Catholics are living Gospel equality now!
Come, Holy Spirit, renew your church with the gifts of women priests as we work for justice for all, justice for the poor and marginalized, justice for women and justice for women in the church in a renewed community of equals.
Sister Joan D. Chittister, a Benedictine nun, discusses how culture changes and the implications those changes have for contemporary spirituality. She focuses on the stages of revitalization, global definitions of the seven capital sins, and American society as it moves into the 21st century. Series: Walter H. Capps Center Series [7/2009] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16612]
Bridget Mary's Reflection: I highly recommend this lecture. Sister Joan Chittister is a prophet in our church and world, unafraid to speak truth to power. No wonder the Vatican tried to stop her from speaking at the Women's Ordination Worldwide in Dublin! Some people wear signs that affirm; "Joan for Pope!" If you have heard Joan speak, you will know why, if you have not, take a look at this youtube movie and you will understand!!
The ordinations of Roman Catholic Women Priests are valid because of our apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church. The principal consecrating Roman Catholic male bishop who ordained our first women bishops is a bishop with apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church in full communion with the pope. Therefore, our bishops validly ordain deacons, priests and bishops. Consequently, all qualified candidates, including baptized ministers and priests from other Christian traditions, who are presented to our bishops for ordination are ordained by the laying on of hands into apostolic succession in the Roman Catholic Church.
"Elizabeth Johnson, professor of theology at Fordham University in New York, in a June 1 letter to the Committee on Doctrine of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, strenuously defended the orthodoxy of her 2007 book, Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God, saying the committee had thoroughly misunderstood, misrepresented, and misinterpreted the book. " "The bishops’ doctrine committee in late March, after studying the book for one year, concluded it “does not accord with authentic Catholic teaching on essential points” and “completely undermines the Gospel and the faith of those who believe in the Gospel.”
On April 2nd 2011 in the Danube City Church in Vienna, more than 300 people gathered for the conferring of an Award given by the Herbart Haag Foundation to people who have made a significant contribution towards promoting Freedom in the Church. It was awarded to the leading bishop in the Underground Church in Czechoslovakia during the communist regime, which ended in 1989. (Czechoslovakia was later, in 1993, divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia).
The prize was awarded posthumously to Bishop Felix Davidek who died in 1988, so it was accepted on Davidek's behalf by another bishop who had been ordained by Davidek. Davidek was the leader of the Underground Church, the group that kept the church alive in the face of brutal persecution by the communists. However, when the communist regime came to an end, the Vatican, instead of recognizing the courage and prophetic action of those who had led the Underground Church, silenced them. The reason? They ordained married men and also women - the unforgivable sin.
In an article about the Czech church and this Award, in the church journal Kirche In, the heading is: "What the Communists began, the Vatican has completed". As the Czech bishop said when he spoke: We were called the Underground Church, now we are the Silent Church. And it was not the communists who silenced us, but the Vatican".
Ludmila Javarova, who is now 80, was also present and she received a standing ovation when she was called to the podium. She was ordained by Davidek and served as his Vicar General. It was wonderful to experience the enthusiasm of the 300 people present for Ludmila as a woman priest. However, there was not a single bishop or other official church representative present at the ceremony, other than a bishop from the Czech Republic. There was no-one from the Vatican, neither the papal nuncio nor Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna - they were all conspicuous by their absence. In contrast, there were many younger people there, filled with conviction and enthusiasm for the prophetic stance of the church during the communist regime. They also clearly had no problem at all with women priests.
Professor Hans Küng was the chairman of the ceremony and he presented the Award to the bishop and to Ludmila.
Dr. Hans Jorissen, emeritus professor at the university of Bonn, spoke about the many ways in which the official church tried to discredit Davidek. The most serious allegation against him was that he was seriously schizophrenic - and therefore, the Vatican maintains, the ordinations done by him are questionable, if not outright invalid. However, it has since been established that Davidek never had any form of psychological testing, let alone being diagnosed - and those who knew him vouch for his soundness of mind and heart. This allegation was simply one of several nasty attempts to deny the validity of the ordinations of the married men and especially of the women ordained by Davidek, even though these were done in a time of desperate need in a persecuted underground church.
The entire event was an unforgettable experience of hope and of the people moving forward in the church despite the hierarchy, who are simply being left behind. It was clear that the more the ordination of women is condemned by the Vatican, the more the people of God are opening their minds and hearts to its possibility. And the more the Vatican hurls excommunications, silencing, suspensions and condemnations at anyone who dares to differ in the slightest from the law they lay down, the more they are making themselves irrelevant. The church of the baptized is coming into its own!
In the first picture with Pastor Judy are Ty Powell,17; Judy Alves, his mentor and Godmother and Harry Lee Gary, church Elder and, Godfather.
In the second picture this group is joined by Hank Tessandori who functions as a Deacon with us and inspires Ty with his art work. In the third picture we are joined by Mrs. Jolinda Harmon, his Grandmother. Mrs. Harmon attends faithfully with up to ten of her grand children including Ty.
"This was a particularly beautiful and joyous baptism as everyone was happy that our 17 year old, Ty, was claiming a new life through baptism. After a traumatic event in his early teens he withdrew into himself and also withdrew his voice from the world, barely speaking in a whisper. For Ty, this baptism meant that those terrible events and all other negative events of his life were "washed clean","washed away" and he was a new person, able to be fully alive. It also meant to him that he was now a full member of our church family and a part of the body of Christ. He took the name of Thaddeus for his Baptismal name as he too wants to be a disciple of Jesus. We spoke to him about dedicating his artistic talent to God and to Ty his baptism also signified this commitment. When he returned to us in the beautiful white shirt his Godmother, Judy Alves, gave him and I put a white stole on him and said "you have put on Christ" his smile was amazing- and from a young man who almost never smiled. When he was able to answer the questions of Baptism in his full voice and keep eye contact with me indicating his understanding it was as if we were witnessing a miracle. Ty's mentor and Godmother is a retired Public Defender who used her considerable knowledge of young people to guide and encourage Ty. Ty lost his father in a tragic event early in his life and his new Godfather is very important to him. Ty's God father, Harry Gary, our Elder, also shared that Ty has started to visit him and he is truly reaching out to be part of the community now. This was a very special day for this young man and for our community. "
Four Roman Catholic women ordained as priests in Catonsville Defying Vatican, group holds ceremony at Protestant church By Dan Rodricks, The Baltimore Sun "Defying canon law and a Vatican decree that promised excommunication, four Roman Catholic women took vows as priests Saturday during an elaborate ordination ceremony full of song and messages of inclusiveness at a Protestant church in Catonsville.Andrea Johnson, presiding as bishop, ordained two women from Maryland, Ann Penick and Marellen Mayers, one from Pennsylvania and one from New York in the sanctuary of St. John's United Church of Christ. The church was filled with family members — including husbands of three of the ordinands — and friends, including some who are employed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore but who support the ordination of women. Photography was limited to protect the privacy of those attending the ceremony."
