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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Women Priests Ordained in Protestant Church in Catonsville/Article


Newly ordained priests:
left to right Ann Penick, Marellen Mayers,
Bishop Andrea Johnson
Patricia LaRosa, Carly Johnson

http://catonsville.patch.com/articles/women-priests-ordained-at-catonsville-protestant-church

"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. "

Friday, June 10, 2011

Liberal Catholics Pushing Changes in the Church to gather in Detroit: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests +Mary MMOJ Community Will Be There!

by Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press
"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. "

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/08/2937490/diocese-official-who-oversees.html
official-who-oversees.html


Wed, Jun. 08, 2011 11:19 PM
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."

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Vatican - Girls NOT Permitted to Serve Old Mass/ Women Priests' Communities Welcome Girls Around Altar

"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!

Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org

sofiabmm@aol.com




U.S. Priest Shortage Grows/ Need Inclusive Priestly Ministry in People Empowered Church


"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



Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Detroit Archbishop Warns Clergy Not To Attend Catholic Gathering/ Hierarchy Afraid of Women Priests?


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Sister Joan Chittister- Lecture on Spirituality and Culture on YouTube/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Iqp7voYWlc

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!!

Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org

Roman Catholic Women Priests Are Ordained in Apostolic Succession



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.

"Fordham Theologian Strenuously Defends 2007 Book-"--Elizabeth Johnson

http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/fordham-theologian-strenuously-defends-2007-book

"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.”

Award For Promoting "Freedom in the Church" by Dr. Patricia Fresen, RCWP


AWARD FOR PROMOTING "FREEDOM IN THE CHURCH"

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!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Judy Lee, a Roman Catholic Woman Priest, Baptizes Ty in Inclusive Community Celebration on June 5, 2011 in Ft. Myers, Florida


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. "

Judy Lee, RCWP Pastor Good Shepherd Community

Ft. Myers, Fl.

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests http://www.associationoformancatholicwomenpriests.org/

Roman Catholic Women Priests Ordination/ Article in Baltimore Sun



http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-women-priesthood-20110605,0,355140.story

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."

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Nun on the Run: Sister Geritola of the Rock of Ages Convent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Ub6WT-eWs
Bridget Mary's Reflection
I hope that one day Sister Geritola meets Roman Catholic Women Priests on her travels! There is always hope, Sister!
Jesus never gave up. Neither did we. Women Found a Way! Come and See!
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/