“When Old Models Become Corrupt” - Catholic Women Priests Part 7 by Diana Milesko

              On Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI criticized clerics who champion the ordination of women priests and married clergy. Thus the Pope demonstrated again that ancient Middle Eastern prejudices have hobbled today’s institutional Church; that Church hierarchy is impossibly out of touch with today’s vibrant Catholic movement to live the potential of God’s love within us.

            It’s a shame the Pope chose Holy Thursday to censure women and married priests when there were far better topics to dwell upon. He is to be forgiven, I suppose, for he is an old man used to having his way.

            But instead of sour jeremiads about the inferiority of women, he could have reflected upon God’s egalitarian love for everyone, “There is neither Jew nor Greek...neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:28

            He could have examined the expansive news Jesus himself announced on Holy Thursday, "A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you." John 13:34.

            But he didn’t. And that’s too bad. Because women and men priests (married and unmarried,) are working hard to turn the Church into a model for the world. They create high ethical standards in the clergy; they show by their lives and instruction that moral behavior produces good outcomes; they teach that individuals, organizations and societies must know the difference between right and wrong. Together, women and men priests embody the compassion, wisdom and justice of our loving God.

            And justice is the Church’s mission. “Let justice flow like water, and uprightness like a never failing stream.” (Amos 5:21, 24) “You have been told what God requires of you: To act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.”(Micah 6:8) Jesus took up this same message in his stories and actions.

            Women and married priests know what it means to be marginalized; they are uniquely equipped to help the Church advocate God’s love for everyone. They can help liberate the Church from it’s narcissism and renew the good news upon which it was founded; love your neighbor as yourself; forgive others; and help the poor, the marginalized and the suffering attain justice.

            When one attends church services of Women Priests, one sees the generosity, tenderness and compassion of our loving God honored by everyone through the Eucharist; everyone joins in the blessings of the Mass and participates in Gospel related-homilies; everyone is invited to serve God by working for justice, by practicing charity, and by sharing in a community of equals. Roman Catholic Women Priests are proof that women and men priests, working together, can help the Church live God’s mission of compassion, justice, and decency.

            Still, the Pope grasps at faded prejudices, trying to make things stay the same as they were in an ancient, ignorant time. His words show that, more than ever in this complicated world, we need a renewed, transparent, and accountable Church in which women and men are true equals and partners in ministry, and are included as decision makers on all levels including the Vatican.