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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Open letter to the U.S. bishops: Let's not be a laughingstock, OK? May. 18, 2012 By Robert Blair Kaiser



Commentary

Friday, May 18, 2012

Kansas Governor Signs Bill Allowing Pharmacies and Doctors to Deny Women Birth Control/ GOP War on Women and Decisions Over Own Health Care Echoes Catholic Bishops Agenda


"A bill that allows pharmacists and doctors to deny women access to contraception has been signed into law by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. This new law is just one of many bills that the Republican governor has signed since he came into office. He has recently signed legislation that pressures abortion clinics with new regulations, legislation that imposes long waiting times to get an abortion, and legislation that bans insurance companies from covering abortion procedures.
This new bill, known as the Heath Care Rights of Conscience Act and sponsored by GOP state Rep. Lance Kinzer, was signed into law on Monday, and according to The Kansas City Star:
“The new law would bar anyone from being required to prescribe or administer a drug they “reasonably believe” might result in the termination of a pregnancy,” and could “open the door for a pharmacist to refuse a request for something like the “morning-after” pill.”
Basically, any woman in Kansas could walk into a pharmacy to pick up a birth control prescription and be denied her medication by the pharmacist. All the pharmacists needs to do is claim to be acting on his or her religious convictions. And what’s worse, the pharmacist doesn’t have to refer the prescription to another pharmacy. Likewise, doctors also can deny women contraception and use religious liberty to get away with it. Even a woman who becomes pregnant through rape could be denied access to birth control..."


Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Kansas Governor Signs Bill Allowing Pharmacies and Doctors to Deny Women Birth Control/ GOP War on Women and Decisions Over Own Health Care Echoes Catholic Bishops Agenda Against Women as Free Moral Decision Makers in Birth Control and other hot button issues. What ever happened to respect for Primacy of Conscience? It appears when it comes to pelvic issues, the bishops and Republicans are in a lockstep march backwards to the Middle Ages. Needed badly are women priests and women bishops in decision making roles within the church!
Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP
www.arwp.org

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests- YouTube Movie of Laying of Hands by Bishop and People, Prayer of Consecration, Investiture with Stole and Chasuble and Anointing of Hands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ewutefTmE&feature=colike

This video is Part 5  of Ordination which took place in Ormond Beach, Fl. on April 14, 2012 and includes the Laying on of Hands, Prayer of Consecration for the priests, Investiture with Stole and Chasuble and the Anointing of Hands.

'Bless Me Father, for I have Sinned. I am a Girl Scout" /Patricia McGuire: Girls Scouts and God's Grace


"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I am a Girl Scout.
Recently, I shook hands with more than 200 Girl Scouts assembled at Trinity for the annual "In Your Honor" ceremony celebrating the Gold Award and Silver Trefoil Award Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital Council. As I looked around the room packed with girls, parents and families, I marveled at how this organization keeps girls focused on healthy, wholesome, positive activities in a world where too many young women face exploitation, abuse, disparagement, discouragement and the plague of low expectations. A quick sample of the Gold Award projects clearly demonstrates the plain fact that the Girl Scouts today are about a whole lot more than cookie sales. In one project, a girl developed brochures and video guides to help teenagers dealing with family members who have Alzheimer's. Another project focused on introducing kids living in a homeless shelter to science, technology, engineering and math. Yet another project took on the problem of cyberbullying. Many of the projects focused on literacy, environmental action and drug/alcohol education.
The next morning I opened the newspaper and read that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched an investigation into the Girl Scouts.
Well, Father, I was really just a Brownie. It didn't last long. Mom pulled me out after the episode with the cookies. I ate more than I sold. About five times.
Apparently, the bishops have received some complaints about Girl Scout troops affiliated with Catholic parishes and schools. Seems that some troops have used materials that conflict with Catholic teaching. And there's that longstanding rumor about some tie to Planned Parenthood, which the Girl Scouts have repeatedly refuted.
"Patricia McGuire, President of Trinity Washington University, reports in the Huffington Post that Catholic bishops have received complaints about Girl Scout troops affiliated with Catholic parishes and schools. Among complaints are that that some troops have used materials that conflict with Catholic teaching, and a longstanding rumor about some tie to Planned Parenthood, which the Girl Scouts have repeatedly refuted..."

Suzanne Thiel, RCWP, on PBS - "Reforming Catholicism"


As part of the CTA conference here in Portland this weekend, Suzanne Thiel was on the radio on PBS
Roman Catholic Woman Priest Suzanne Thiel ministers to a community in Portland Oregon.

If you go to this link and under the title "Reforming Catholicism" there are 2 lines, first one is "air date", second one is "Posted by Allison Frost" right below that is a small triangle in a circle. If you click on that triangle, you can listen to the show. the little gray arrow to the right is the MP# download button, where you can download it to your computer

http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/reforming-catholicism/

Thursday, May 17, 2012

What Great Teachers These Young People Are!

http://www.kentucky.com/2012/05/13/2186828/same-sex-couple-denied-entrance.html

Faithful America: Sign a Petition to tell the Bishops: Leave the Girl Scouts Alone


For almost 100 years, the Roman Catholic Church has had a strong relationship with the Girl Scouts. Scores of local Girl Scout troops are hosted by Catholic parishes, and about 25% of Girl Scouts are Catholic.
But now, in response to completely bogus charges by right-wing extremists, conservative Roman Catholic bishops have opened an official inquiry into the Girl Scouts of the USA -- despite the fact that the Girl Scouts do not take any positions on sexuality, birth control, or abortion.1
We can't let what happened to Catholic religious sisters happen again to the Girl Scouts. The millions of girls and families who participate in the Girl Scouts don't deserve to become victims of right-wing culture wars.
Sign our petition and tell the Bishops: Leave the Girl Scouts alone!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

"Nuns on the Frontier" By ANNE M. BUTLER/ New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/nuns-on-the-frontier.html?src=recg

Fernandina Beach, Fla.
THE recent Vatican edict that reproached American nuns for their liberal views on social and political issues has put a spotlight on the practices of these Roman Catholic sisters. While the current debate has focused on the nuns’ progressive stances on birth control, abortion, homosexuality, the all-male priesthood and economic injustice, tension between American nuns and the church’s male hierarchy reaches much further back.
In the 19th century, Catholic nuns literally built the church in the American West, braving hardship and grueling circumstances to establish missions, set up classrooms and lead lives of calm in a chaotic world marked by corruption, criminality and illness. Their determination in the face of a male hierarchy that, then as now, frequently exploited and disdained them was a demonstration of their resilient faith in a church struggling to adapt itself to change..."

Anne M. Butler, a professor emerita of history at Utah State University, is the author of the forthcoming book “Across God’s Frontiers: Catholic Sisters in the American West, 1850-1920.


Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Will the bishops ever learn! They keep repeating the same bad behavior- treating women as second class citizens in the church- through the centuries.  As Anne Butler concludes, Catholics in the pews appreciate the nuns. The bishops should hang their heads for their despicable treatment of the nuns who in many cases are the unsung heroes of the American Frontier. The power behind the Sisters, (not ecclesiastical!!) was greater than the challenges they faced in founding schools, hospitals and orphanages under the most trying of circumstances! Let's just admit that the hierarchy, then or now, cannot handles gutsy women who usually find a way when there is no way! Perhaps, in this latest clash with the Vatican, they will declare their independence from male control, and open the door to a future of nun priests. Now wouldn't that be grand!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
www.arcwp.org

More Evidence of the Censorship of Conscience by Catholic Hierarchy in Violation of Church Teaching


The primacy of conscience is a major teaching of the church. Even Thomas Aquinas, a doctor of the church, whom Catholic conservatives like to quote, once said that he'd rather die excommunicated then to have violated his conscience! And now we have the Catholic hierarchy violating this major tenet of the Catholic faith! In addition, Pope Benedict has stated in his writing that we must follow our consciences no matter what punishment we face! Why don't the U.S. Catholic bishops and the Vatican follow their own teachings? There is something wrong with this picture!

Catholic Organizations, including the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Support Girl Scouts


Media Contacts:
Janice Sevre-Duszynska, 859-684-4247, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
Erin Saiz Hanna, 401.588.0457, Women’s Ordination Conference
Marianne Duddy-Burke, 617.669.7810, DignityUSA
Jon O’Brien, 202.332.7995, Catholics for Choice
Nicole Sotelo, 773.404.0004 x285, Call To Action
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 15, 2012
Catholics Come Out in Support of Girl Scouts
“These are exactly the type of young women needed in the Church today.”
As Catholic organizations we congratulate the Girl Scouts on their 100th year anniversary and thank them for modeling the best of what girls can be: strong, bold, value-based young women. What a shame that Catholic officials cannot see these young women for the gift they are to the church and world.
The Bishops’ attempt to exert pressure on the Girl Scouts is the most recent episode in an increasingly troubling sequence of attacks against women and girls, both inside and outside the Church. From the hierarchy’s mandate against the nuns to its most recent heavy-handed inquiry into the Girl Scouts, the Bishops’ actions not only reveal the growing gap between the hierarchy and the faithful, but also sends harmful messages about womanhood to our daughters in faith. We urge the Bishops to cease the investigations.
As Catholic organizations that seek a more just and inclusive church, we stand in solidarity with the 59 million women and girls who have been a part of the Girl Scouts. We thank these women and girls—our sisters— for their witness of what it means to be a woman who knows her own giftedness in the face of a religion or society that too often undervalues her self-worth.
We invite those who would like to thank the Girl Scouts for their contribution to the church and society to join us in our Twitter campaign #GodLovesTheGirlScouts.

The Girl Scouts mission states that it “builds girls of courage, confidence and character” and for that we are grateful. These are exactly the type of young women needed in the Church today: those who know their self-worth goes beyond that which is measured by the Bishops’ investigation, but that is rooted in the simple fact that they are beloved children of God.
This statement is signed and supported by the following Catholic organizations:

Jim FitzGerald, Executive Director
Call To Action
Jon O’Brien, Executive Director
Catholics for Choice
Allen and Sylvia Moore, Co-Presidents
CORPUS
Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director
DignityUSA
Anne Harter, Coordinator
Faithful of Southern Illinois
Tom Quinn, Liaison
Federation of Christian Ministries, Roman Catholic Faith Community Council
Ruth Steinert Foote
Greater Cincinnati Women-Church
Jeannine Gramick and Donna Quinn, Co-Coordinators
National Coalition of American Nuns
Francis DeBernardo, Director
New Ways Ministry
Gloria Ulterino
RAPPORT
Suzanne Thiel, President
Roman Catholic Womenpriests, USA
Karen Schwarz
San Francisco Bay Area Women-Church
Regina Bannan, President
Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference
Mary Hunt and Diann Neu, Co-Directors
Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual
Erma Durkin
Women-Church Baltimore
Erin Saiz Hanna, Executive Director
Women's Ordination Conference
Janice Sevre-Duszynska, 
Media Contact, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

“The Vatican Knew What Happened to Argentinean Desaparecidos”



According to an Argentine newspaper, a secret document bishops sent to Paul VI in April 1978 highlighted the Church’s role during the dictatorship years and the disappearances of thousands of political opponents...The Holy See knew.” During the dictatorship years, an undetermined number of people “disappeared” at the hands of the armed forces. Estimates range from the 7,000-8,000 estimated by Videla - the dictator himself - to the nearly 30,000 claimed by various humanitarian organizations. Before the 1978 World Cup, the Argentine Conference of Bishops informed the Vatican of what was going on in the country: repression, murders, and disappearances. In his article in Argentine newspaper Página/12, Horacio Verbitsky writes that a “secret document” was sent to Paul VI by Argentine bishops. The document which dates back to April 1978, refers to meetings between Bishops Raul Primatesta, Juan Carlos Aramburu, and Vicente Zazpe and dictator Jorge Videla. The document says that the issue of the desaparecidos or missing individuals, was openly raised during these meetings (which the clergy say were “cordial and sincere”), and that the bishops also asked where the dead were located. The bishops said that in many cases, the government could not give “a satisfactory answer,” despite the fact that Bishop Primatesta insisted “the Church wants to understand and cooperate” with the State. Videla himself said on several occasions that he had “an excellent relationship - very friendly, honest, and open” with the Catholic Church... "

Monday, May 14, 2012

Six Things You Can Do to Support the Sisters/ Nun Justice


Let the sisters know you stand with them! Sign the petition or share it with friends! Let's get 57,000 signatures — one for every sister in the United States!

2. Write

Tell Church officials that you support the sisters. Write to the Apostolic Nuncio, the Vatican's ambassador in the U.S., other officials, or to your local newspaper.
Download a sample letter and suggested talking points.

3. Vigil

Join or organize a public vigil Tuesdays in May. If you're unable to join a vigil in person, join a Virtual Vigil in spirit by posting a photo showing your support!
Find a vigil near you.

4. Share

Follow Nun Justice on Tumblr
Post a photo showing your support
Tweet using #nunjustice
Share the petition on Facebook

5. Pledge

For Pentecost, make a financial pledge to support the sisters by directing or redirecting a contribution to your local community of women religious. Help us tally the total amount pledged by recording your pledge amount here.

6. Pray Now and on May 29th

Pray for the sisters on your own and organize a prayer service in your parish or small faith community on May 29th, during Pentecost week, when LCWR begins its meeting. A sample prayer service is available to use.
The Nun Justice Project is a grassroots movement supported by the following organizations: American Catholic Council, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, Call To Action, Catholics for Choice, CORPUS, DignityUSA, FutureChurch, New Ways Ministry, RAPPORT (Renewing a Priestly People, Ordination Reconsidered Today), Voice of the Faithful, WATER: Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, Women's Ordination Conference.