Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Stand in Solidarity with Pope Francis' Call for Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Syria

Halifax, Canada: "Prayer for Peace at Cathedral and Other Surprises

On Sept.7th, two Roman Catholic Women Priests, Katy Zatsick and Bridget Mary Meehan  and our friends Mary Al Gagnon, were vacationing in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Theresa MacEachern and Ann Capstick, our hosts, joined us.

We decided to celebrate liturgy with Bishop Mancini at St. Mary's Cathedral.
Don't faint, we were not on the altar with him, but with the community in the pews!

We arrived one hour before the liturgy and took photos of the beautiful stained glass windows which portrays Mary, standing in "orans" position, which reminds us that Mary, Mother of Jesus, was the first priest since she was the first to say: "this is my body, this is my blood."

We also discovered a small chapel dedicated to Mary that had two lovely stained glass windows of Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church. She is the patron of women's ordination. St. Therese prayed that she would die at 24, the age priests are ordained so that she could celebrate Mass in heaven!

Bishop Anthony Mansini gave a homily on the need for wisdom in all relationships and in world relations. He critiqued dominator structures that are the source of much global violence.
Even though the bishop did not invite Katy or me to give our reflections in a dialogue homily,
we were impressed by that his prophetic stance and the welcoming spirit of the community.

At the recessional, when we looked turned around to leave, we discovered that
a dear friend of Katy's, Julia Jabre was sitting behind us. She exclaimed after recognizing Katy and me, "what are you two doing here with five men on the altar?" We responded that since we were on vacation and in Halifax, we decided to join the universal Church in prayer for peace in Syria. Normally, we celebrate our inclusive liturgies at Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida. But, we must say we were pleasantly surprised by our worship with the Catholic community at St Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Nova Scotia.
Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org