Roman Catholic Women Priests Respond to Pope Francis on Women's Empowerment, Call him "Pope of the Poor"

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“Fort Myers resident Judy Beaumont, 75, ordained last year in Estero, is a pastor at Good Shepherd Ministries, along with Judy Lee, who was ordained in 2008 in Boston.
Beaumont went against the advice Dewane , who prior to Beaumont’s ordination, told her it would be “a most grave and serious matter of consequence for your soul.”
The consequence is excommunication, but Beaumont said she would face it, and Thursday, she said she believes the pope is open to women being in authority and decision-making.
“That already exists for women in religious communities all over the world and to a certain extent for other women,” Beaumont said. “In some dioceses women have or have had important roles but none of them in the leadership of worshipping communities.”
There are roughly 160 ordained women priests around the world. A 2011 survey by the National Catholic Reporter showed 62 percent of Catholics indicated support for women in the role of priests, and 75 percent supported women as deacons.

“His new statement about women seems to indicate he does not see women as inferior,” Beaumont said. “Perhaps he is realizing that God’s call to priesthood is not limited by gender and that God does call whom God calls and through a process of discernment women are now being validly ordained.”
Pope Francis also told the magazine that the dogmatic and the moral teachings of the church, which has 1.2 billion members worldwide, were not all equivalent.
“The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently,” he said. “We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
Rather, he said, the Catholic Church must be like a “field hospital after battle,” healing the wounds of its faithful and going out to find those who have been hurt, excluded or have fallen away.
“Pope Francis brings a tremendous freshness and joy with him that permeates through the writings that are inspiring Catholics around the world,” Atwell said.
Lee and Beaumont said they support Pope Francis as a “pope of the poor and a pope of the outcast. We love what he does in terms of humility and giving a priority on service to the poor.”



USA Today story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/19/pope-francis-reaction-interview/2838299/>Pope's blunt words break new ground - again

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PreviousHis new statement about women seems to indicate he does not see women as inferior,” Beaumont said. “Perhaps he is realizing that God’s call to priesthood is not limited by gender and that God does call whom God calls and through a process of discernment women are now being validly ordained.”

Pope Francis also told the magazine that the dogmatic and the moral teachings of the church, which has 1.2 billion members worldwide, were not all equivalent.
“The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently,” he said. “We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
Rather, he said, the Catholic Church must be like a “field hospital after battle,” healing the wounds of its faithful and going out to find those who have been hurt, excluded or have fallen away.
“Pope Francis brings a tremendous freshness and joy with him that permeates through the writings that are inspiring Catholics around the world,” Atwell said.
Lee and Beaumont said they support Pope Francis as a “pope of the poor and a pope of the outcast. We love what he does in terms of humility and giving a priority on service to the poor.”



USA Today story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/19/pope-francis-reaction-interview/2838299/>Pope's blunt words break new ground - again