http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/former-lcwr-leader-pope-should-open-door-women-priests
Women's ordination, said Kane, "is a matter of justice."
"If there's any inequality there's always injustice, whether it's racial or cultural or religious or gender," she said. "Not only is it a social justice, I've always said it's a form of inequality which is a form of idolatry actually -- that we idolize the ideas, we idolize the traditions, we idolize the way it has been."
Referencing Pope Francis' remarks on the plane that women have a special role in the church akin to that of Mary's as the Queen of the Apostles, Kane said Catholic leaders sometimes put women on a pedestal but don't see them as equals.
"They continue to say Mary was so important, but we pedestalize her and we want to pedestalize women," said Kane. "We either pedestalize women or we condemn them. We never see them as equals, or we never have to look eye to eye and be equal with each other."
Kane said Pope Francis has to open the door to the question of women priests and to "bring the church into the 21st century for the very significant equality of women and men."
Bridget Mary's Response:
Right on, Sister Theresa Kane! Once again, you speak truth to the pope. I was present when you first raised this issue at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC when Pope John Paul 11 addressed women religious!
..."But while there are a lot of reasons for the exodus from the church, you certainly must include its doctrine of discrimination.
Who wants to be associated with a church that, in the 21st century, discriminates against its own members because of their sex or, in the case of gays and lesbians, their sexual identity?
Of course, women are allowed to be active in the life of the church — they serve as sisters, as Catholic school administrators; they run charitable missions, and they serve as diocesan and parish leaders.
But they don't get to do what men do. They don't get to be ordained and serve parishes as priests.
And what did the pope say on the flight back from Rio? He said the church needed to have a "deeper theology of women," and he spoke with great respect for their contributions to Catholic life.
But he said the door was closed to the priesthood.
So, for all the excitement Pope Francis has stirred, what we have so far — on an issue that has both philosophical and practical meaning for the future of the church — is the status quo.
Of course, there's a simple solution for those of us who have a problem with this: We could just become Episcopal.
But, not surprisingly, I got some pushback on that Wednesday when I presented the idea to Erin Saiz Hanna, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference in Washington. Hanna and her sisters in the cause would rather fight than switch.
"How can we leave the church if we are the church?" she said. "Pope Francis declared the church had spoken and said no, but that's a false statement. Pope John Paul II may have said no, but we know from Vatican II that the church is not the hierarchy. The church is the people of the God, and the people support the ordination of women.
"While this is an unfortunate glimpse into what we can expect from this papacy in terms of women's ordination, I am not about to throw in the towel quite yet."
Two years ago, I attended the maverick ordination of four women as Catholic priests in a Protestant church in Catonsville. The ceremony, arranged by a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests, was carried out in defiance of a Vatican decree that promised excommunication for violators. The presiding bishop, a woman, claimed clerical lineage — that is, "apostolic succession" — to a group of women who had been ordained in Europe in 2002 by three male bishops. That, in the minds of the participants, made the ordination legitimate.
Two of the women who took vows that day, Ann Penick and Marellen Mayers, were from Maryland. I contacted them both Wednesday.
"I was very encouraged by what Pope Francis has said about the poor and the marginalized and by what he said about [gay and lesbian] people," Penick wrote in an email. "However, I was deeply saddened by what he said about the ordination of women."
Mayers said she was not surprised, but she expressed hope the pope would "be a good listener" and become open to the idea of a more inclusive priesthood.
Prayer will help, Mayers and Penick said. But it might not be enough.
"The easiest route would be for the church hierarchy to open the doors and let both women and all married men discern their call to the priesthood," said Penick. "But I think, realistically, it's going to have to come from the other direction — we, the people, citizens of the church. A majority of Catholics support the ordination of women and married men [and] recognize that women are also created in God's image."
"This is our church, too," Hanna added. "Pope Francis said the door was closed, but the magical thing about doors is that when mighty wind comes along and slams your door shut, you just walk over and reopen it. That's how doors work, no? So maybe the official door to women's ordination won't open in this papacy, but I am certain it will open in my lifetime."
drodricks@baltsun.com"
