Roman Catholic Women to be Ordained Priests and Deacons in Sarasota on Saturday, Jan. 18th/ Media Release

From: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP)

Release date: January 2, 2014

Women Priests Are Asking the Deep Questions Pope Francis Says Women Must Address

Contact:  Janice Sevre-Duszynska, D. Min., (Media)

rhythmsofthedance@gmail.com, 859-684-4247

Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004

See: arcwp.org

bridgetmarys.blogspot.org

Celebration of Priestly Ordination for:

Maureen McGill of St. Petersburg, FL mmcgill19@tampabay.rr.com 850-572-5413

Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia of Colombia, South America

(Spanish only) smarinateresa@yahoo.com.co 315-534-8244

Celebration of Ordination to the Diaconate for:

Mary Bergan Blanchard of Albuquerque, New Mexico

maryberganblanchard@gmail.com 505-857-9288

Rita Lucey of Orlando, FL rluceyis@gmail.com 407-690-3293

As Pope Francis said in a recent interview in La Civilita Catolica, “Women are asking deep questions that must be addressed.”

Our international Women Priests Movement is asking those deep questions. We are one of the contemporary prophetic movements of our time. We offer the church a renewed priestly ministry in union with the people we serve in inclusive, empowered communities.

As prophets in the community of the baptized, women priests today are prophets for justice. We are visible reminders that women are equal images of God. Our ordinations are acts of justice to move the church to live its mission of human equality as the Body of Christ on earth.

Churches that treat women as second-class citizens contradict the Bible that states in Genesis 1:27 “Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them female and male God made them.”

The Catholic Church must break free of machismo and affirm women’s sacredness and full participation as partners in ministry, including ordination.

On Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 2 p.m. Maureen McGill (St. Petersburg, FL) and Marina Teresa Sanchez Majia (Cali, Colombia, SA) will be ordained priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. Mary Bergan Blanchard (Albuquerque, NM) and Rita Lucey (Orlando, FL) will be ordained deacons. The presiding bishop will be Bridget Mary Meehan of Sarasota, FL. The ceremony will take place at St. Andrew United Church of Christ, 6908 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL 34238.  Because Marina Teresa is from Colombia and speaks Spanish, part of the ordination rite will be in Spanish. All are welcome.

Media are invited to interview these women by email or phone. Respectful filming/photo-taking during the ceremony is acceptable.

The candidates are theologically prepared and have many years of experience in ministry.

Maureen McGill is a wife, mother, grandmother and retired attorney in St. Petersburg. She spent most of her professional career advocating for abused and neglected children as Director of the Guardian ad Litem Program in Northwest Florida. “My call to priestly ministry arose from those years,” she said. “Women experience similar abuse and neglect in the church today. My call to priesthood will include advocacy to give women their rightful equality in the church. “ Maureen will lead inclusive liturgies at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota and provide pastoral care for residents of nursing homes in St. Petersburg.

Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia is a dynamic community activist and married woman with two sons and a granddaughter.  She has pursued the cause of human rights, justice for women and for Colombians of African descent her whole life. In the 1990s she participated in global women’s conferences in Brazil, Vienna and Beijing. She has worked with local priests in base communities and was a missionary to Ecuador for three years where she studied Theology and served women and children and the outcast. Since 2005, she has animated, represented and served the large community of Afro-Colombians near Playa Reciente, near the Cauco River in Cali.

"Mary Bergan Blanchard is a widow, mother, step-mother, grandmother, teacher, writer and a practicing Licensed Professional Counselor. Her early years were spent as a Sister of Mercy, where she taught in diocesan schools  and spent one year on mission in Lebanon working in a Palestinian camp. She left the Order to teach the disadvantaged in Boston where she wrote and received three federal grants promoting racial integration and began a neighborhood group in Roxbury involving teachers and parents desiring to promote social justice. As a special educator and school psychologist, she developed the first language curriculum for Early Childhood Education  in Boston. She married a widower with five children and had a son of her own. After retiring, Mary and her family moved to Albuquerque where she was employed for twenty years as an LPC by the Risen Savior Catholic Community. Her mission will be nurturing spiritual life by developing liturgies for inclusive home church celebrations. Mary sums it up: "I've led  a long and full life." 

Rita Lucey of Orlando, a member of Pax Christi, has been married for 61 years and is a human rights activist who spent six months in federal prison to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas. Because of her witness for justice issues and her experience in prison she has advocated for women in prison and has also served as a Hospice Volunteer for 25 years.