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Saturday, September 19, 2015

Photos from Women's Ordination Worldwide Conference: Gender, Gospel, Global Justice

Roman Catholic Women Priests Liturgical Celebration
Janice Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP - Co-Presider

Morning Prayer - Celtic Prayer of St.Brigit
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP and Katharine Sammon


Enclusive and Empowed Panel: The Women Priest's Movement, Renewing the Church Now.
 Mary Theresa Streck, Bridget Mary Meehan, Anna, Eileen DiFranco
Briget Mary and Mary Theresa presented the ARCWP pathway to ordination and the People's Catholic Seminary. For more information visit arcwp.org and click on the ordination tab.


Gary Macy
It was not until the thirteenth century that the church required ordination (priest) to preside at Eucharist. For the first milennia of church history, ordination meant that one was called forth from the community and for the community in a functional role. It was not tied to priestly ministry as we know it today and was not required "to confect" the Eucharist.  (See Gary Macy - The Hidden History of Women's Ordination)



Panel Discussion: "Break the Silence" - a priest panel moderated by Kristina Keneally with Paul Collins, Jack McClure, Roy Bourgeios andTony Flannery.
All panelist were supportive of women priests in a renewed church and shared their experiences of conflict with church heirarchy. 
Tony Flannery and Roy Bourgeois
Bridget Mary and Mary Theresa
Giulia Bianchi and Diane Dougherty
Miriam Duigan introducing Gary Macy
Janice
Janice Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP and Roy Bourgeois
In 2008, Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest, attended and preached at Janice's priestly ordination. This courageous prophet and social justice activist was subsequently excommunicated and expelled from the Maryknoll order. 

Left to right:Sibyl Dana Reynolds, RCWP, Ida Raming, RCWP, Janice Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP and Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

















Thursday, September 17, 2015

We Pray with Mary, Mother of Jesus, that Injustice Will Be Overcome Including Sexism in Church, Pope Francis, A Pope for Everyone Includes Equality for Women in Church

Mary, Mother of Jesus, in Bishop's vestments
In the Magnificat, Mary sings joyfully of God's liberating love for the least and last.
"God raises up the lowly and overthrows the powerful from thrones. "
 Mary's vision of justice proclaims  God's victory over all oppression including sexism in our church. Therefore, we join Mary in her prayer that  injustice will be overcome in our church and world. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is working for justice and equality for women in the church by ordaining priests in apostolic succession. ARCWP  is renewing the church now, one inclusive community at a time. wwww.arcwp.org
Just as the church is for everybody, so Pope Francis must be the pope of everyone including women in the church, which means not only equal pay for equal work, but equal opportunity for all the baptized to live their God-given vocations, including women in a renewed priestly ministry. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, sofiabmm@aol.com

For Catholic Women Like Me, Pope Brings Hope, Heartache By Angela Bonavoglia Thursday, September 17, 2015/Comment by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

(WOMENSENEWS)

 ..."There is no awareness of the physical, emotional and socio-economic realities of a woman's life in relationship to her ability to bear children, or of the relationship of those realities to poverty...While this is a particular burden for Catholic women, we are all subject to a medieval theology of women on which Catholic Church leaders, including Francis, base their promotion of public policies that compromise women's health and lives around the world.... What is relatively new is that in the eyes of the church, the greatest sin is not chemical warfare or ethnic cleansing, prisoner torture or blowing children up with bombs, but ending a pregnancy, even at the zygote stage. And while women who have abortions are automatically excommunicated, not even priest rapists or murderers are subject to the same censure." (Women Priests who devote our lives to serving God's people in inclusive Catholic communities and our supporters are subject to automatic excommunication too.  As a gesture of good will in this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis should lift all automatic excommunications and punishments against all Catholics who follow their consciences including women priests, divorced and married Catholics, gays, lesbians and transgender.)  Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org)

Pope Francis also extended mercy to the schismatic Society of St. Pius X, allowing their priests to hear confessions, a step beyond Pope Benedict's lifting of the excommunications of several of their bishops. Unfortunately, Francis made no such gesture towards the excommunicated members of Roman Catholic Women Priests or their advocates, such as expelled peace activist Father Roy Bourgeois. Though advocating a greater "role" for women in the church, Francis is a steadfast opponent of women's ordination...More recently, he's doing better, calling for "radical equality" between women and men, equal pay for equal work, support for balancing work and family and the opportunity for women to be employed "where important decisions are made" (except, of course, in the church hierarchy)."

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Live Streaming of 3 Catholic Women's Ordination as Bishops by ARCWP during Pope's Visit

Next Thursday, September 24, 2015 @ 2:00 p.m. we will have a "Live Stream" presentation of historic ordination of 3 Catholic women as bishops in ARCWP at Pendle Hill, outside Philadelphia during Pope Francis' Visit in U.S.
For those of you who cannot attend the ordination, you will be able to 

Here is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/NjA9qjggrEm
View this link from the comfort of home.
Please note, the stream may not start right at 2:00 p.m. if there is a delay, be patient.
You don't have to sign in, just click on the link below.

You can save the link in "Favorites or Bookmark" in your internet browser to return to next week.
Contacts: 
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, sofiabmm@aol.com
www.arcwp.org
Media Contacts:anice Sevre-Duszynska
rhythmsofthedance1@gmail.com
Questions on Live Streaming:
Patty Zorn
revpatty@gmail.com
Mary Theresa Streck
mtstreck@gmail.com

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Gallery of Mary, Mother of Jesus in Priestly Vestments

Visit www.WomenPriests.Org Website for the most comprehensive history, theology, and arguments for women priests. Catholic children  of my generation were not taught about this age old tradition in the Baltimore Catechism! I don't think Catholic schools today teach this information either, but, it is all on the internet!  
Mary possessed a priestly status equivalent to that enjoyed by bishops and ministerial priests. This conviction has not only been expressed in writing, but in Church art.
Mary wearing a bishop’s pallium (6th to14th centuries)
This is highly significant, for only bishops were allowed to wear the ecclesiastical pallium. And they wore it only when exercising their distinctly priestly ministry at the Eucharist or during solemn liturgies.
The images are from:
San Vincenzo in Rome, 6th century
Parenzo, Croatia, 6th century
San Venanzio in Rome, 7th century
Santa-Maria-in-Porto, Ravenna, 6th or 7th century.
Archbishop’s Chapel, Ravenna, 11th century
the Basilica at Torcello, 12th century
Serbo Campagnano, Italy, 13th century
Santa Maria , Rome, 14th century
Click for enlargement!

Watch Stephen Colbert Lifelong Catholic Share Profound Experience of Female Priest Celebrate Eucharist

https://sojo.net/articles/watch-stephen-colbert-lifelong-catholic-hearing-female-priest-celebrate-eucharist
Calling it “one of the times when I felt the Eucharist was most real to me,” Colbert described the personal and theological significance of an Anglican female priest presiding over the Eucharist:“When I heard a woman say ‘This is my body,’ the freshness of hearing a woman say that gave the message a universality that it always should have — and I’m not saying it doesn’t coming out of a male priest — but it opened my ears to the possibility that it is also my body. That in my participation in the Eucharist, I participate in the gift that Christ gives me …
- See more at: https://sojo.net/articles/watch-stephen-colbert-lifelong-catholic-hearing-female-priest-celebrate-eucharist#sthash.BXgs8l4L.dpuf

If Pope Francis Ordained Women, He Would Make Church Model of Gender Equality, Decrease Poverty, Maureen Fiedler, National Catholic Reporter





Pope Francis and the message of WOC in Philadelphia

"In fact, this whole area has rightly been dubbed
 "Francis' blind spot." 
For some reason, he does not seem to "get it" 
when it comes to the roles of women.
And, I don't fully understand his stance, 
except that he may not want to tackle the 
traditionalists in the Vatican on this one
 (As in: he has enough enemies there already). 
Or, he may not have given this the thought he has 
given to other issues like poverty or climate change.
But, speaking of poverty, the majority of the poor of the 
world are women, and a large reason for their poverty 
is their treatment as inferior beings. 
They are victims of discrimination in thousands of ways … 
literally. 
So, if Francis is interested in alleviating world poverty, 
the greatest contribution he could make -- with one action -- 
would be admitting women to ordination, and making the 
Catholic Churcha model of gender equality. 
He could say to the world that it is no longer 
acceptable to discriminate against women, or to
 treat them as second class, including sacred roles, 
and by implication, economic roles. 
Yes, change would be slow, but it could begin if he wanted it to. 
OK, I'm not holding my breath. 
But with Pope Francis, anything can happen. "  

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) to Ordain Three Women Bishops in Philadelphia on September 24th

Release date: September 15, 2015
From: The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (See: www.arcwp.org)
 Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, D.Min. (media) (859) 684-4247 rhythmsofthedance1@gmail.com
Bridget Mary Meehan, (703)505-0004 sofiabmm@aol.com
Slideshow of Women Priests Changing Church: https://youtu.be/aTmdxHXWlFY
Women Priests are rising up for justice, changing the church one community at a time. We are building inclusive communities of equals where justice is rising up for all people especially the poor, marginalized women and children worldwide and in the church. The good news is that the international women priests' movement has grown from the Danube Seven in 2002 to 215 in 2015. We serve over 75 communities.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests welcomes Pope Francis to the United States and rejoices in his work to save Mother Earth and to transform unjust structures that marginalize the least and the last in our world. Until Pope Francis affirms the full equality of women in the church – including women priests – and makes the connection that poverty, violence and the abuse of women in the world are connected to the second-class status of women in the church, justice will not become a reality in the Catholic Church. “Women Priests are a holy shakeup,” Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan states, “changing the church one priest and one community at a time. If Pope Francis were to open the way for women to be ordained, he would be embracing inclusivity and equality for all of God’s people. He would end injustice in the church which would significantly impact the rampant abuse of women in the world.”
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is one of the international branches of this movement that is experiencing a growth in vocations. We are ordaining three women bishops to ordain priests to minister and serve alienated as well as progressive Catholics in inclusive Eucharistic Communities where all are welcome at the Banquet Table of God’s Love: Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, divorced and remarried, and women who no longer feel at home in their own church.
On Thursday, September 24th, 2015 at 2 p.m. the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests will ordain three women bishops. They are Mary Eileen Collingwood of Boston Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio USA ((216) 408-4657 mecreg6@yahoo.com; Michele Birch Conery of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (519) 962-7016 liberata999@gmail.com and Olga Lucia Alvarez of Medellin, Colombia olalbe@gmail.com (For English-speaking information about Olga contact Silvia Brandon-Perez silviantonia@gmail.com (510) 294-8584.
The ordination will take place on September 24th at 2 p.m. at Pendle Hill Retreat and Conference Center, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, PA 19086. (610) 566-4507.
The ordaining bishops are Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, author of 20 books, including Living Gospel Equality Now.  She serves as a pastoral member of Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, FL sofiabmm@aol.com. Bishop Sibyl Dana Reynolds, RCWP, is author of Ink and Honey, a historic and spiritual novel and founder of the Sisters of Belle Coeur, a contemporary, contemplative spiritual community. dana@sacredlifelarts.com. Bishop Bernard Callahan, a chaplain at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and a bishop with the Ecumenical Catholic Ordinariate, will co-consecrate.
The  Federation of Christian Ministries (FCM) will be represented by its president, Thomas Cusak.
The bishops-elect are:
Mary E. Collingwood of Hudson, OH has served for over 40 years in church ministry. With an MA in Theology from St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe, OH, she served as Director of Religious Education, Coordinator for Marriage Preparation, Pastoral Associate, Director of the Diocesan Pro-Life Office and on various boards and councils. Mary and her husband, Rich, continue to be blessed with seven children and are grandparents. Weekly celebration of Eucharist, administering the sacraments, pastoral counseling, and supporting women in ordained ministry is her calling and passion. Mary was ordained a priest in Brecksville, OH on May 24, 2014.
Michele Birch Conery of Windsor, ONT Canada celebrated her 10th anniversary as Canada’s first woman priest on July 25th. Michele was ordained a deacon in Passau, Germany in 2004 and a priest in 2005 on the St. Lawrence Seaway. A retired professor of English Literature and Women’s Studies with a focus on Women and Religion, she lived and ministered on Vancouver Island with outreach to the LGBTQ Dignity Vancouver community. In 2013, she moved to Windsor where she collaborates with priest Barbara Billey and their Heart of Compassion Faith Communities in Ontario and Michigan.
Olga Lucia Alvarez of Medellin-Colombia was educated by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation. She did USEMI Missionary work with indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and was secretary of CELAM Medellin in1968. Formation included religious studies, pastoral ministry, higher catechesis Superior, liberation theology and an emphasis on popular reading of the Bible. Olga was ordained a priest in Sarasota, FL on December 11, 2010. She accompanies several communities and strengthens the ecumenical base primarily of the itinerant. She works with women ex-convicts and ASFADDES (Association of Families of the Disappeared), is author of several books and articles in biblical-theological reflection and is a member of the Collective of Ecumenical Bible Scholars (CEDEMI).
CELAM stands for Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (http://www.celam.org/introduccion.php), which in English is the Latin American Episcopal Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_Episcopal_Conference).

USEMI is UniĆ³n Seglar de Misioneros, founded by Mgr. Gerardo Valencia Cano. It was a missionary group that worked throughout the country supporting and defending the rights of the poor and marginalized communities in Colombia, in particular indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

Woman Priest, Rita Lucey, ARCWP, Challenges Article "Demonizing Women" in Philadelphia Inquirer

Your continued demonizing of women in the article on the ordination of women bishops and the conference on W omen’s Ordination to be held in Philadelphia makes me sad
In a July 2010 Vatican letter that addressed homosexuality, pedophilia and women's ordination, the fact that all three appeared in one document and was erroneously interpreted does not mean this absurd connection between pedophilia and the ordination of women as equally grave  needs to continue.
Pedophilia has damaged hundreds of thousands of young men and yes, young women, by destroying trust in the males appointed to positions of authority as priest.. How does one measure the depth of the damage that this sin of pedophilia has caused and continues to cause?. Pedophilia inflicts emotional death upon children, and upon the families of these children. Pedophilia continues to inflict mental anguish well into the next generation as adults try to come to grips with a betrayal that is so much a part of memory , this betrayal of trust by one that we were taught to esteem.
The women's priest movement offers a nurturing presence, the inclusiveness of Eucharistic celebrations, the homilies that address the here and now, and reflects the spirit of Christ as it came to us in the Gospels when he surrounded himself with women and men.
It is unfair and poor journalism to continue to make this connection between pedophilia and women priests. I urge you to read the original documents rather than take this inference for granted. It is indeed unfortunate that three 'grave' matters were included in the same document but certainly no reason for this misinformed interpretation.

Rita Lucey, ARCWP
Orlando, Florida
www.arcwp.org

Monday, September 14, 2015

Pope Francis' Annulment Changes Falls Short: Reasons Why

http://questionsfromaewe.blogspot.com/2015/09/dear-pope-francis-regarding-mercy-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+QuestionsFromAEwe+%28Questions+from+a+Ewe%29
Dear Pope Francis,
...  "Currently in the U.S., to receive an annulment the petitioner must complete a 13-page form, pay $200 - $1,000 depending on the diocese, secure witnesses and have them submit forms, be interviewed by church personnel, have their former spouse be contacted for response, and all this paperwork submitted to a tribunal of mostly clergy judges (men who have vowed never to marry yet who consider their vocation as a “marriage” with their parish…and subsequently change parishes several times in their career without needing to seek an annulment from previous parishes) who will provide the initial ruling regarding the nullity of the marriage.  That ruling is required to undergo review by a second tribunal of mostly clergy (more men who have vowed never to marry yet who have changed parishes to which they are “married” several times). 

Your edict removes the requirement for the second review and suggests lowering the fee to cover only true administrative costs.   However, it also states that judgment must now come from a single tribunal judge and this person must be a cleric, unless I misunderstand this statement: “The constitution of a single judge in the first instance,who shall always be a cleric, is placed under the responsibility of the Bishop, who, in the pastoral exercise of his own proper judicial power shall guarantee ...”   

That last change has been overlooked by most people perhaps because they assume all tribunal judges are already priests.  Yet, currently females can serve as tribunal judges.Why do you say you want more important roles for women but your actions here do the exact opposite?

I thought you despised clericalism and felt too many powers lie exclusively in the clergy’s hands already. Why add to the list?  Why insist that avowed unmarried people are the only qualified people to rule on marriages?  Here’s just one example giving cause to my concerns about placing all annulment powers in clergy hands.  Just two weeks ago, I sat through a homily by a clueless priest laughing, yes laughing, as he said he counseled people suffering in abusive marriages that they should consider the abuse a blessing because God was teaching them patience and charity.  How many women continue to suffer physical, sexual and emotional abuse because clueless priests like the one I just described make them feel too guilty to leave abusive marriages?  Issuing that misplaced guilt is beyond shameful; it is sinful.  Chastise the abuser not the abused seeking refuge, if you must chastise someone.  You seem to take a merciful stance with Syrian refugees who are being abused… 

I went through the annulment process almost two decades ago, receiving my annulment in what I’m told was record time (about 7 months).  Frankly, I’m underwhelmed by your changes.  I assume since I resemble your target market on this, you’d appreciate my feedback.  Therefore, here are some things that I would have found truly merciful simplifications. 


  1. Stop using communion as a treat for people you consider well-behaved…for any reason.
  2. Require divorced and remarried people to undergo the same process that priests require when they divorce one parish and remarry another…. Oh, that’s nothing? O.K.  Sounds simple, merciful and equitable, to me.
  3. If you retain an annulment process, how about requiring married people to act as judges?  Better yet, how about requiring that the judges be people who have received an annulment themselves?
  4. Permit clergy to marry and then only married clergy can be marriage tribunal judges. (By the way, with women's increasing earning power, this might save the church a bundle.  Wife makes more than priest spouse...they are devout...priest doesn't take a salary from the church...doesn't need healthcare benefits...they can pay their own housing and food bills...priest car allowance not needed...auto insurance paid by wife's income, etc....  The exact opposite situation for going to strict unmarried clergy now exists.  Originally the move occurred to protect church property from being divided amongst priests' heirs.  Now, women can actually relieve the church's material requirements for supporting priests.)
  5. How about shortening the application form to one page?  I’d even be happy with a reduction to 5 pages. How about putting the form online and allowing it to be submitted electronically with automated workflow and cognitive analytics that provide the recommended ruling?  Thus the judge only needs to review the recommended ruling and justification – tremendously expediting the process and introducing a high degree of ruling consistency.
  6. Fees?  Eliminate them completely, even the “administrative” ones.


Anyway, in the meantime while you consider my suggestions, please stop calling minor alterations to an invented process for an invented infraction penalty “merciful” or “simple.”  And please stop calling anything “merciful” when you act from a position of superiority versus equality.

Hope to hear from you while you’re in my country but if not, I wish you safe travels, an unvarnished view of my country, and the wisdom and courage to do and say what God desires."

Yours in Christ,

The “ewe”

American Nuns on Abortion Message to Pope Francis: "You Don't Quite Get It"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/american-nuns-abortion-message-to-pope-francis-you-dont-quite-get-it-10483396.html
Bridget Mary's Response:
I recommend that Pope Francis drop the ban on  contraception. This would reduce abortions dramatically.  I agree that men share responsibility for a pregnancy. The sperm factor, as you point out, is missing in most papal conversations about unwanted pregnancies. Women are free moral agents. At the same time, there is another life involved. Many women  prefer to talk to a woman counselor or priest about their wrenching emotional struggles and conscience choices especially in the area of sexuality and intimacy. While Pope Francis was trying to reach out and offer a more pastoral approach, I agree with you that he does not get it. If we had women priests, married people, single parents, and  nuns in decision making positions in the Vatican, this would create a more compassionate approach. And yes, women like you do get it! Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org


Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests To Ordain 3 Bishops During Pope Francis' U.S. Trip in Philadelphia Area

Release date: September 15, 2015

From: The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests 
See: www.arcwp.org

 Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, D.Min. (media)
 (859) 684-4247 
rhythmsofthedance1@gmail.com

 Bridget Mary Meehan, (703)505-0004 
sofiabmm@aol.com
See: bridgetmarys.blogspot.com

Slideshow of Women Priests Changing Church
https://youtu.be/aTmdxHXWlFY
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is one of the international branches of this movement that is experiencing a growth in vocations. We are ordaining three women bishops to ordain priests to minister and serve alienated as well as progressive Catholics in inclusive Eucharistic Communities where all are welcome at the Banquet Table of God’s Love: Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, divorced and remarried, and women who no longer feel at home in their own church.

Women Priests are rising up for justice, changing the church one community at a time. We are building inclusive communities of equals where justice is rising up for all people especially the poor, marginalized women and children worldwide and in the church. The good news is that the international women priests' movement has grown from the Danube Seven in 2002 to 215 in 2015. We serve over 75 communities.

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests welcomes Pope Francis to the United States and rejoices in his work to save Mother Earth and to transform unjust structures that marginalize the least and the last in our world. Until Pope Francis affirms the full equality of women in the church – including women priests – and makes the connection that poverty, violence and the abuse of women in the world are connected to the second-class status of women in the church, justice will not become a reality in the Catholic Church. “Women Priests are a holy shakeup,” Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan states, “changing the church one priest and one community at a time. If Pope Francis were to open the way for women to be ordained, he would be embracing inclusivity and equality for all of God’s people. He would end injustice in the church which would significantly impact the rampant abuse of women in the world.”

On Thursday, September 24th, 2015 at 2 p.m. 
the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests will ordain three women bishops. 

Mary Eileen Collingwood of Boston Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio USA 
(216) 408-4657 mecreg6@yahoo.com

Michele Birch Conery of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (519) 962-7016 
liberata99@gmail.com


Olga Lucia Alvarez of Medellin, Colombia 
olalbe@gmail.com

(For English-speaking information about Olga contact Silvia Brandon-Perez silviantonia@gmail.com (510) 294-8584.

The ordination will take place on September 24th at 2 p.m. at Pendle Hill Retreat and Conference Center, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, PA 19086. (610) 566-4507.

The ordaining bishops are Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, author of 20 books, including Living Gospel Equality Now.  She serves as a pastoral member of Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, FL sofiabmm@aol.com. Bishop Sibyl Dana Reynolds, RCWP, is author of Ink and Honey, a historic and spiritual novel and founder of the Sisters of Belle Coeur, a contemporary, contemplative spiritual community. dana@sacredlifelarts.com. Bishop Bernard Callahan, a chaplain at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and a bishop with the Ecumenical Catholic Ordinariate, will co-consecrate.

The  Federation of Christian Ministries (FCM) will be represented by its president, Thomas Cusak.

The bishops-elect are:
Mary E. Collingwood of Hudson, OH has served for over 40 years in church ministry. With an MA in Theology from St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe, OH, she served as Director of Religious Education, Coordinator for Marriage Preparation, Pastoral Associate, Director of the Diocesan Pro-Life Office and on various boards and councils. Mary and her husband, Rich, continue to be blessed with seven children and are grandparents. Weekly celebration of Eucharist, administering the sacraments, pastoral counseling, and supporting women in ordained ministry is her calling and passion. Mary was ordained a priest in Brecksville, OH on May 24, 2014.

Michele Birch Conery of Windsor, ONT Canada celebrated her 10th anniversary as Canada’s first woman priest on July 25th. Michele was ordained a deacon in Passau, Germany in 2004 and a priest in 2005 on the St. Lawrence Seaway. A retired professor of English Literature and Women’s Studies with a focus on Women and Religion, she lived and ministered on Vancouver Island with outreach to the LGBTQ Dignity Vancouver community. In 2013, she moved to Windsor where she collaborates with priest Barbara Billey and their Heart of Compassion Faith Communities in Ontario and Michigan.

Olga Lucia Alvarez of Medellin-Colombia was educated by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation. She did USEMI Missionary work with indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and was secretary of CELAM Medellin 1968. Formation included religious studies, pastoral ministry, catechesis Superior, liberation theology and an emphasis on popular reading of the Bible. Olga was ordained a priest in Sarasota, FL on December 11, 2010. She accompanies several communities and strengthens the ecumenical base primarily of the itinerant. She works with women convicts and ex-ASFADES (Association of Families of the Disappeared), is author of several books and articles in biblical-theological reflection and is a Collective Member of the Ecumenical Bible Scholars.

CELAM stands for Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (http://www.celam.org/introduccion.php), 
which in English is the Latin American Episcopal Conference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_
USEMI is UniĆ³n Seglar de Misioneros, founded by Mgr. Gerardo Valencia Cano. It was a missionary group that worked throughout the country supporting and defending the rights of the poor and marginalized communities in Colombia, in particular indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.




"Women Must Be Equal in a Modern Catholic Church" By Alee Quick, Women Priests Are Creating a More Just and Equal Church

http://thesouthern.com/news/opinion/editorial/quick/quick-women-must-be-equal-in-a-modern-catholic-church/article_1eada772-27c7-5105-b71c-2519ab509bf7.html

...In order to be forgiven for having an abortion, women are supposed to confess their "sins" to a priest or bishop — a man. A man who has never physically felt the gravity of bringing life into the world — or not bringing it into the world. How many more women would be inclined to confess their so-called sins to a sister or mother on the other side of the confessional screen? 
This pope will not truly be a progressive pope, and he will not bring the Catholic Church into the modern world, until he does the right thing for women. If the church is to be compassionate and open, the priesthood must be open to women. "alee.quick@thesouthern.com
Olga Lucia Alvarez, ARCWP and Marta Aida Soto, ARCWP in Colombia, South America

Bridget Mary's Response: Jesus did not represent a male God, nor did he say that the only representatives of God had to be male , like the Vatican does. Jesus was a radical feminist, calling women and men to be disciples and equals. The Catholic Church should follow the example of Jesus. Until Pope Francis affirms women priests and the full equality of women, the church will not be a church for everybody.
Community gathered in Colombia, covered by journalists

The full equality of women in the world and in the church is the voice of God in our times. The Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is changing the church, making it more equal and just, one community at a time. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP.www.arcwp.org



Church Teachings Devoid of Love & Compassion by John Chuchman

Church Teachings devoid of love & compassion...
So many Church teachings
seem void
of the Love and Compassion
taught and lived
by Jesus.

They speak not at all
to where people are
in their lives
futilely applying universal mandates
to each and every
human situation.

They ignore Conscience
the true cornerstone
of Faith,
and were instituted
at times
and for reasons
no longer valid.

Rather than applying
universal top-down rules
to peoples' situations,
Jesus applied
Situational Ethics
bringing simple Love and Compassion
to every situation He faced.

For Jesus,
Community was formed
through Loving and Compassionate actions,
in essence,
from the bottom up,
rather than applying
top-down dogma and doctrine
to members of a community.

It seems as though,
doctrine, dogma, rites, rituals,
and
hierarchy
are created for the benefit (power and control)
of the hierarchy.

Love, John
See more reflections on John Chuchman's blog, and on his "Is God Laughing or Crying" cartoon blog.

"You Gave the Virgin a New Heart' by Giulia Bianchi, -the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement, Photos by Award Winning Photographer and Journalist

http://www.giuliabianchi.com/virgin-press-eng#virgin-eng

(Update: 215 in international women priests movement serving  over 75 communities, Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com)

"The priesthood of women is prohibited in the Roman Catholic Church.
Since 2002 illicit ordinations of women priests and bishops are happening. Roman Catholic Women Priests movement counts over 150 ordained women priests, many mature theologians and former nuns, and their numbers continue to grow.  All have been excommunicated for breaking the Vatican law.
Disobeying a patriarchal law to follow the call of God, they ask for the spiritual equality of men and women to be recognized. Inspired by prophets and mystics, against clericalism and power, they open their communities to divorced, gay, and all those whom the Church does not invite to their Eucharistic table. I was shown a model of world where if there is no justice for the smallest and the weakest, then there’s no justice at all.
To me those women are a symbol. They are showing us the primacy of conscience and how to renew our own tradition.
Since 2013 I met more than 70 women in United States and Colombia. This year I will travel to Germany and South Africa."