"in and Out of Season" by Patty Zorn ARCWP

http://sacredwalkhome.com/in-and-out-of-season/

"Declaration of the Association of Galician Christian Women Exeria (in Spain) in response to the communiqué of the Archbishop of Santiago on the ordination of women"

Christina Moreira ARCWP

To the Archbishop of Santiago Julián Barrio:

Beloved brother in the Lord

Following the statements made by Christina Moreira in different media, in which she declares with courage and with great apostolic love her status as a female priest, and the subsequent communiqué issued by the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela on March 12, 2017, the debate on the priestly ordination of women is reopened strongly. The Association of Galician Christian Women Exeria wants, with this letter, to publicly present some reflections on the situation of women in the Church, and in this specific case, on the access of women to the Ministry of Priestly Orders. In addition to supporting our companion Christina Moreira, we want to express our solidarity and gratitude to her and to the dozens of women from all over the world who responded with faithfulness and courage, with obedient openness, to the call of their priestly vocation.

The women who make up Galician Christian Women Exeria , have celebrated our faith for more than 20 years as women, as Christians and as Galicians, and reflecting in community from this our identity (we remember, in this sense, the documents we have published: We, the women in the Church and gender violence, violence against women).

From our very being we want to express the following: 

1. In statements made by Christina Moreira, she presents herself as a priest, ordained for two years, responding to her vocation, which she became aware of a long time ago, at a crucial time in her life. We recognize Christina Moreira as a priest. We know that she received diaconal ordination and priestly ordination and that she presides on Sundays at the celebration of the Eucharist in the Home Novo community in a communitarian and participative way, making the community fall in love with and even become thrilled by the Word of God. In addition, she accompanies this community and numerous people who are not a part of it on their journey of Christian faith.

2. We feel a deep sorrow, accompanied by bitterness and rage, because of the forms and contents of the communiqué issued by the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in connection with Christina Moreira's priesthood, a communiqué that reflects the official position of the Catholic hierarchy (and not the opinion of male and female theologians or of many male and female Christians in the Church) with regard to this subject. Supported by theological studies and in the Tradition closest to our elder brother Jesus, the Christ, we want to state that:

a)       As the communiqué issued by the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela points out, "The Church is a Mystery of communion by the will of the Father, accomplished in the mission of the Son and refreshed by the Action of the Holy Spirit." Both our Father-Mother God and our Master Jesus Christ, as well as the Holy Spirit who envelops everything in His great Love, confirm inclusion as an essential element. Therefore, the necessary inclusion also of women, more than half of humanity and the numerical majority of our Church. It is necessary to bring the Church in contemporary society up to date, just as it was brought up to date in the patriarchal society of the second century in which Ignatius of Antioch lived.

b)       “In the New Testament there appear calls that carry with them the entrusting of a mission by Jesus. One of them is the call to the Twelve, with the designation for an essential mission, tasks and meanings that appear differentiated from the totality of Christians." The group of Jesus’ followers was made up of men and women. Jesus always welcomed women, valued them and wanted them, in a Jewish society in which they were second–class subjects. The Samaritan, Martha and Mary, or the Hemorrhose, among many others, confirm the always warm approach of Jesus to women, his fraternal acknowledgment of them. Mary of Magdala is named as the "apostle to the apostles", "the first witness and evangelist of the resurrection of Jesus." As of July of this year, Pope Francis raised her liturgical feast to the level of that of the apostles because she was the first to recognize the risen Jesus and proclaim it to the rest of the disciples (the Twelve!) who initially hesitate and even refuse to believe her word. St. Paul, who ascribes his apostolic character to having seen the resurrected Jesus, also distinguishes another woman, Xunia, as "noted among the apostles, who believed in Christ before I did.”  (Rom 16, 7).

c)      “Presiding over the sacramental celebration is not therefore a ministry that Christ gave to women." Pope John Paul II himself declares in his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that "women cannot be priests because Christ Himself, who instituted the Sacrament, determined that it would be men who would exercise this ministry." In fact, Christ did not give the right to preside over the sacramental celebration to women as he did not give it to men. Christ did not establish celebratory presidencies as we understand them today and, therefore, did not determine that it was men who would exercise it. All of the seven Sacraments now recognized by the Roman Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and with them that of Priestly Ordination, are largely the result of the historical ecclesial journey, the result of the search by many generations of believers enlightened by the Holy Spirit (that is what we wish for) in the building of a community of believers that wants to be faithful to the Spirit of Jesus... They were built historically with a vocation to continue to evolve for greater fidelity to the Spirit.

d)     The affirmation of Pope John Paul II that "the Church in no way has the power to confer priestly ordination upon women, and this sentence must be considered as final by all the faithful of the Church" is a daring statement, because not even the Pope himself can know beforehand the mysterious and unpredictable ways of Spirit, capable of always surprising us above our human criteria, so often close-minded and blind. This statement does not take into account that in the first Christian communities, for almost three centuries (three centuries no less!), women played a key role in the proclamation of the Word of the Lord, in the breaking of the bread and wine, in the care of the poor ... If Pope John Paul II "discarded any possibility of discussion within the Church as to the possibility of accepting female priesthood," we say clearly that he was wrong!

As is well recognized in this archbishop’s communiqué, citing Pope John Paul II, "Which does not mean that women are not a fundamental part of a Church, all ministerial by virtue of the sacrament of baptism." We women are not only a fundamental part of the Church.  Without us, women, without our inclusion, without our full recognition in equality, the Church has no future. We regret that, in the midst of the 21st century, the men who presently govern the Church continue to regard us as "second class" people, unable to collaborate on an equal footing in the decisions and services of the Church. The reasons used to justify this prohibition are poor and many times have no up-to-date theological foundation, so they do not hold up to the slightest criticism.

We as women today demand a society of equals where women and men have the same rights and opportunities. Society is taking steps to achieve this change. Today women participate at all levels of social representation, scientific and philosophical research, and jobs of any level of qualification. How are we going to accept being told that it is simply because of our condition as women - for the simple reason of gender - that we are not allowed to have access to priestly ordination? That in this society is called "sexism"!

We need to urgently reopen the debate on equality in the Church, and in this debate also talk about the priestly ordination of women. We need to take steps towards a Church in which there is no discrimination, a democratic, fraternal Church, in which women and men form communities of equals, living, committed communities, in which we are able to work in communion, in which all of us have the right to speak, in which each of us contributes with whatever he or she really is. An open, caring, loving, daring, free Church in the style of Jesus. A Church of equals in which women also occupy the spaces of decision, responsibility and ecclesial representation that belong to us by right and by Tradition.

Does not God want equality?

Mr. Archbishop: Do you really think God wants an unequal church?

As the apostle Paul very well put it, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, nor servant nor free, there is no male or female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3: 1, 28)

May it be so for the Glory of God the Father-Mother, Amen.

ASSOCIATION OF GALICIAN CHRISTIAN WOMEN EXERIA

March 25, 2017

In the 670th anniversary of the birth of Catherine of Sienna,

Matron of Europe and doctor of the Church

Francis’ clericalism of mercy is perpetuating the sex abuse scandal By Mark Silk | March 28, 2017

http://religionnews.com/2017/03/28/francis-clericalism-of-mercy-is-perpetuating-the-sex-abuse-scandal/

"Cardinal Sean O’Malley said last week that Pope Francis is committed to ending “the scourge of sex abuse.” Doth the cardinal protest too much?

I hope not. But things are not going well on the sex abuse front in Rome.

On March 1, abuse survivor Marie Collins resigned her position on the pope’s child protection commission, citing lack of cooperation from Vatican bureaucrats. The final straw, she said, was discovering that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which has responsibility for handling cases of child abuse by priests, has refused to respond to letters from survivors.

When the head of the CDF, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, sought to refute her charges, Collins issued a devastating point-by-point rebuttal. The pope himself had approved the commission’s recommendation that the CDF respond to survivors’ letters.

Collins also pointed out that the CDF had declined papal instructions two years ago to establish a tribunal for disciplining bishops who have been negligent in handling abuse cases.

In fact, after it became clear that the CDF was not going to set up the tribunal, the responsibility for such adjudication was turned over to the Vatican offices in charge of bishops. That was almost a year ago and they’ve done nothing either.

The simplest way for the Vatican to end the scourge of sex abuse is to have a tribunal clearly and openly try and remove from office a bishop who has covered up a case of child sexual abuse. Nothing assures proper supervision and enforcement more than having the guy in charge know that he will lose his job for misconduct.

What’s not good enough is an approach that permits scandal-ridden bishops to have their resignations accepted without any public blame from Rome. In this country, that’s happened to four hierarchs: Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Archbishop John Myers of Newark.

The buck here stops with Pope Francis, and it’s hard to avoid the feeling that when it comes to the abuse crisis, his instinct for mercy is his Achilles heel.

Francis has no problem denouncing clericalism when it manifests itself in a lack of pastoral concern. But his readiness to forgive the sinner subjects him to the clericalism of the “poor father syndrome.”

This has led him to cut accused bishops more slack than they deserve.

At the seminar where Cardinal O’Malley gave his assurance of papal commitment last week, Francis Sullivan, head of the Australian bishops’ Truth, Justice and Healing Council, said that when the pope and others talk about the need for a reform of the heart, people need to realize “that the decisions our leaders made in order to facilitate and cover up actually broke the heart of what it meant to be Catholic.”

“We need to go back and confront that,” Sullivan said.

The way to confront it is to establish judicial procedures for insuring that the leaders are held accountable. Especially when the guy in charge doesn’t fully get it."

Homily at Holy Spirit Catholic Community Fifth Sunday of Lent (A), April 2, 2017, Beverly Bingle RCWP

Lots of ink has been spilled over the question

of whether Lazarus was in a deep coma or really dead or—

as Jesus’ critics would have said—

faking it to make Jesus look like a miracle worker.

But that doesn’t matter because it’s not the point.

The story is not factual history

but a statement of faith in the transformation

that following the Way of Jesus brings to us.

__________________________________________

The Israelites had a history

of being tied down by conquering armies,

notably under slavery in Egypt, exile in Babylon,

and the Roman occupation.

Our Jewish ancestors in faith thought and talked and prayed

in images of resurrection that hoped

for a renewal of their covenant relationship with God.

They looked forward to a revived fullness of life—

to freedom in peace

and with justice.

__________________________________________

When Moses went to Pharaoh,

he was calling for political and religious freedom.

He called out, Let my people go!

The priest and prophet Ezekiel

puts the promise of freedom in God’s mouth

with the metaphor of rising from the grave:

I will open your graves and have you rise from them,

put my spirit in you that you may live,

settle you on your land.

It’s a vision of freedom from the Babylonian captivity.

John’s gospel speaks

to a people suffering under the oppression of Roman rule.

As with Ezekiel, it’s the metaphor of rising from the grave.

As with Moses, it’s the call to freedom that Jesus speaks to Lazarus:

Untie him and set him free!

__________________________________________

Biblical scholar John Pilch points out

that resurrection means a transformation of life,

not the restoration of life to a corpse.

Following Jesus does not abolish death; it transcends it.

__________________________________________

We live in a world that seems to be caught up in death.

We kill each other in acts of murder, execution, war,

terrorism, drunk driving, domestic violence.

We kill our planet

with extravagant lifestyles and waste and pollution.

We watch people die from poverty, hunger, homelessness,

disease, abuse, war, discrimination, unsafe working conditions.

__________________________________________

Even in this country of freedom and plenty,

we kill ourselves through suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, 

smoking, overwork, stress, bad eating habits,

and physical neglect.

As Karl Rahner said,

“There are so many little deaths along the way

that it doesn’t matter which is the last one.”

__________________________________________

When we look at our lives, we can see

that we all have died those “little deaths” along the way.

We can also see that we have transcended them

and been raised to new life.

It happens every day,

in one way or another, to person after person.

A few months ago Tom & Mary Jean helped a Toledo family

that was dying one of those little deaths.

They had moved to Toledo

and needed help until the first check came in.

Mary Jean and Tom found resources

for food and clothes for this couple and their children,

and you generous folks of Holy Spirit voted

to pay their rent for that month.

The family transcended that “little death.”

They were raised to new life.

Transformed.

__________________________________________

On the first of every month Julie shows up

with boxes of household goods for UStogether—

and those refugees settling here in Toledo

are raised to new life.

Sallie’s son Zak found a job, after nearly a year off work.

He’s raised out of a deep funk to new life.

__________________________________________

I remember back in 1972, when a car accident

put me in the hospital with five breaks in my vertebrae.

While I lay there flat on my back without moving for five weeks,

not knowing if I’d ever walk again,

I felt like life was over.

But the experimental treatment worked—a miracle for me—

and I was changed—

never the same again, a new path, raised to new life.

__________________________________________

If we look around, it’s easy to see

those “little deaths” happening to people.

And it’s easy to see when the transformation happens.

There’s the joy in the hope for change

that comes to people marching and demonstrating.

There’s the love that glows

when a homebound person gets a visit from a friend.

There’s the energy that comes to a retiree

who escapes from being buried in a job,

from heading into the garden after a cold and blustery winter,

from working through the breakup of a relationship.

__________________________________________

Whenever and wherever we see someone

in the midst of one of these little deaths,

whether they’re buried by oppression or hopelessness

or pain or loss,

we are the ones called

to be the hands and heart of God reaching out to them,

the voice calling out,

“Untie my people. Let them go. Set them free!”

Amen!

Public Domain

-- 

Holy Spirit Catholic Community

Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.

Holy Thursday, April 13, 5:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord's Supper

Easter Mass of the Resurrection, Saturday, April 15, 5:30 p.m.

at 3925 West Central Avenue

Toledo, OH 43606

(Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor

Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006

Rev.James Martin: "Why Climate Change is a Moral Issue"

http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/03/29/father-james-martin-why-climate-change-moral-issue

"President Donald J. Trump has just signed measures rolling back significant parts of President Obama’s moves to protect the environment. Among other things, President Trump wants to withdraw and rewrite the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of Mr. Obama’s policies to fight global warming. These may seem like political questions, but they are also moral ones. Pope Francis made that clear in his encyclical “Laudato Si’” in 2015. There he called for a conversion in the way we think about what the pope calls “our common home.”

Let’s consider three reasons why caring for the environment is a moral issue and why policies that fail to protect our planet are not only against Catholic teaching but are also immoral.

1. Creation is a gift from God.

All creation is a holy and precious gift from God, to be reverenced by all men and women. The call to care for our planet extends as far back as the Book of Genesis, when humankind was called to “till and keep” the earth. But we have done too much tilling and not enough keeping.

The theme of loving creation runs through both the Old and the New Testaments. In Jesus Christ, God not only became human but also lived in the natural world. Jesus himself appreciated the natural world, as you can see in the Gospel passages where he praises creation and speaks about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Basically, the world is not only holy—it is also not ours, much as we would like it to be. It is God’s.

2. The poor are disproportionately affected by climate change.

The disproportionate effect of environmental change on the poor and on the developing world is well documented. This is not simply because the rich often make economic decisions that don’t take the poor into account but because the poor have fewer financial resources to help them adapt to climate change. They cannot move, protect their houses or switch jobs as easily as the rich can.

The Gospels, Catholic social teaching and the statements of recent popes all critique the exclusion of anyone from the benefits of the earth’s goods. And in decisions regarding the environment and the use of the earth’s common resources, we are called to appreciate of needs and dignity of the poor. Remember, Jesus said that we would be judged on how we treat the poor. That includes how our decisions on climate change affect them.

3. Greed is not good.

In “Laudato Si’” Pope Francis reserves his strongest criticism for the wealthy who ignore the problem of climate change and especially its disproportionate effect on the poor. Why do so many wealthy people turn their backs on the poor? Not only because some view themselves as more “worthy,” but because frequently decision-makers are far removed from the poor, with no real contact with their brothers and sisters.

RELATED STORIES

Trump's "care" for the environment is the opposite of Catholic social teaching.

Wyatt Massey, Zac Davis

Selfishness also leads to the evisceration of the notion of the common good. This affects not simply those in the developing world but also those living on the margins in more developed countries—in the inner cities, for example. But in the Christian worldview, there is no room for selfishness or indifference. You cannot care for creation if your heart lacks compassion for your fellow human beings.

So the next time you speak to your legislator or vote about climate change, think not only about you but about the other person. Think not only about your own city but about the cities, towns and villages in the developing world. Think not only about the wealthy but the poor. In other words, think not only about your wallet but your soul."

 

Top Vatican official urges U.S. bishops to lobby against Trump’s stance on climate, weapons, and migrants

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2017/03/30/top-vatican-official-urges-u-s-bishops-lobby-trumps-stance-climate-weapons-migrants/

ROME- 'A top Vatican official is urging the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to lobby in Washington against many of the latest moves by the administration of Donald Trump, from the so-called temporary ban on accepting new refugees to the defense budget increase

After years fighting against carbon reduction, in recent times China has invested billions in renewable energy and back in January the Chinese president asked Trump to stay in the “hard won” Paris deal.Pope Francis, who in 2015 wrote the first papal encyclical dedicated entirely to the environment, Laudato Si’, was a big supporter of this agreement aiming 

to curb global warming, which was signed in Dec. 2015.


Turkson noted that while Trump is moving in the opposite direction of the Paris deal, “there is another world power, China, which is showing different signs, filling the vacuum that America is creating.”


RELATED: Vatican’s top African challenges Trump to think globally


On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order to bolster the U.S. coal industry, which was one of his campaign promises. He has also threatened to leave the Paris Agreement. Since then, both China and the European Union have rallied to support the accord. With Turkson’s comments, it’s safe to say that so has the Holy See.


Turkson, who heads the recently created Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development, was talking to journalists at a breakfast meeting to discuss an upcoming conference on Populorum Progresio [The Development of the People], a 1967 papal encyclical written by Paul VI.


He described Trump’s most recent executive order a “challenge.” However, Turkson also praised the “dissenting voices” within the United States.


“This, for us, is a sign that little by little, other positions and political voices will emerge. We hope that Trump himself will reconsider some of his decisions,” Turkson said. He added that the Church is “full of hope” that some of Trump’s positions will change once he sees the dissonance between reality and the promises made on the campaign trail.


Talking about the executive orders on immigration, the prelate noted that the last one was blocked by a court in Hawaii.


When he was asked about nuclear weapons, Turkson said that the seven billion dollar increase in the military budget presented by Trump “will have to come from somewhere, so the aid for development [will be] cut.”


It’s for this reason, he continued, that the Vatican is counting on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to lobby in Washington against some of Trump’s measures.


In the two months since Trump was sworn in, the USCCB has released at least 10 statements against his executive orders, and several more against other policy goals of his administration.


In addition, individual bishops and Catholic organizations have sent out many statements defending migrants, calling the travel ban “shameful”, emphasizing the need to protect the environment and warning against the “Put America First” budget.'

New Course on Mystics Coming Soon: Register Now

302: Spiritual Encounters with Women Mystics for the 21st Century

http://pcseminary.blogspot.com/2017/03/pcs-302-spiritual-encounters-with-women.html

Spiritual Encounters with Women Mystics for the 21st Century invites you to catch the living spirit of amazing women witnesses to the inbreaking of the Holy One's infinite love in our midst and to our oneness with all creation.

In the reflections, discussion starters, and prayer experiences fromPraying with Visionary Women that accompany each woman’s story, you are invited to reflect on her words and actions in light of your own life experience and the Spirit of God working within you.

In prayer and journaling, you dialogue with these soul sisters, and contemplate their wisdom, compassion and courage as a reflection of the feminine face of God for all times.Their words and actions are a rich source of inspiration and renewal in our prophetic commitment to work for justice, peace, and equality in our world.

As the bondage of sexism, racism, militarism, and ageism continues, this course offers us a rich variety of resources to nurture your inner mystic and calling to be a courageous disciple of Gospel justice and empowerment in the 21st century.

This on-line course opens the week of May 1, 2017 and concludes the week of July 17, 2017. The course is presented in six sessions. Each session is two weeks long. In the first week participants read and reflect on course materials and in the second week, participants write a refection on the session’s theme.

Registration closes April 17, 2017

Course Facilitators:

Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Bridget Mary Meehan, MA, DMin, ARCWP, a Sister for Christian Community, is one of the founding members of the People’s Catholic Seminary. She is a member of the pastoral team at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida. Bridget Mary presides at liturgies, officiates at weddings and offers sacramental ministry. She is an author of twenty books.  Her work in communications media include programs about women priests on Google and YouTube. Bridget Mary was ordained a priest in the first USA ordination in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2006 and was ordained a bishop in Santa Barbara, California on April 19, 2009.

Dr. Mary Theresa Streck ARCWP

Mary Theresa Streck, Ed.D., DMin, is one of the founding members of the People’s Catholic Seminary. She is a member of the pastoral team at the Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community in Albany, NY. She presides at liturgies, officiates at weddings and offers sacramental ministry and is a member of the ARCWP Program of Preparation team. She earned a Doctorate in Education Leadership from the Sage Colleges and a Doctorate in Ministry from Global Ministries University. She was ordained a priest on September 15, 2013.

Cost: $100 (financial aid available)
Register now at peoplescatholicseminary@gmail.com

Mail check or money order to:
People's Catholic Seminary
PO Box 421
Watervliet, NY 12189

(paypal coming soon!)

Pope Francis on Nuclear Weapons

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/03/28/pope_sends_message_to_un_conference_on_nuclear_weapons/1301663

http://www.italy24.ilsole24ore.com/art/panorama/2017-03-27/after-60-years-serving-the-needy-nuns-leave-kabul-093330.php?uuid=AE0Gc6t

Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP on right 

Maya Angelou's Top 10 Rules For Success Evan Carmichael

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU46Lv4jVAw&feature=youtu.be

Whoever doesn’t believe in Hell, suffice it for him to go there and he will realize what Hell is,” said Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Damascus

https://zenit.org/articles/whoever-doesnt-believe-in-hell-should-come-see-it-in-syria-says-cardinal-zenari/

"It is not possible to describe the suffering of the Syrian people with human words. The only effective description of the southern country is the following: “Whoever doesn’t believe in Hell, suffice it for him to go there and he will realize what Hell is,” said Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Damascus, who last Saturday, March 25, 2017, celebrated a Mass in the Roman parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci, of which he took possession.

"In his homily, the Cardinal turned his thought to martyred Syria: 400,000 dead; two million wounded, among whom many are mutilated; about five million refugees in countries outside of Syria; more than six million internally displaced; more than 600,000 besieged without the possibility of access to humanitarian aid. Thousands of children dead under the bombardments: wounded, mutilated, lacerated in body and in spirit – a real and proper slaughter of innocents...”

Teresa of Avila Video by Sr. Constance FitzGerald OCD and Fr. Brian McDermott, SJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRtU-MXuaAg&feature=youtu.be

Remembering Oscar Romero 35 Years Later by Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP

Today, 36 years ago, where were you when Oscar Romero was riddled by bullets and assassinated while celebrating Eucharist? As a kid, I was totally shocked to hear how in the Lives of the Saints there were a couple of priests who spoke Truth to the King (Power) and were taken out while celebrating Eucharist.

How the US War on Drugs has really been a War on People through the  militarization of countries such as Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Mexico and Colombia. In Colombia, paramilitaries have been set up and funded by corporations such as Chiquita. The US has given billions (of our taxpayers' money) to corrupt dictatorial governments who fund these paramilitaries and commit murder in the most heinous manner against the people of God.  Our sisters and brothers (the poor and indigenous) are living in "occupied" countries where they are not safe to live out their lives with their God-given freedom and autonomy. Their lands, resources and very lives are being stolen by these evil Powers. 

Our sister priests in Colombia are living in an occupied country. Let's hear from them... 

Why is this happening? Multinational global corporations want the people's land and resources.  The US Army School of the Americas has trained thousands of Latin American officers-soldiers who are the bullies that do the "dirty work" of terrorizing, murdering, raping, the people. It's usually not in the newspapers. However, today is the 36th anniversary of the death of Oscar Romero. He learned to struggle with conscience through priest Rutillio Grande. But it wasn't until Archbishop Romero held his friend's bullet ridden body that he learned he had a voice and that voice must proclaim the Truth of the Gospels to the soldiers and the corrupt government. (funded by the way once again by US taxpayers $$). 

Long live the Truth-telling of the Gospels from the people!

From longtime prophet Roy Bourgeois: "It's about guns and greed."  From world renowned Old Testament scholar and theologian Walter Brueggemann, (my teacher at Notre Dame):  "Follow the money."

 SOA Watch and Human Rights groups have been sharing this information for years, but it has only made the papers in the US relatively recently.

As we write out the modern day Stations of the Cross for Good Friday, we have material aplenty from our sisters and brothers who are living under the more recent Roman Empire and who are being crucified and being abandoned by the rest of the world ...

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-is-Responsible-for-the-Violence-Fueling-Migration-Mexico-20170324-0002.html

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Poverty-in-Colombia-Increases-for-First-Time-in-15-Years-20170323-0008.html?utm_source=planisys&utm_medium=NewsletterIngles&utm_campaign=NewsletterIngles&utm_content=7

"Woman Knows How to Read Pope Francis"

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/03/25/woman-knows-read-pope-francis/

The first woman to receive a doctorate in theology from Argentina’s Pontifical Catholic University says Pope Francis is “creating processes in which the Holy Spirit forges new synthesis out of disparities and disagreements.”

The first woman to receive a doctorate in theology from Argentina’s Pontifical Catholic University says Pope Francis is “creating processes in which the Holy Spirit forges new synthesis out of disparities and disagreements.”

The first woman to receive a doctorate in theology from Argentina’s Pontifical Catholic University says Pope Francis is “creating processes in which the Holy Spirit forges new synthesis out of disparities and disagreements.”The first woman to receive a doctorate in theology from Argentina’s Pontifical Catholic University says Pope Francis is “creating processes in which the Holy Spirit forges new synthesis out of disparities and disagreements.”

Mindy Lou Simmons Sings Litany of Saints at Ordination of Elena Garcia as a Deacon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CeCx64m-5A&feature=youtu.be

Mindy Lou Simmons Sing Mary's Song of Praise, the Magnificat at ARCWP Deacon Elena Garcia's Ordination in Sarasota, Florida

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIAr7-dl7NA&feature=youtu.be

Cristina Moreira, first Spanish priest: "We work to improve the sense of equality within the Church"

http://www.ondacero.es/programas/te-doy-mi-palabra/audios-podcast/entrevistas/cristina-moreira-primera-sacerdotisa-espanola-trabajamos-para-que-mejore-el-sentido-de-la-igualdad-dentro-de-la-iglesia_2017031258c507580cf2030593ef3a56.html

Cristina Moreira is part of the Association of Roman Catholic Presbyters, a group that promotes equal rights for men and women within the Catholic Church.

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