The Cathedral of St. James- where pilgrims go - at end of Camino.
Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Women Speak- Hear their Voices Yesterday and Today
How many sermons have you heard centered on women’s words in the Bible or mystical tradition?
Today women priests are offering a new opportunity to listen to women past and present.
Come and see!
Visit our inclusive communities and participate in our inclusive liturgies!
https://churchanew.org/blog/posts/char-cox-womenspeak
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Rev. Annie Watson ARCWP: New Associate Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Austin, Texas
Congratulations to Rev. Annie Watson! The Board of Directors of Holy Family Catholic Church in Austin, Texas have approved Mother Annie as their new Associate Pastor. Mother Annie is the first woman priest to serve this parish. Rev. Dr. Jayme Mathias has served as the Pastor since the church’s inception in 2012. They offer three Mass times on Sunday: 9:00 & 10:30a.m. in English and 12:00 p.m. in Spanish. Holy Family Catholic Church is the only inclusive Catholic community in Austin. Stop by if you are in the area or view them on Holy Family’s Facebook page. (http://facebook.com/HolyFamilyACC)
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Homily for Episcopal Ordination of Christina Moreira ARCWP by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP in Santiago Compostelo, Spain on June 24, 2025
Friends,
What a sacred and beautiful day this is — the day God has made. And how fitting that we gather here not just to witness, but to celebrate the ordination of our sister Christina Moreira as a bishop in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.
This isn’t just a ceremony. It’s a resurrection moment.
Christina, today we stand with you in a long line of holy, courageous women — the hemorrhaging woman who reached out for healing, Jairus’s daughter who was lifted from her bed, Mary Magdalene who was the first to proclaim the risen Christ, and all the faithful women who walked with Jesus in Galilee and stayed with him at the cross when most others fled.
This movement we’re part of — this calling we share — it didn’t begin with us. We’re picking up a thread that’s been woven through the Church from the very beginning.
Long before women were erased from Church leadership, they were there. Phoebe, named in Romans, was a deacon. The ancient Didascalia and Apostolic Constitutions describe women deacons baptizing, teaching, offering pastoral care. The inscriptions are there too — one names Episcopa Theodora in 4th-century Rome, calling her a bishop.
Brigit of Kildare, one of Ireland’s most beloved saints, was said to have been accidentally consecrated as a bishop. But was it really an accident? Or was the Spirit simply breaking through? The bishop who laid hands on her said, “This virgin alone in Ireland will hold the episcopal ordination.” I don’t believe that was a mistake. I believe it was prophecy.
And today, we see that prophecy come to life again — in you, Christina.
Our Gospel today tells the story of two daughters. One is a young girl, the daughter of a synagogue leader. The other is an unnamed woman, bleeding and alone, cut off from her community for twelve long years.
Two daughters.
Two stories of restoration.
Two stories of resurrection.
Let’s start with the bleeding woman — this invisible, hurting woman who risks everything just to touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak. She doesn’t ask. She doesn’t speak. She reaches.
And Jesus sees her.
He feels her.
He stops everything — even the urgency of Jairus’s plea — just to say, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”
She is not scolded. She is not shamed. She is called daughter. And in that moment, she is restored — body, soul, and place in the community.
Her act was more than desperate. It was brave. Radical. Prophetic.
Christina, you and every woman who says “yes” to this call — you remind me of that woman.
You reach out, knowing the cost. You break the boundaries. You cross lines drawn by law and hierarchy. But like her, you do it not for rebellion’s sake — but for love’s.
And let me say this clearly:
Women priests are not a rebellion.
Women priests are a resurrection.
Now, let’s go back to Jairus. He was a man of influence. He asks Jesus to come, and Jesus goes — but on the way, something beautiful happens. The powerful are asked to wait, while the marginalized are lifted up. That’s the Gospel.
And when the news comes that Jairus’s daughter has died, Jesus doesn’t panic. He simply says, “Do not fear. Only believe.”
He goes to her bedside. He speaks so tenderly. “Talitha koum.” Little girl, get up.
It’s the same invitation we extend today:
To Christina.
To every woman whose gifts have been silenced.
To every community who’s been told “you don’t belong.”
Talitha koum.
Daughter, rise.
This ordination today isn’t just a personal moment for Christina — though it is deeply personal. It’s also a sign of something bigger happening in the Church.
In the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, we are building something new — or maybe, something ancient made new again. A Church that looks like Jesus: inclusive, welcoming, non-hierarchical, Spirit-led.
We are living into Pope Francis’ dream of a “Synodal Church” — a Church of listening, walking together, discerning together. Everyone has a voice. Even our bishops get one vote. That’s the model we follow — not power over, but service with.
Christina, today you step into this ministry not as a ruler, but as a midwife to the Spirit — called to affirm, to bless, to ordain, and to walk alongside the people of God.
Roman Catholic Women Priests are called to build a Church where the Body of Christ is whole only when the gifts of women in ordained ministry, the leadership of all the baptized, and the Spirit speaking through every daughter and son are fully welcomed.
In the words of Pope Leo XIV, we proclaim: “With the light and strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded in God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world… and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.” This is the Church we are birthing — rooted in Gospel equality, radiating love, and rising with the Spirit’s power to transform the world.
So today, with joy and reverence, we say again:
Talitha koum. Daughter, rise.
Let us be a Church of rising.
Let us be a Church of resurrections.
Let us be a Church where the sacraments are shared freely, where leadership is co-responsible, and where no one is invisible.
This is not just Christina’s ordination.
This is our Church, rising!
Amen.
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