Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now- https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/10/rev-dr-bridget-mary-meehan-arcwp-chat.html
The Book of Ruth with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde and Pádraig Ó Tuama.
https://www.youtube.com/live/sm_h0R4MCDI?si=3XMjWo6llKcO3KDZ
Hobart Lecture presented on October 15.
Move the timer to about 22 minutes where the presentation will actually begins.
Certificate of Accreditation
Global Ministries University is both pleased and grateful to announce that our accreditation is renewed with Grade A, full accreditation standing by the European Association of Higher Education.
He stressed that the Church must promote women’s equality and fully value women’s contributions.
In fact, Leo even joked that during the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s, his own mother used to say, “Women are better than men” — a lighthearted quip that drew laughter in the hall and echoed Pope Francis’s earlier praise of women’s courage.
Beneath the humor was a clear message: Leo wants a Church that gives women their due respect and opportunities for leadership.
October 19, 2025
When women were ordained as Catholic priests for the first time on June 29, 2002—the Danube Seven —this required the disobedient actions of male bishops. One of them was Bishop Rafael Ferdinand Regelsberger. He died at the age of 91 after a traffic accident on October 1, 2025. With great humility, he was ordained a bishop to make the priesthood of women possible in the Catholic Church. For this, he accepted the penalty of excommunication.
The sun shone bright and warm from a cloudless blue sky as an unauthorized episcopal consecration took place in secret on May 9, 2002, in a town in Upper Austria. In a private chapel, the largely unknown, Spanish-speaking Bishop Antonio Braschi consecrated the former Benedictine Father Raphael from the nearby Kremsmünster Monastery, Ferdinand Regelsberger, who had been laicized since 1977, as bishop. The Vatican was informed, but ultimately powerless: That same night, the responsible Bishop of Linz, Maximilian Aichern, had notified the nunciature in Vienna.
The purpose of the secret episcopal ordination was to ensure the ordination of several women to Catholic priesthood, planned for June 29, 2002, at a location kept secret until the very last moment, by another willing bishop. And so it happened: Braschi and Regelsberger concelebrated the ordination of the seven women on the passenger ship MS Passau on the Danube. The third designated bishop, whose name remains unknown to this day, did not appear at the ordination. The purpose of the episcopal ordination deeply worried the Vatican; it attempted to learn more about the planned ordination of women in advance, especially the intended location, in order to be able to take action (legally?) against it if necessary. The successful secrecy surrounding the ordination preparations prevented this. Thus, the event became a press sensation.
The announcement of Regelsberger's episcopal ordination led to considerable unrest in the Diocese of Linz, which even reached the Vatican. The secular and ecclesiastical press had reported extensively on the matter—even before the consecration of the Danube Seven. Extensive speculation arose about the identity of the consecrating bishop, who was still unknown at the time. However, the mystery surrounding the location was revealed . Bishop Aichern of Linz publicly accused him of " schismatic " behavior. Regelsberger himself was not mentioned in the press, nor was his position on women's priesthood.
Regelsberger was born on April 10, 1934, in Viechtwang, Upper Austria. At the age of 11, he attended the Stiftsgymnasium of the Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster, where he earned his Matura (university entrance qualification). He then became a monk there, studied in Salzburg and Rome, and was ordained a priest in 1958. After several years in parish ministry, he followed his calling as a missionary to Brazil in 1969. He returned to Austria after three years, later left the order, and was laicized in 1977. After studying psychology, he married a former nun, but the marriage remained childless and lasted only 12 years.
In 1995, he became involved in the church referendumand thus joined the call for the introduction of the ordination of women. Until his retirement, he worked as a Catholic religion teacher at the vocational schools in Attnang and Wels. Interestingly, his active support of the ordination of women movement through his own ordination as a bishop, which was prohibited by canon law, and the ordination of the Danube Seven in 2002 is not mentioned in his otherwise detailed obituary.
The identity of the ordainer is crucial for the effectiveness (validity) of a bishop's ordination. If the ordainer was indeed a bishop in the apostolic succession—and the Church apparently assumes this—then, in all likelihood, an illicit but valid episcopal ordination was performed on June 9, 2002 (valide, sed illicite).
As in the well-known case of Bishop Lefebvre (Sixth Pius Brotherhood), Canon 1382 of Canon Law would then apply. Accordingly, the Episcopal Ordinariate of the Diocese of Linz officially issued the following statement in the June 2002 Diocesan Bulletin under the heading "Excommunication": "According to Canon Law, both the bishop who ordains someone as bishop without papal mandate, as well as the person ordained by him, incur the automatic penalty of excommunication, the resolution of which is reserved to the Holy See. Canon Law prohibits any excommunicated person from performing any service at the Eucharist or at any other religious service, from administering or receiving sacraments (can. 1331 § 1 CIC). Therefore, priestly or episcopal functions by Mr. Regelsberger are not permitted."
Regelsberger's path to the Benedictine Order was paved by his attendance at the strict Benedictine abbey high school in predominantly Catholic Upper Austria. Thus, he was ordained a priest "despite all his doubts." He carried out the ministry with joy and success, as he himself put it, and with minor and major rebellions that were part of his life. This was followed by priestly burnout upon his return from the Brazilian mission, as well as dissatisfaction with authoritarian leadership structures in the order and the church. His psychology studies, which he had imposed against the order, combined with a midlife crisis, ultimately led to his leaving the order and a religious reorientation.
Regelsberger reports on this in his contribution to the book "We are Priestesses," published in 2002 by Patmos Verlag on the occasion of the consecration of the Danube Seven (ed. Werner Ertel and Gisela Forster). On July 26, 2002, the Archbishop's Ordinariate of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising obtained a preliminary injunction from the Munich I Regional Court against a passage in the book; it prohibited the claim that "at the end of June 2002, women were ordained as priests by Roman Catholic bishops." The remaining edition of the book was subsequently destroyed.
In the book, Regelsberger discusses his motives for disobedience: "It's a question of justice. The feminine side of God must also be made visible in women in the third millennium. It's sad that we are forced to act 'contra legem'; but the law of love obliges me to do so. For justice can only be established if this form of discrimination against women is ended in the Roman Catholic Church as well... He calls into his service whomever He wills."
Regelsberger's excommunication and the distancing of the order's superiors and many church representatives were painful for him. But the androcentric and misogynistic power of the church has long since been broken: Like many excommunicated people, Regelsberger was regularly given Holy Communion – contrary to the ban; four priests were present at his funeral on October 13, 2025. The distancing of the official church did not deter him from pursuing his calling as a pastor until the end and helping others. A priestess of the Danube Seven summarizes:
“Rafael was a wonderful person and one of our greatest supporters”
The participation of men—and thus their excommunication—is no longer required for the ordination of women. Twenty years after the ordination of the Danube Seven, women now confer priestly ordinations themselves, as they did during the World Synod in Rome . Approximately 20 female bishops are ready to ordain those women who feel called to the priesthood ( listed here by name as contact persons )—most recently the Spaniard Christina Moreira .
But men like Regelsberger are crucial for a discrimination-free future for the Church. Only when male priests and bishops also openly embrace the ordination of women and act contrary to canon law will there be a just Church. We know from church history that without such pressure, there can be no change in the Catholic Church. In this sense, Bishop Rafael Regelsberger was a courageous example. May he find many equally courageous successors.C
I felt great joy reading in Religión Digital the excellent interview José Manuel Vidal conducted with Christina Moreira, who will be ordained bishop tomorrow, fulfilling all the requirements of apostolic succession and within the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) . The RD has given it wide coverage, with splendid photographs, and I highly recommend reading it, congratulating Christina and supporting her cause, and, if anyone can, joining her in the place that—out of prudence—has not been made public. Although I personally have maintained more deference to the ecclesiastical institution, I increasingly share the conviction of Cristina and so many others that without accomplished deeds and profound freedom, there will be no real change. And if I am not copying the entire interview here, it is because I want to free myself from the debt I owe to Victorino, her husband, to whom I promised long ago to review his excellent book. Here is Victorino, an old friend, a profound theologian and a spiritual man who understood our always remembered Raimon Pannikar better than anyone else. AD.
Victorino Pérez Prieto: Mysticism in Non-Christian Religions: The Challenge of Non-duality (PPC Editorial, 2024)
I've known Victorino for years. He's a profound theologian, a rigorous thinker, and a friend. His previous contributions to Iglesia Viva (if anyone wants to read any of the articles and gets an error, copy the address that appears in the command line and paste it there. AD) and Atrio.org already reveal his radical ecumenical vocation, always influenced by the Trinitarian spirit and the thought of Raimon Pannikar.
But this new book takes a step further. And it does so with boldness and solidity.
This is a work that deserves a privileged place as a permanent reference book for anyone interested in spirituality, mysticism, and interreligious dialogue. If previous generations looked to Mircea Eliade as a reference for understanding humanity's religious background, this work by Victorino can fulfill a similar function today, with a more contemporary sensibility: less focused on myths and more on the living and founding experiences that have given rise to spiritual traditions.
Here, religion is not analyzed as a set of doctrines, but as a radical experience of reality. We are invited to view mysticism not as a marginal phenomenon, but as the spiritual core of all religions, including non-theistic ones. This shift in focus—from belief to experience, from dogma to experience—connects with a contemporary thirst for authenticity that transcends religious labels.
Among his most valuable contributions, I would like to highlight:
– The seriousness with which he treats shamanic experiences. Far from superficial exoticism, Victorino shows how certain experiences, even when expressed in magical or archaic languages, can be embraced by a mature spirituality. The canonization of figures such as the American Indigenous blessed, Black Elk [i] , is a living example of this integration.
–The depth with which it presents Eastern traditions, especially Vedic Hinduism. At a time when everything is often reduced to a light-hearted fad of “mindfulness” or “Zen,” this book restores the theological and existential weight to these traditions, showcasing their spiritual architecture and wisdom.
– The unfolding of what he calls “non-duality,” that experience that overcomes the oppositions between body and soul, God and world, subject and object. Rather than opting for a simplistic monism or a sterile dualism, Victorino—following Advaita intuition and Panikkar's Trinitarian path—proposes an a-dual experience that embraces complexity and unity.
The book is also a pedagogy of the "three eyes of knowledge": the sensitive and empirical, the rational, and the contemplative. In a world that has hypertrophied the latter, replacing the first with ultra-technical "sensors," and has almost forgotten the third, dismissing it as illusory fantasies, this work is a call to awaken the inner eye, to cultivate interiority as a path to wisdom and fulfillment.
Beyond the religious horizon, this book has a philosophical and humanistic force. It shows that mysticism is not a privilege of a select few nor a spiritualist escape. It is an essential human possibility, a way of living life with full awareness, with loving presence, in communion with the All.
Victorino does not propose a cheap syncretism, nor a relativism that blurs differences. His is a commitment to a mature interreligiosity, capable of recognizing "homeomorphic equivalences" (as Panikkar said), those deep echoes and affinities between different traditions. And, above all, he invites us to recognize mysticism as the deepest dimension of humanity.
In a world wounded by noise, fragmentation, and superficiality, this book is an open door to Silence. A Silence that is not emptiness, but Presence. A Silence that unites, that heals, that transforms.
Brief overview of the book's contents:
The book is structured in several parts which, beyond the scholarly analysis (there is a wealth of authors and titles by and about mysticism), invite the reader on an inner journey:
– The initial chapters present the general framework of spirituality and mysticism, with special attention to the metaphor of the three eyes of knowledge (sensory, rational and contemplative), and to the notion of spirituality as access to Life with a capital L.
– The central idea of the book is presented below: nonduality (advaita) as the challenge and heart of all authentic mystical experience. This intuition is explored in its ontological and experiential depth, as well as in its interreligious translation.
– The various forms of non-Christian mysticism are then presented, beginning with Hinduism, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Islamic Sufism, and Jewish Kabbalah, with special attention to their practices, concepts, and exemplary figures.
– Finally, the book concludes with a reflection on secular mysticism, contemporary spiritualities, and the challenge of a transtheistic mysticism in the context of intercultural dialogue and theological renewal.
NOTE
[i] The truth is that I discovered Black Elk through this book by Victorino. I had read in Castañeda things about states of consciousness achieved through the ingestion of drug and shamanic ritual practices. But it had nothing to do with this wisdom buried in his land and inherited from his ancestors that came to the Indian Nicholas Black Elk,whose story and message, baptized in the 1930s and currently on the way to canonization. I recommend at least a first approach with the writer Emma Rodríguez in this review: https://lecturassumergidas.com/2018/08/30/el-legado-de-alce-negro/ ) Good route of integral wisdom for your fellow citizens of the 21st century!
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