Support Women Priests With Prayers and Financial Support

http://www.arcwp.org/fund_ltr.pdf
Dear Family, Friends and Supporters of ARCWP:
As we draw near to Christmas and the close of 2012, we look back on this year with great joy
and extreme gratitude. We give thanks for you, our supporters.  Together we are moving
toward a renewed inclusive Christ-centered, justice seeking Catholic Church emerging in
more and more places led by ordained women.  In 2012 five women were ordained as priests
and another six women as deacons.  We anticipate the ordination of as many as nine women
as priests in 2013.  In spite of the Vatican-imposed punishment of excommunication our
movement for Gospel equality continues to grow.
ARCWP is a new vision rising up: one of inclusion, nonviolence and justice in our church and
world community.  We are active in ministries with those who are living on the margins due
to homelessness, racism, poverty and difference.  We serve as pastors for house churches
and inclusive Catholic communities.  We are educators and authors, retreat leaders and
peace activists.  We provide pastoral care in a variety of medical settings. We work with
youth, families, the elderly and the disaffected to heal and build community often in
ecumenical settings.  
Our vision rose on November 17 when Jesuit Father Bill Brennan co-presided with our Janice
Sevre-Duszynska at the Progressive Catholic Coalition liturgy at the School of the Americas
(SOA) protest in Georgia.  In just a few days our joy was tempered by the news that the
Vatican dismissed Fr. Roy Bourgeois from the Maryknoll order and the priesthood. But he
will always be our courageous priest.  We have collaborated with Women's Ordination
Conference and Call to Action in support of Fr. Roy who said. “...it is my conscience that
compels me to say publicly that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave
injustice against women, against our Church and against our Loving God who calls both men
and women to the priesthood.”
As we look ahead to 2013 we know that we will need increased financial support.  Our largest
expense is for our ordinations and all the ways we spread the good news of the women priest
movement: speaking to groups in colleges and universities and at showings of the
documentary “Pink Smoke”, through our website, and by visiting and collaborating with our
priests in South America.
That’s what ARCWP is about.  We work tirelessly to bring about the Kin-dom in local
communities by the giving of ourselves in ministry and by challenging the powers that be.
We know that we can count on you to support our efforts. Please make your tax-deductible
donation to: ARCWP at the address above.
                                                                  
We invite you to visit our website (www.ARCWP.org) and Bridget Mary’s blog (bridgetmarys.
blogspot.com) for the latest in our movement for a renewed inclusive church.
We offer you our blessings as we move forward together,
The Women of ARCWP

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt charitable organization.
Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law

"Bishops Investigating US Nuns Have Poor Records on Sex Abuse Cases" by Jason Berry

 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/121217/bishops-investigating-us-nuns-carry-poor-records-sex-abuse-cases

Vatican Selections Include Bishops and Cardinals who Protected Pedophile Priests

..."As the Vatican lowers a curtain of scrutiny across communities of religious women in America, a small but resonant chorus of critics is raising an issue of a hypocrisy that has grown too blatant to ignore. The same hierarchy that brought shame upon the Vatican for recycling clergy child molesters, a scandal that rocked the church in many countries, has assumed a moral high ground in punishing the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group whose members have put their lives on the line in taking the social justice agenda of the Second Vatican Council to some of the poorest areas in the world. 

Many nuns from foreign countries wonder if the investigation is an exercise “in displaced anger,” as one sister puts it, for the hierarchy’s failure in child abuse scandals across the map of the global church.

Cardinals and bishops involved in the LCWR investigation have suffered no discipline for their blunders in their handling of clergy pedophiles, according to news reports and legal documents.

Cardinal Bernard Law was the prime mover behind the “apostolic visitation” of all American nun communities, other than monastic ones, and the subsequent CDF investigation of the LCWR, according to sources in Rome, including Cardinal Franc Rodé, the retired prefect of the congregation that oversees religious orders.

Law, who refused to comment for this article, has not spoken to the press in 10 years. He resigned as Boston archbishop in December 2002 and spent 18 months living at a convent of nuns in Maryland, with periodic trips to Rome. In 2004, the Vatican rewarded him with a position as prefect of Santa Maria Maggiore, a historic basilica; he took an active role in several Roman Curia boards, and became a fixture on the social circuit of embassies in Rome. Boston was a staggering mess.

Abuse settlements there have cost $175 million. Mass attendance since 2002 has dropped from 45 percent to 16 percent. Declining financial support has caused a storm of church closings, from 400 parishes in 2002 to 135 today.

Six years after Law found redemption in Rome, clergy abuse cases exploded in Europe.

“You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry,” Pope Benedict XVI wrote to Catholics of Ireland in a letter on March 19, 2010, as the Irish reeled from a government report on a history of bishops concealing clergy predators. “Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated,” the pope continued. “You find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel. At the same time, I ask you not to lose hope.”

Despite the uncommon tone of contrition, the pope’s letter offered no procedures to remove complicit bishops or genuine institutional reform.

On April 4, 2010, as cases of clergy abuse in other countries shook the European heartland, the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel criticized Benedict for “reluctance to take a firm stance ... [on] a crisis for the entire Catholic Church, a crisis that is now descending upon the Vatican with a vengeance and hitting its spiritual leader hard.”

Two years later, the drumbeat of criticism has subsided; but the core problem is unchanged. Under the logic of apostolic succession, in which each bishops stands as a descendant of Jesus’s apostles, the power structure gives de facto immunity to cardinals and bishops for gross violations of moral trust, much less the law.

Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, Missouri, remains in his office despite his conviction in civil court, which did not draw a prison sentence, for concealing a perpetrator. Pope Benedict has not punished any of the hierarchs who recycled so many sex offenders by sending them to other parishes.

The double standard in church governance — men of the hierarchy immune from church justice — has become a glaring issue to leaders of missionary orders in Rome as the CDF probes the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in America.

In 2005, shortly after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger emerged from the conclave as Pope Benedict XVI, he appointed San Francisco Archbishop William Levada to succeed him as prefect of the CDF. Levada became a cardinal soon thereafter.

Levada was caught in a swamp in 2002 amidst news reports on abuse cases under his watch. He formed an Independent Review Board of primarily lay people to advise him and review personnel files on questionable priests. Psychologist James Jenkins chaired the board. Father Greg Ingels, a canon lawyer, helped set it up. Jenkins grew suspicious when Levada would not release the names of priests under scrutiny. 

In May of 2003, board members were stunned on reading news reports that Ingels had been indicted for allegedly having oral sex with a 15-year-old boy at a local high school in the 1970s. Levada, the board learned, had known about the allegations since 1996, yet kept Ingels in ministry and as an adviser. Ingels helped fashion the church's 2002 zero-tolerance policy and wrote a bishops’ guidebook on how to handle abuse cases. Ingels stepped down.

Jenkins quit his post, denouncing Levada for “an elaborate public relations scheme.” 

Robert Mickens reported in The Tablet in May that Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, a protege of Law’s, asked the CDF to investigate LCWR.

Lori established several communities of traditionalist nuns as bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. between 2001 and 2012.

As a canon lawyer, Lori helped write the US bishops’ 2002 youth protection charter. It has no oversight over bishops. In 2003, Lori approved a $21 million abuse victims’ settlement involving several priests. Voice of the Faithful criticized him for allowing an accused monsignor to stay in his parish. In 2011 the priest resigned after a female church worker made sexual harassment allegations.

In a Jan. 12, 2011 Connecticut Post op-ed piece, VOTF leader John Marshall Lee cited a priest who had been suspended for sex abuse yet appeared in clerical attire at public gatherings. 

“Does this behavior contradict Bishop Lori's assumed supervisory orders suspending priestly public activities?” Lee asked. “How does a bishop enforce his instructions in this regard? Where does a whistleblower report this behavior, or determine if the priest in question was suspended in the first place?”

Lee cited another cleric who had been removed after “credible allegations of sexual abuse” but with no indication that he was defrocked. 

“There is no current address for this man who might have been labeled ‘sex offender’ (had the church acted responsibly when leaders first heard of adult criminal behavior perpetrated on Catholic children) and who may continue to be a potential threat to children," Lee continued. "Is the church saying that such men are no longer a public threat to children?”

Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, who wrote the secret report on LCWR for Levada, has said he got most of his information from LCWR literature. Writing in his diocesan paper, Blair made the accurate point that several speakers at LCWR conferences have taken positions, like ordaining women, that are contrary to church teaching.

Does this mean that the ordination of women is a new form of heresy? Can religious conferences function with academic freedom? If the truth of the church is defined by men who have violated basic moral standards of Christian life in disregarding the rights of children and their families, how does their behavior meet the sensus fidelium, or mind of the faithful, extolled by Vatican II?

Blair’s own background spotlights a double standard that rewards bishops who scandalize lay people.

In 2004, the priest in charge of Toledo’s $60 million capital campaign was accused by two men of having abused them as boys many years before. Blair kept Father Robert Yaeger in his fundraising job while an attorney negotiated settlements for the victims. The bishop removed Yaeger after eighteen months, as the fundraising campaign drew to a close, but before the settlements made news.

“A priest who was publicly critical of Blair's handling of the sexual abuse crisis has been silenced from speaking to the media,” says David Yonke, an author and former Toledo Blade reporter who covered religion for years. ”Father Stephen Stanbery used to call me regularly but stopped about two years ago. He could not acknowledge that he was silenced by the bishop but it is clear that’s what happened,” says Yonke, now with Religion News Service.

Blair forcibly retired a veteran pastor who criticized the bishop’s parish closures as “high-handed decisions with almost no collaboration with anyone.” In one parish he installed a priest who had had a long relationship with a woman. When the parishioners found out, Blair reassigned the priest. A spokesperson said the bishop had to keep quiet as the priest told him in confession. 

In 2005, parishioners in the farm belt town of Kansas, Ohio, filed a Vatican appeal when Blair closed St. James parish. It failed. They filed suit to save the parish in county court, arguing that the bishop was only one trustee but parishioners owned the property. The state sided with the bishop. “We spent $100,000 in legal fees,” said parishioner Virginia Hull. “Bishop Blair paid his lawyers with $77,957 from our parish account.” Blair had the church demolished.

Blair, Lori and Levada became bishops with help from Law, whose influence at the Vatican as a member of Congregation for Bishops was pivotal in selecting new American priests for the hierarchy.

The second member of the three-man committee now supervising LCWR is Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. In a 2007 homily in Grand Rapids for the Red Mass, an annual liturgy for lawyers and judges, Paprocki, who has degrees in civil and canon law, declared that “the law is being used as an instrument of attack on the Church. This was true from the earliest times when the earliest Christians were, in effect, outlaws in the Roman empire for refusing to worship the official state gods.”

He saw clergy abuse lawsuits were undermining the church’s religious freedom. “This attack is particularly directed against bishops and priests, since the most effective way to scatter the flock is to attack the shepherd,” he insisted. “The principal force behind these attacks is none other than the devil.”

Equating the devil with lawyers seeking financial compensation for victims of child sexual abuse drew heavy criticism for Paprocki.

In a 2011 homily the bishop took a rhetorical backstep, saying, "Apparently I did not make myself clear that it is the sins of priests and bishops who succumbed to the temptations of the devil that have put their victims and the Catholic community in this horrible situation in the first place.”

In a column for his diocesan newspaper before the November election, Paprocki attacked the Democrats’ party platform supporting abortion.

Without endorsing Mitt Romney outright, he wrote that “a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your soul in serious jeopardy.”

Did bishops who sent child molesters from parish to parish, on to fresh victims, without warning parishioners, promote “actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil?” Does apostolic succession absolve them of all wrongdoing?

Bishops gain stature in the estimation of cardinals and popes by proving their loyalty. A chief way to do that is by serving as an investigator of priests or nuns who run afoul of the hierarchy as threats to the moral teaching upheld by bishops, regardless of what the bishops have done.

Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle is delegated by the CDF to ensure that the nuns’ leadership group conforms to changes the Vatican wants.

Sartain was previously the bishop of Joliet, Ill., a diocese that was wracked with abuse cover-ups and lawsuits under his predecessor.

In spring of 2009, a Joliet seminarian, Alejandro Flores, was caught with pornographic pictures of youths, some of which appeared to be of underage boys. No criminal charges were filed.

Bishop Sartain ordained Flores a priest six months later, in June 2009. Then in January 2010, Flores was arrested for molesting a boy. He pled guilty in September 2010, the same month that Pope Benedict promoted Sartain to archbishop of Seattle."

Research for this series has been funded by a Knight Grant for Reporting on Religion and American Public Life, sponsored by the Knight Program at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism; the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting; and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Link to Slideshow Homily at Call to Action Produced by Roman Catholic Women Priests USA and the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests/"Standing on the Shoulders"/Dedicated to Fr. Roy Bourgeois for his support of women priests/Enjoy!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8203311/Slideshow%20homily%20CTA.mov

Canadian Media Interview with Roy Bourgeois on Ordination of Women

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/12/19/roy-bourgeois-excommunicated-priest-on-the-ordination-of-women/

"For years Roy Bourgeois mixed activism with his religion as a Roman Catholic priest. He was a vocal proponent of human rights in Latin America. Then he took up the struggle for the ordination of women. For the Vatican that was one struggle too many. Roy Bourgeois has been excommunicated and today as part of our project Line in The Sand,the Dilemmas that Define Us, we hear from Roy Bourgeois about where he drew his line. "

Women Priests Celebrate Prophets As Spiritual Revolution Continues /Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Press Release: December 19, 2012

From: The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, D.Min., rhythmsofthedance@gmail.com 859-684-4247

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

www.arcwp.org

http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com

The spiritual revolution of Roman Catholic Women Priests is shaking the Catholic Church to its foundation.

We now have the second official statement in a month from the National Catholic Reporter challenging the Vatican over the issue of women priests. It is a call to male priests for solidarity with those who have been reprimanded for publicly supporting women priests:  Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Jesuit Bill Brennan and Franciscan Jerry Zawada.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/lament-over-silencing-brothers

Moreover, 4,000 Sisters of Mercy, the largest group of women religious leaders, have signed a statement in support of Fr. Roy and for justice and equality for women in the church.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/mercy-sisters-support-roy-bourgeois

They were joined by the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland.

http://ncronline.org/node/40791

Meanwhile, Monsignor Helmut Schuller of Austria who heads the 400-Austrian Priests’ Initiative was stripped of his title by the Vatican.

http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/vatican-strips-austrias-reform-priest-monsignor-title

Swiss Abbots Speak Out for Church Reform including women's ordination.

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/swiss-benedictine-abbots-speak-out-church-reform

Catholics in Switzerland May
Vote to Abolish Celibacy and for Women’s Ordination
http://iglesiadescalza.blogspot.com/2012/12/catholics-in-basel-may-vote-on.html

No punishment against male priest supporters of women’s ordination will stop the Spirit from rising up for justice for women in the church.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas – Christ with us -- we celebrate and affirm all modern-day prophets who speak out publicly, challenging sexism, the elephant in the church’s living room.  This is Good News! Thanks be to God!

=

Mercy Nuns Statement of Support for Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Link to National Catholic Reporter Support, Irish Priests' Association Support Roy and Women's Ordination/Vatican Punishments Fail /Tipping Point for Women Priests?

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/mercy-sisters-support-roy-bourgeois

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/lament-over-silencing-brothers

Bridget Mary's Response: 
Once again the Vatican and the bishops are the gifts that keep on giving to the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement!  Courageous male priests,  the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and the Catholic press are challenging the Vatican for its tactics of intimidation and punishment against those who support women's ordination. There is no sugar-coating it. This is a spiritual revolution in the Catholic Church that is shaking the Vatican and moving the church forward towards a renewal. Perhaps, we are even approaching a tipping point for women priests!

What do  Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Franciscan Jerry Zawada and Jesuit Bill Brennan have in common? They are peace and justice activists, who co-presided with Janice Sevre-Duszynska at different liturgies. Roy gave the homily at her ordination  on Aug. 9, 2008 and has spoken out for women's ordination in many places in the United States and Canada. Fr. Jerry in 2010 and 2011 and Fr. Bill n 2012 co-presided with Janice at liturgies at the School of the Americas Watch in Columbus, GA. Their punishment:Fr. Roy Bourgeois was thrown out of the Maryknoll Order for his promotion of women's ordination Fr. Jerry's case is pending, Fr. Bill Brennan, a Jesuit, is not allowed to celebrate public Masses, speak to the media, or leave his nursing home without the permission of his superior!  It is outrageous to treat a faithful, 92 year old priest like a child!

Monsignor Helmut Schuller of Austria has been stripped of the tile Monsignor as punishment for leading the "Appeal to disobedience." According to the National Catholic Reporter: "Schüller, a former deputy to Vienna's archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, has made waves by organizing some 400 Austrian priests into the Austrian Priests' Initiative, which published an "Appeal to Disobedience" in June 2011.That appeal, which has the support of a large number of Austrian lay Catholics, calls for radical church reforms including the ordination of married men and women.")  

It is good news for Catholics to see our  priests challenging sexism, the elephant in the church's "living room! Amen, brothers, amen!

It is a wonderful surprise, in light of the Vatican persecution of the nuns, specifically of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, to read the strong statement of solidarity from Sisters of Mercy of the Americas! I hope that there will some gutsy nun priests soon!

Pope Benedict canonized two excommunicated nuns, Mother Theodore Guerin and Mother Mary MacKillop. So, one could argue that the pope has made excommunication the new fast track to canonization! Saints Joan of Arc, Mother Theodore Guerin and  Mary MacKillop, patron saints for primacy of conscience and of the excommunicated, pray for us! Perhaps, the growing number of the excommunicated is sending a message to the Vatican today. We are no longer afraid! Roman Catholic Women Priests are leading, not leaving the church!

Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwp. www.arcwp.org

Links to Recent Top Stories on the "ever punishing" Vatican and the push-back from the Catholic Press/NCR, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and the Irish Priests Association:

This critical challenge is written by Tom Fox, publisher of the National Catholic Reporter. http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/lament-over-silencing-brothers

Editorial supporting women's ordination in National Catholic Reporter in early Dec.
http://ncronline.org/node/40306

MERCY NUNS Speak out!
 See also the link to the Mercy Nuns' Statement in which they clearly support Fr. Roy Bourgeois and affirm their position for justice and equality for women in the church.
If the nuns jump from the institutional ship, that is big news! http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/mercy-sisters-support-roy-bourgeois

Association of Irish Priests Speak Out in solidarity with Fr. Roy http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2012/12/statement-of-support-for-fr-roy-bourgeois/

http://ncronline.org/news/global/irish-priest-association-supports-bourgeois

Franciscan Jerry Zawada, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, ARCWP, Jesuit Bill Brennan

Story of Punishment of Jesuit Priest who co-presided at 
Mass with Woman Priest- 
Janice Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

(See photo)
http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2012/12/jesuit-penalized-after-eucharistic.html

(See photos of Liturgy of Janice and Jesuit Bill Brennan)
http://ncronline.org/news/people/jesuit-penalized-after-eucharistic-liturgy-woman-priest

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/06/us-usa-catholic-priest-idUKBRE8B506220121206

Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Bishop Dana Reynolds, Janice Sevre-Duszynska  Aug. 9, 2008
Ordination of Janice as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest

National Catholic Reporter- Male Priests Support of Women Priests- "A Lament Over the Silencing of Brothers" by Tom Fox/Publisher

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/lament-over-silencing-brothers

A lament over the silencing of brothers

Thomas C. Fox  |  Dec. 18, 2012NCR Today

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"The decision in October by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to remove longtime peace advocate Roy Bourgeois from the Maryknoll fathers upset many Catholics.

Bourgeois was singled out for having participated in the ordination of Roman Catholic Womanpriest Janice Sevre-Duszynska in August 2008. Shortly after Bourgeois was notified by the Vatican that he had incurred a latae sententiae, or automatic, excommunication for his participation.

Then last month Jesuit Fr. Bill Brennan, a 92-year-old Milwaukee-area priest, was informed he could no longer  celebrate Mass or perform any other priestly duties after it was disclosed he had participated in a eucharistic liturgy with a woman priest

It seems priests will be singled out as long as they associate with women priest liturgies. It also seems the conflict between advocates of an inclusive priesthood and those who support an entirely male priesthood in the Catholic church will not die out soon.
 

One small example: A few days back I received an email from Jim Ewens, a former Jesuit living in North Lake, WI. He wrote what he called a “Hopkinsian lament,” wondering out loud why more religious had not spoken out against the way the Vatican had treated Bourgeois and Brennan. This is Ewens' lament. "

 
               A Hopkinsian Lament over the Silencing of Brothers

Is there not one, nowhere, no how, not (even) a single Jesuit -- or two --
In the entire Great Lakes province who might dare, so to speak, up, out --
Finding some way to stand forth and say:

"Yes, I do support my brother, Bill Brennan S.J., his friends, Roy Bourgeois,
Jerry Zawada, O.S.F. , the NCR Editorial Statement -- the
600 Austrian and 1,000 Irish priests -- in stating that it is well past time
To ordain women to priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church."

I mean, if not now, when? At 75, 87, 92? Wholly retired, slipping Into
Dementia? At any rate, well past when most other Catholics in the country
Or world will have approved the rightness of overturning this massive wrong.

True, there might, in time, be charges, losses, challenges, repercussions.
As there were back in the 60s for hundreds of thousands who sat in at
Lunch counters, marched, rode in the front of buses, for months, years,
Until laws were passed, freedoms won, for millions. We were with them, then.

Why not now? In large numbers. The Sisters of Mercy across the country
Have seen fit to do so. The American Catholic Council concurred as well.
Are Jesuits different, quieter, unable, unwilling? But since when -- and why?
It could be changed. By one, two at a time, then some more. This Advent.
Talk more about elephants in the rec room. Then, stand up, move them out.

O Antiphons (link to Martha Kelly's Art/ Prayer from Joan Chittister for Dec. 18th

http://www.marthakellyart.com/1/post/2012/12/o-antiphons1.html

Dec. 18th

O Adonai
when we build a vision of life it is necessary to realize that Jesus must be the center, not our institutions, good as they may be; not our plans or personal talents, necessary as they are.

Prayer
O Adonai, leader of ancient Israel, giving Moses, while in the burning bush, Sinai. Come with outstretched arms and teach us. 
Sr. Joan Chittister

From Bridget Mary:
O loving God, embrace us this day, and fill our hearts with a profound compassion for all who weep especially the families that lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook tragedy. May we move foward with the resolve to make the changes that will prevent future mass killings by passing gun control laws, providing better mental health resources and reaching out to all those who are in need who cross our path in life. 

This video is a Christmas gift that comes with the hope that Wisdom will guide us to change our violent culture and to co-create with Her a peaceful world

 http://jannaldredgeclanton.com/blog/?p=685; http://jannaldredgeclanton.com/blog/?p=633

Sign Petition for Gun Control as Response to Tragic killing of 28- 20 Kids in Connecticut

Dear friends across the US,

Our country is in shock at the tragedy in Connectictut. It's time we told the NRA ENOUGH! We won't stand for their opposition to sensible gun laws anymore. Sign the petition and send it to everyone:

Columbine. Virginia Tech. Aurora. And now, 28 people dead in a school in Connecticut -- 20 of them kids. We sit, all across the country, in shock. How could this happen? There are no satisfying answers. But one thing we know is that it's outrageous that our country hasn't passed sensible gun control laws yet.

That's because, for decades, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has opposed any and every reasonable proposal to regulate guns. NRA head Wayne LaPierre has made it his personal mission to make it easier for Americans to be able to buy guns and to threaten every politician who stands in his way. ENOUGH. Let's tell the NRA we're done with their extremism and show our politicians the public is ready to stand with them against LaPierre.

Sign the petition now and send it to everyone -- when we hit 1 million we'll surround NRA headquarters and let them know this is the last tragedy of the NRA's reign:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/nra_enough/?bprCedb&v=20192

President Obama says it's time to take "meaningful action" to make sure this tragedy never happens again. We need to hold him to that promise as his leadership is essential, but Congress writes the laws and until we free them from the grip of the NRA, it's hard to see them having the courage to act.

The NRA claims gun control rules violate gun owners' right to bear arms. The truth is, it’s a false debate. The Supreme Court has said that the right to bear arms is not absolute -- we can respect our constitutionally protected right to bear arms while also enacting strong gun control laws that keep our children safe. And laws are only getting more lax -- just two days ago a state legislature voted to allow gun owners to bring concealed weapons to school! While many argue it's not gun availability but mental illness that is responsible for tragedies like this, the truth is it's both, and we need to address both -- NOW.

After a string of mass shootings in Australia, the government enacted gun control rules in 1996. In the following decade, there was not a single mass shooting. And that evidence of gun control leading to less gun killings is consistent across the world.

Sign the urgent petition and send to everyone -- let's draw a line in the sand that finally stops the NRA. It's way past time we tackle gun control:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/nra_enough/?bprCedb&v=20192

Let's start a real national conversation about the laws that could protect our communities and families from devastating tragedies like this. Our Avaaz community in the US is nearly one million-strong! If we all rally around this moment together and tell all our friends, we can make this happen.

With hope and determination,

Mia, Alice, Ricken, Dalia, Allison, David and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Obama's cautious call may re-engage gun control debate (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/us/politics/obamas-reaction-to-connecticut-shooting-sets-stage-for-gun-debate.html?hp

Nation reels from tragic shooting (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html?hp

NRA-led gun lobby wields powerful influence over ATF, U.S. politics (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/14/AR2010121406045.html

Gun Control Legislation Report 2012 (Congressional Research Service)
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32842.pdf

Study: Australia's gun control laws
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/12/6/365.full

Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/

Bishop Olmsted Not Gong To Vatican Post

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/diocese-phoenix-bishop-thomas-j-olmsted-not-going-to-vatican

"Bishop Morlino Cracks Dow on Madison Nuns"/Grand Inquisition of Nuns and Women Priests' Supporters Continues/ Part of Papal Crackdown

http://host.madison.com/news/local/bishop-robert-morlino-cracks-down-on-madison-nuns-for-espousing/article_37f434d0-4325-11e2-a826-001a4bcf887a.html#.UMd1vBa91AV.email

..."Brent King, a spokesman for the diocese, said three other potential parish guest speakers, all male, have been banned "in recent years." The women are not prohibited from attending Mass or, if Catholic, from receiving communion, King said. Asked whether they could contribute to parish life in other ways, such as reading Bible passages from the pulpit or chairing a church committee, King said that would be up to individual priests.
The action comes amid a papal crackdown on nuns. Earlier this year, the Vatican accused the most influential group of Catholic sisters in the U.S. of "serious doctrinal issues" for not following Rome's lead on topics such as the male-only priesthood and homosexuality.
Interfaith approach
Wisdom's Well was founded in Madison in 2006. The center has no physical facility but offers workshops and retreats on topics such as nonviolence, contemplative living and Christian meditation.
The center's website says it "serves to support those who desire to grow spiritually, seek inner wisdom, and yearn for a transformative spirituality." Its mission statement says the center is "grounded in the Christian tradition, while embracing the wisdom found in other religious traditions."
Along with the sisters, the third staff member is Beth O'Brien, a married mother of two and a religious layperson affiliated with the Benedictine community. She also is banned, as is Paula Hirschboeck, a philosophy professor at Edgewood College in Madison who helped found Wisdom's Well but is no longer on its staff.
The women declined comment, referring questions to the Dominicans of Sinsinawa Congregation, based in southwestern Wisconsin.
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
All God's people belong to God's family. Neither Bishop Morlino nor the Pope can put God in a box. The Spirit blows where She wills including in the wisdom of other religions' sacred stories! This recent Vatican crackdown against the nuns and women priests' supporters will alienate more and more Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Sadly, the institutional church is slamming the door on many faithful women like the nuns in this story who have devoted their lives to service of God's people. But, from another perspective, the Vatican and the bishops are the gifts that keep on giving as the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement continues to flourish.
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/bishop-robert-morlino-cracks-down-on-madison-nuns-for-espousing/article_37f434d0-4325-11e2-a826-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz2EmINFbe5

Welcoming Pope’s Move to Twitter, Hindus Urge Step Towards Women Priests also

" Welcoming traditional Pope’s move towards a new digital arena of Twitter on December 12, Hindus have urged His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican to introduce real change by reconsidering favorably the ordination of women priests in Roman Catholic Church. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Pope’s embracing of new media initiative showed that the age-old institution was trying to catch up with 21st century and it was thus highly appropriate time for the Holy See to hold a referendum among its congregations worldwide to learn about the feelings of Catholics on the subject of ordination of women.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stated that women could disseminate God’s message as skillfully as men and deserved equal and full participation and access in religion. Rajan Zed further said that as women were equal partners in the society, so they should be equal partners in the religion also. He urged Vatican to be more kind to Roman Catholic women as exclusion of women from religious services, just because they were female, was very unfair and ungodly.Quoting Hindu scriptures, Zed says: Where women are honored, there the gods are pleased. Men and women are equal in the eyes of God and religions should respect that, Zed stresses and adds that time has now come for the women priests and bishops.  

 Rajan Zed suggested that theologians and canonists of the Church needed to address women ordination issue urgently; re-evaluate Church doctrine, theology, male hierarchy and history; and give women a chance. Women should be ordained to priesthood and should perform the same functions as male priests. Treating women as not equal to men was clearly a case of discrimination promoting gender inequality. Church’s Cannon Law 1024 says—Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination. Zed noted that there had been, however, some positive signs regarding status of women in Roman Catholic Church as Vatican invited women to participate in the Synod of Bishops in 2010 and 2008 and girls outnumbered boys for the first time at the altar servers gathering in Vatican in 2010, where about 60 percent of young pilgrims were reportedly female. Pope reportedly appointed record 29 women to participate in October Synod of Bishops on Evangelisation. Holy See being the largest religious organization in the world should show exemplary leadership in women equality to the rest of the planet, Zed pointed out.
Rajan Zed argued that reprimanding of the US Catholic nuns’ group, Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), founded in 1956, by Vatican for reportedly raising the subject of ordination of women and other issues was unfortunate. Mission of LCWR, an association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in USA, included “fostering dialogue and collaboration among religious congregations”, “developing models for initiating and strengthening relationships with groups concerned with the needs of society”, etc.
Roman Catholic Church, largest of the Christian denominations with about 1.2 billion adherents, is headed by Pope and headquartered in Vatican. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

Media Stories about Jesuit Fr. Bill Brennan Co-Presiding at Mass with Woman Priest Janice Sevre-Duszysnka, ARCWP/Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Catholic priest, 92, BANNED from Mass for flouting Pope's rule and performing ...

Daily Mail - ‎Dec 9, 2012‎

A 92-year-old Wisconsin Jesuit has become the latest Catholic priest to be punished by church authorities for celebrating Mass with a woman priest in violation of church rules. Father Bill Brennan, a Milwaukee-area peace activist who has done missionary ...

Priest stripped of duties for celebrating Mass with woman priest

NBCNews.com (blog) - ‎Dec 8, 2012‎

ago. Priest stripped of duties for celebrating Mass with woman priest. Bob Graf. Jesuit priest Bill Brennan, 92, was stripped of his priestly duties after he presided over a Eucharistic liturgy with a woman priest last month in Georgia. By Becky Bratu, NBC News ...

Father Bill Brennan Punished by Catholic Church for Performing Mass with ...

Opposing Views - ‎8 hours ago‎

Father Bill Brennan, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin Jesuit, was recently punished by Catholic Church authorities for celebrating Mass last month with Janice Sevre-Duszynska, of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, in violation of church rules.

Priest, 92, stripped of duties for holding Mass with woman priest

DigitalJournal.com - ‎Dec 9, 2012‎

Bill Brennan, a 92-year-old Milwaukee-area Catholic Jesuit priest, was stripped of his priestly duties by church authorities after he held a Eucharistic liturgy with a woman priest in Georgia. According to NBC News, on November 17, Brennan performed a ...

Wisconsin priest banned from church for Mass with female priest

GlobalPost - ‎Dec 9, 2012‎

A priest, 92, is no longer allowed to celebrate Mass or other sacraments because he conducted Mass with a woman priest in violation of Church rules. Ellen ConnollyDecember 9, 2012 12:46. Priest pupnished. A 92-year-old Wisconsin Jesuit has become the ...

Jesuit sanctioned for Mass with woman priest

Monterey County Herald - ‎Dec 7, 2012‎

MILWAUKEE — A 92-year-old Wisconsin Jesuit is the latest American priest to be sanctioned for celebrating the Catholic Mass with a woman priest in violation of church teaching. The Rev. Bill Brennan, a longtime peace activist, has been ordered not to ...

Bishop Olmstead To Replace Bishop Tobin In Rome/Bad News for LCWR and Nuns? Good News for Women Priests?

If more nuns'orders decide that this latest hostile power play by the Vatican is the last straw,   we may see nuns ordained publically as priests sooner rather than later. This is the silver lining in today's announcement that Bishop Olmsted is replacing Bishop Tobin as the Vatican enforcer of its recent crackdown on the nuns who have faithfully and prophetically served our church for centuries. "The orthodox hurricane continues to swirl. It's now taken Phoenix's Olmstead and whirled him right to Rome where he will replace Archbishop Tobin as Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. This move removes the LCWR's best friend and replaces him with another ladder climbing Grand Inquisitor. The following is the first paragraph of Vatican Insider's coverage of this impending move."
http://enlightenedcatholicism-colkoch.blogspot.com/2012/12/bishop-olmstead-to-replace-bishop-tobin.html
As a Sister for Christian Community, which is an independent group of prophetic women living the Gospel today, and as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest, who serves my Sisters as bishop in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, I say 'bring it on"! It is time for the Sisters to declare that they are "free at last" of Vatican control. They certainly have the support of the majority of U.S. Catholics, and they know it.
Now more and more renewal groups are supporting women's ordination including more than a thousand male priests in Austria, Ireland, Germany, and in many other places. Prophets like Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Franciscan Jerry Zawada and Jesuit Bill Brennan have co-presided at liturgy with Woman Priest, Janice Sevre-Duszynska. Catholics are now approaching a tipping point in a spiritual revolution that is birthing a more inclusive church where all are welcome to receive sacraments and all the baptized are equals.
Bridget Mary Meehan, sfcc, arcwp
www.arcwp.org

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Congratulate Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland for Prophetic Stance in Support of Fr. Roy Bourgeois on the Ordination of Women as Priests

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests congratulate the ACP in Ireland for your solidarity and prophetic stand on the issue of ordination of women priests and for supporting Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois. We thank you for your courage to speak truth to power to the Vatican and CDF on this issue. You are reminding the People of God that primacy of conscience trumps obedience to the Vatican. We look forward to the day when prophetic male priests will be co-presiding with women priests in an inclusive Catholic Church with equality and justice for all.

Blessings and Godspeed,

Janice Sevre-Duszynska priest, (Media)

for the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

www.arcwp.org

Catholics in Switzerland May Vote to Abolish Celibacy and for Women's Ordination

http://iglesiadescalza.blogspot.com/2012/12/catholics-in-basel-may-vote-on.html

"On Tuesday, November 27th, the synod of the Roman Catholic Church in Basel, Switzerland, recognized the validity of the "Initiative for Equality in the Church" which requires notably the abolition of priestly celibacy and the ordination of women. "We take the concerns of the initiative seriously, Christian Griss, the chairman of the synod, declared Thursday to the Basler Zeitung daily.

In the neighboring canton of Basel Land, a similar initiative has been launched and will be submitted to the synod when it meets in Liestal on Monday, December 3rd. But the executive of the Synod has already asked that it be considered valid.

Nearly 3000 signatures, including those of several theologians, were collected to support this "Initiative for Equality in the Church" launched jointly in the two half-cantons of Basel. If passed by the synod of Basel Land, it may be submitted to a popular vote before the summer of 2013, and if accepted, the cantonal ecclesiastical authorities would be required to commit to the abolition of priestly celibacy and the ordination of women.

The scope of this initiative is however limited to church civil law structures and will not effect the ecclesial level. However, its supporters hope to have a effective means of pressure against diocesan and Roman authorities.

In Switzerland, the Catholic Church is organized in a two-tier system: in addition to the canonical structures specific to the Catholic Church (dioceses, parishes), there is effectively a system of ecclesiastical corporations benefiting from a public law statute both at the cantonal and communal levels. These corporations, which are democratically elected, notably distribute the church taxes they receive, but do not have the right to modify the conditions of admission to Catholic ministries, which remains the responsibility of the Magisterium."

Text of the Initiative for Equality in the Church (short version)

Father Bill Brennan, 92, Sanctioned For Celebrating Mass With Woman Priest

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/08/father-bill-brennan-92-di_n_2258202.html?utm_hp_ref=religion