ARCWP: News of Movement in Latin America/Colombia

http://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/primer-encuentro-de-la-asociacion-catolica-romana-mujeres-presbiteras-colombia/
http://judyabl.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/colombian-contingency-of-the-association-of-roman-catholic-women-priests-meets-in-medellin/

Colombian Contingency of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Meets in Medellin

Our impassioned ARCWP group in Colombia, South America consists of two ordained priests, three strong  candidates, and several applicants and supporters. On September 14 and 15,2013 the group met in Envigado, Antioqua under the guidance of Rev. Olga Lucia Alvarez Benjumea who was ordained a priest in December of 2010 in Sarasota Florida. Aida Soto Bernal, the other priest ordained in Colombia in March of 2011 was not able to attend this meeting. The group will meet on a regular basis to reflect on their service to the people of God and their growth and commitments as women priests,aspirants and supporters. Rev. Dr. Judy Lee who is a co-guide of the candidates with Rev. Olga Lucia Alvarez Benjumea was able to greet the group on Saturday night by SKYPE. She also sent responses to questions and comments sent by those assembled. Rev. Judith Beaumont greeted them as well.  An  RCWP candidate in Spain also communicated with the group.
Candidate Marina Teresa Sanchez of Santiago de Cali was the scribe for the event, keeping good records of what was said and planned.  A leader in her faith community in Cali shared the mission of the community of faith in Playa Reciente, Cali and how happy they were to support Marina Teresa.   Candidate Judith Bautista Fajardo of SantaFe de Bogota began the two day meeting with liturgical dance from the Native American (Navajo) culture. She also shared a poem entitled Confession about finding her calling.  A religious sister and missionary who was a supporter was present and shared her ministry and  prayed with the group. Each one present reflected on her own journey of love and service.
Those assembled discussed issues such as responsibilities of women priests, apostolic succession and “evangelical succession” from Mary of Magdala, Apostle to the Apostles. They considered the roles of priest as spiritual leader and guide along with all of the priesthood of the baptized. The role of priest as co-liberator with Christ was highlighted, especially with women and all those who are poor and living at the margins,
The time together ended with a beautiful and simple Eucharistic Liturgy led by Rev. Olga Lucia and celebrated communally by all present.
To see pictures of the gathering and Olga Lucia’s comments in Spanish please visit:
http:// evangelizadorasdelosapostles.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/primer-encuentro-de-la-asociacion-catolica-romana-mujeres-presbiteras-colombia/
What joy it is to have a strong branch of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests growing in South America.  We have much to learn from them.  Thanks be to God!
Rev. Dr. Judy Lee,ARCWP
Rev. Olga Lucia Alvarez de Benjumea and Rev. Judy Lee in Photo,
Co-Coordinators of Programa de  Hispano Parlantes de ARCWP
Correo Electronico-email:  olalbe@gmail.com   judyabl@embarqmail.com

NEW:Inclusive Catholic Community with Female Priest in Albany/ Mary Theresa Streck

Click here for unedited pictures of the Liturgy Of Ordination
 *********************************************** 

http://www.inclusivecatholiccommunity-albanyny.org/

http://www.inclusivecatholiccommunity-albanyny.org/

The great challenge today is to convert the sacred bread into  real bread, the liturgical peace into political peace, the worship of the Creator into reverence for the Creation, the Christian praying community into an authentic human fellowship. It is risky to celebrate the Eucharist. We may have to leave it unfinished, having gone first to give back to the poor what belongs to them.   -  Raimundo Panikkar

NEWS Stories: Ordination of 3 Women in Albany, New York/Sept.15,2013/Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, www.arcwp.org

http://wamc.org/post/meet-albanys-first-female-catholic-priest

Albany Times Union: "Group installs female priest:Grass-roots organization ordains nun, but Catholic Church won't recognize her"       

Bryan Fitzgeral, Times Union

By Bryan Fitzgerald 
People gather inside the Unitarian Universalist Church for the Liturgy of Ordination celebrated by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Group-installs-female-priest-4817119.php

"There was no air of controversy inside the First Unitarian Universalist Society on Washington Avenue Sunday afternoon — only jubilation.
In an ordination ceremony that will not be recognized by the Catholic Church, a woman was ordained as a priest.
Despite the Catholic Church's stance on female priests, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests says the Sunday ordination of Mary Teresa Streck was legitimate and that the longtime nun is now one of about 160 female Roman Catholic priests in the country. None of them are recognized by the Vatican.
"It is with great joy I present to you our newly ordained priest," Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan told the excited crowd after Streck's ceremony was completed.
Streck, a nun for 18 years before launching the Ark Community Charter School in Troy, was greeted with thunderous, rock-star-like ovations at various times during the nearly three-hour-long ceremony.
Two female deacons, Mary Sue Barnett and Maureen McGill, were also ordained during the service.
"This is a very joyful day," Streck said after the ceremony. "Nothing but joy."
The leaders of the Catholic Church have been unwavering in their assertions that women have important roles in the church but are not recognized as priests, often saying there is no theological basis for their ordinations.
Meehan and others in her grassroots group say there is no theological basis for barring women from the priesthood, adding that women were ordained in the church's earliest years.
In July, Pope Francis told USA Today that "the church has spoken and says no ... that door is closed," when asked about female priests.
Churches have disciplined and even expelled priests who have so much as attended ordinations recognizing women as priests. Meehan said that the Albany diocese sent out a memo telling its leaders not to attend Sunday's service under threat of reprimand, though the diocese could not be reached Sunday to confirm or deny Meehan's claim.
The church has also said that any woman who is ordained is excommunicating herself from the church.
Streck said she the threat of excommunication never deterred her.
"I do not consider myself excommunicated," Streck said. "I hope other women consider this path."
While speaking to crowd at length, Meehan, who lives in Florida, often likened the women priest movement to civil rights activism, invoking Rosa Parks on several occasions and saying the ancient guidelines the church says forbids women priests are outdated.
"Rules of those times had nothing to do with love and compassion," Meehan said. "The Catholic Church needs to wake up."

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2013/sep/15/0916_priest/

Catholic sect ordains female priest

Without Vatican OK, Unitarians host group

By John Enger (Contact)
Gazette Reporter  

ALBANY — "Mary Theresa Streck didn’t have to say much to raise thundering applause from the crowded First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany hall Sunday afternoon.
Standing in white robes before Bridget Mary Meehan, bishop of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Streck said, “I am here and I am ready.”
Her voice was almost apologetic, like she knew what was coming. A wave of cheers filled the hall.
Streck, an Albany native, was ordained a priest by the group on Sunday, joining roughly 40 other women priests in the association.
The Roman Catholic church doesn’t actually accept women priests. That’s why the ARCWP, which is not under the direct authority of the pope, conducted its ceremony in the Unitarian hall.
Ever since the ARCWP began with seven women back in 2002, Meehan said there’s been some major pushback from Vatican leadership.
“There is nothing more annoying to [the Vatican] than me,” she said. “This is about equal spiritual rights for women. We are the Rosa Parks of the church.”
But a few minutes before her ordination, Streck herself didn’t seem all that concerned with the opinion of people at the Vatican, or her own status as a church Rosa Parks.
“This just seemed like the next thing to do,” she said. “I felt led.”
Streck’s relationship to the Roman Catholic church was always unique.
“I knew I wanted to be a nun when I was in third grade,” she said. “I always felt called.”
She joined the Sisters of Saint Joseph at 17 and stayed in the fold for 18 years. Then in 1984 she fell in love with Jay Murnane, a priest.
Decades after leaving the order to marry Murnane, Streck said she’s still close with the sisters.
Together, Streck and Murnane built the Ark Community Charter School in Troy and continued their ministry.
These days she runs the Ark alone, Murnane having passed away. And she attends an open Catholic service every month at the Unitarian church, which caused her to pursue the priesthood.
“I hope one day women priests will be accepted by the full church hierarchy,” she said.
Until then, she seemed happy to be ordained at all.
Two other women, Maureen McGill, of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Mary Sue Barnett, of Louisville, Ky., also were ordained as deacons.
It was a very open sort of ceremony. The hymn, “All are Welcome” was sung. A woman danced down the aisle at one point with a bucket of incense, streaking the air with bright white smoke.
The congregation was asked to pray over the newly ordained, a job usually saved for other priests.
“We’re trying to bring the Catholic church back into the Jesus movement,” Meehan said. “Some of our priests are lesbians. Some are trans-gender. Jesus called everyone. That includes the congregation.”
Richard Roy and Stephen Peterson, both priests in the National Catholic Church of America and a married couple, sat near the front, casting approving eyes over the proceedings.
There weren’t many young people. The crowd largely belonged to a generation convention says would oppose women priests.
Roy had an explanation.
“Basically everyone here grew up during Vatican II [1962-5],” he said. “That ushered in a more accepting church. Subsequent popes tried to deny it, but we all saw the truth. Young people weren’t around for that.”

          

 

http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S3160479.shtml?cat=300

"The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests celebrated the ordination of a woman this afternoon in Albany.
She's one of about 160 women who call themselves Roman Catholic Priests in the world, but the Catholic Church calls them excommunicated. In a ceremony filled with emotion and applause, Mary Theresa Streck was ordained a priest.
“I'm feeling very joyful. I am very excited about this pathway that I've chosen,” said Streck.
Her path started in a Roman Catholic Church in Loudonville.  She joined a convent and that's where she says she learned to live the gospel and how to live it equally with men and women.

However, Vatican law currently bans women from becoming priests. Streck is now one of more than 160 women in the world who couldn't wait for possible changes in the future
“Unfortunately the Roman Catholic Church discriminates against women and Canon law says only a baptized male can be ordained,” she explains.
A spokesman for the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese says "a woman who claims to be an ordained Roman Catholic Priest has separated herself from full communion."
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests says just because its ordinations of women as priests are illegal under the church's Canon Law, doesn't mean they're not valid.
“There was a bishop, an unnamed bishop, who ordained our first women bishops. Therefore we have what the church calls Apostolic Succession.”
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan says the argument that Jesus only chose men as his disciples is also not accurate.
“The church should follow the example of Jesus who had male and female disciples,” she says.
Meehan and Streck say this movement is really about transforming the church into a community of equals."

http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/group-ordains-female-priest-hopes-break-barriers-catholic-church-10908.shtml
ALBANY -- A historic day for women in the city of Albany. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests ordained the first female priest in Albany.

Mary Theresa Streck says the journey has been long...but worth it.
"I'm hoping that I'm breaking the stain glass ceiling absolutely," she tells us.
"We are seasoned daughters of the church, we love the church, we don't believe we are leaving the church instead we are leading the church," Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a priest with the ARCWP tells us.
But it hasn't come without controversy. We're told some members opted out of sundays ceremony because they were threatened of being kicked out.
"I certainly would not want anyone to put themselves in any position of harm because they are my brothers and sisters, but it saddens me that they would be pressured not to come to this joyous celebration," Streck says.
"According to a recent CBS gallup poll, 70% of Americans support women priests in the catholic church, this year alone, the association of roman catholic women priests ordained 15 deacons and priests.
"it's sexism and it's injustice, and sexism like racism is a sin. so we just like in the civil rights movement and in other movements we are breaking an unjust law. our ordinations are valid and so we believe we are moving the church forward," Sevre-Duszynska says.
"Like Rosa Parks who refused to accept second-class citizenship and refused to give up her seat on the bus, we are no longer going to tolerate second class citizenship in the Roman Catholic church we are leading the church we are leading the church not leaving the church into it's future," bishop of the ARCWP, Bridget Mary Meehan says.
The movement of the ARCWP has been growing since it's start in 2002, with the ordination of seven women. Today there are more than 150 women in the world in the Roman Catholic Women Priests movement, including 100 in 30 states in the U.S., and now they can add one more here in the Capital Region."

Local woman ordained as Roman Catholic priest

By: Maria Valvanis

http://capitalregion.ynn.com/content/news/696450/local-woman-ordained-as-roman-catholic-priest/

A woman from the Capital Region is now a self-proclaimed Roman Catholic Priest. Mary Theresa Streck was ordinated on Sunday. YNN's Maria Valvanis reports.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- "It's a very joyful day for me," said Mary Theresa Streck.

Hundreds of people filled the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany to watch as Mary Theresa Streck became the first Capital Region Roman-Catholic woman to be ordained.

Streck said, "It's a pathway that I've been on for a very long time and I'm so excited to be now an ordained woman priest."

"When I was growing up in the fifties girls couldn't even be alter girls, much less become a priest," said Linda Burtis, a Delmar resident.
Burtis said she wasn't sure if she would ever see a Roman-Catholic woman ordained in her lifetime.
"Today was history, today was seeing the Catholic Church the way I've wanted to see it since I was a child," she said.
However, the Catholic Church doesn't neccessarily agree. Vatican law forbids woman priests, and threatens anyone who disobeys that law with excommunication.

"It is not a penalty that we fear because the prophets and saints have always had to cross the line of hierarchy or disaproval so we too feel that we must be prophetic woman of the gospel of Jesus Christ and live as decipels and equals," said Bishop Mary Meehan.
Bishop Mary Meehan, who presided over the ordination, said more than 160 woman world-wide call themselves Roman-Catholic Priests. As the movement grows larger, they are calling on Pope Francis to make an official change.
"Our message to him is you need to embrace woman as your sisters and equals and honor their gifts as priests, it is time," said Meehan.
Streck added, "I don't consider myself excommunicated, because this is my church. The large crowd that was here, the people of God affirm my role as priest within this community."
Streck's first meeting will be held at 3:00 p.m. on October 20 at the Unitarian Society. She said everyone is welcome to attend.  "

http://www.news10.com/story/23435277/first-woman-priest-in-ny-to-be-ordained-in-albany

First woman priest in NY to be ordained in Albany

Posted: Sep 15, 2013 10:52 AM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. – Three woman will be standing up to the current rules of the Roman Catholic Church by being ordained on Sunday.
At 2:30p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society on Washing Avenue, Mary Theresa Streck will be ordained as a priest.  She will be the first woman priest in the State of New York, as part of the group, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. 
Two other women, Mary Sue Barnett of Lousiville, KY and Maureen McGill of St. Petersburg FL will be ordained deacons.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests hopes Pope Francis I, who has been in his position as Bishop of Rome for six months, will embrace gender equality regarding church roles.
Streck is a former Sister of St. Joseph and earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership.  She is a co-founder and director of Ark Community Charter School in Troy, a school which aims to serve low-income families.
Barnett is a wife and mother who earned her Master's Degree in Religious Studies and Biblical Studies.  In Louisville she is a mentor for a young adult feminist group.
McGill is a wife, mother and grandmother who retired from her position as an attorney in Florida. 
The movement of women priests has been an ongoing movement for eleven years, when seven women were ordained.  According to the women heading the association, there are more than 150 female priests worldwide.
A CBS Gallup Poll shows more than 70% of Catholics in the United States support the idea of women priests

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Ordains 3 Women in Albany, New York

On Sept. 15th,  2013 Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan ordained  Mary Theresa Streck a priest and ordained Mary Sue Barnett and Maureen McGill deacons. This historic ordination took place at First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, New York. Approximately 350 enthusiastic Catholics attended this historic ordination by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.

Bridget Mary ordains Mary Sue Barnett a deacon

 

Mary Weber vests Mary Sue Barnett

Bridget Mary presents the Gospel book to Deacon Maureen McGill

 

Bridget Mary presents Mary Sue and Maureen as deacons

Bridget Mary ordains Mary Theresa a priest

 

Mary Theresa's family lays hands on in inclusive ordination rite

Bridget Mary presents Mary Theresa as a newly ordained priest.

 

Newly ordained celebrate liturgy

Homily by Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP/Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Ordains 3 Women in Albany, New York on Sept. 15, 2013

We rejoice because Mary Theresa Streck, a woman of faith, an artist, educator, minister of the Gospel, will be ordained today as a Roman Catholic Priest in a historic ordination here in Albany, New York.

Like the apostle to the apostles, Mary of Magdala, Mary Theresa’s ministry is a living witness to our liberating God’s presence in this local community. Mary Theresa began her life in ministry 48 years ago as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet and continued her journey with these strong women for 18 years. She left the Sisters of St. Joseph to continue a life of service with Jay Murnane, her soul mate and marriage partner for 20 years. On June 22, 2013, Mary Theresa was ordained a deacon and is a member of the Inclusive Catholic Community of Albany, NY, a community of equals that meets regularly to support each other’s ministries to the local and global community.

Like deacon Phoebe, whom St. Paul praised as an outstanding leader in Romans 16, Mary Sue Barnett has been living a life of service to the Christian community with a special focus on pastoral care for young people and women.   She currently develops Women's Spirituality retreats, mentors a feminist peace and justice young adult group called Revealing Sophia's Truth and assists in pastoring at Christ Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community in Louisville.

Today we will ordain Maureen McGill a deacon, from St. Petersburg, Florida,  Maureen is a mother, grandmother, and a lawyer. She is a woman of deep faith and persistent advocacy for justice, and has a rich background in ecclesial ministry and service to those in need. Maureen served abused, neglected and abandoned children for most of her professional life as the Circuit Director of the Guardian Ad Litem Program in North West Florida.

Sisters, I guarantee that this will be quite a spiritual adventure. Remember the biblical scene of Peter walking on stormy waters! Women priests today are definitely rocking the boat of Peter as Christ is calling us to step out of the boat and to live Gospel equality now!

Our new Pope Francis has been called a “rock star” with his down to earth, folksy, charismatic appeal to millions of youth in his recent trip to Brazil. There is much to admire. He lives simply, advocates for the poor and for world peace specifically in the recent Syria crisis, challenges economic inequities, promises reform of the Vatican Curia and of the Vatican Bank. He has a big to do list!

Commenting to the National Catholic Reporter on Pope Francis' remarks on the papal plane on July 29^th, that the late Pope John Paul II had "definitively ... closed the door" to women priests, Jamie Manson, a young, contemporary feminist theologian’s analysis reflects deep disappointment:

“Pope Francis' words about women were spirit-breaking. The idea that we need a "deeper theology of women" is remarkable only because, for the past half-century, Catholic women theologians, many of them women religious, have been developing, writing and teaching a profound theology of women. Just because the hierarchy has not cared to read it doesn't mean it doesn't already exist … In essence, he said even though women will never have ecclesial decision-making power or the opportunity to exercise sacramental ministry, they are so much more special than the men who get to run and lead the church.”

·         http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/when-does-our-hope-francis-become-denial

·     History repeats itself again and again! Even though the male apostles, except John, deserted Jesus in his hour of need, Mary and the women were there at both the cross and the tomb. The guys didn’t believe the faithful women when they reported that Christ had risen.  Like Mary of Magdala, contemporary women still encounter disbelief and rejection from church authorities. Women Sexism, like racism and classism, is a sin that breaks our hearts today. We need women priests so that justice will be a reality in our church.  Like Rosa Parks, who refused to sit in the back of the bus, Roman Catholic Women Priests will not tolerate second class citizenship in our church any longer! No matter what our beloved Pope Francis says!

More than ever we need the experiences and wisdom of women if our church is to become more whole, more balanced, more human. We need feminine images of God and the Gospel interpreted from the lives and experiences of women. Two-thirds of the poor are women and children. A huge issue that needs to be addressed is the use of responsible, affordable, safe, birth control. If we had women priests or married priests, the ban on artificial birth control would be gone!

Like Mary of Magdala, Phoebe, Junia and the women of the early church in our readings today, the Risen Christ is calling the community of the baptized today to be leaders in the church in proclaiming freedom and equality in ways that will liberate and heal us from the bondage of sexism and patriarchy.  Our biblical sisters are our role models in living Gospel equality now.

Jesus did not ordain anyone, but women were definitely apostles.

Pope Hippolytus who lived from 170 to 236 AD, addressed the role of women in early Christianity: “Lest the female apostles doubt the angels, Christ himself came to them so that the women would be apostles of Christ… Christ showed himself to the male apostles and said to them…’It is I who appeared to the women and I who wanted to send them to you as apostles.’” (Brock, Ann Graham, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle The Struggle for Authority, 2003 (quotes Hippolytus (DeCantico 24-26, CSCO 264) pp. 43-49)

Hey, hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, listen up!

In Romans 16:7, St. Paul praises Junia and Andronicus, a married couple, as “outstanding apostles” who were in Christ before he was.

Since Paul, Junia and Andronicus were apostles, there were more than 12 apostles.  The “twelve” was a symbolic number referring to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Deacon Phoebe led a ministry of service in a community that in significance was equal to and independent of Paul. She was a prominent leader whom Paul admired and praised eloquently in Romans 16. 1-3.

The good news is that today we are moving toward a tipping point in support for a more open, inclusive, egalitarian church that includes women priests. According to a recent CBS/Gallup poll, 70% of Catholics in the United States support women’s ordination. In addition, male priests are expressing their solidarity. 400 Austrian priests, 300 German theologians and 800 Irish priests have endorsed women’s ordination. Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Franciscan Jerry Zawada, Jesuit Bill Brennan, Redemptorist Tony Flannery, the Irish Priests Association, and the Austrian Priests Initiative have endured condemnation and punishment by the Vatican for their support of the Women Priests’ Movement. Helmut Schuller who has spoken at a number of U.S. cities has promoted an agenda of reform that sounds a lot like the future of the church that is happening now in more and more grassroots communities! Fr. Helmut Schuller founded the Austrian Priests’ Initiative in 2006 to address a deepening priest shortage that closed parishes. In 2010, the Austrian Priests’ Initiative issued a “Call to Disobedience” asking for lay leadership and preaching in parishes without a priest, permitting divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments, and ordination of women and married men.

Today, in more and more places, inclusive communities are calling forth presiders, women and men, ordained and non-ordained to celebrate sacraments. In the early house churches, often owned and led by women, the community gathered to share Eucharist. 

Gary Wills, a prominent Catholic scholar, in his new book, Why Priests: A Failed Tradition challenges the biblical underpinnings of priesthood that Catholics have experienced for centuries. He states that Jesus was not a priest, and that neither Peter nor Paul were priests or bishops. There were no priests or bishops in the early Jesus movement. He reminds us priests do not have magical powers or exclusive control of the sacraments, rather, in the view of St. Augustine, it is the mystical Body of Christ gathers around the table and is on the Table.  So, perhaps, we have come full circle.

God is calling all of us to live the fullness of our baptismal call of mutual service and ministry. I believe that our women priests’ movement represents a return to the earlier understanding of “orders” as specific functions or roles in service of the community.

Our grassroots women priests’ communities are independent, inclusive and empowered! We embrace liberation and feminist theology and see our movement as a sign of justice rising up in the community of believers and women taking our rightful place as equals. Women priests are visible reminders that women are equal images of God.

The mission of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. We make decisions by a circular model of consensus and/or democratic vote. And the bishop has one vote. Our priests do not make any promises of obedience to the bishop. We are renewing the church from within because we love the church. It is our church and we are not leaving it, we are leading it into its future, which is now.

An unnamed Roman Catholic bishop ordained our first women bishops to promote justice for women in the church. It has been over 11 years since seven women were ordained on the Danube in 2002. In 2006, 12 women were ordained in Pittsburgh in the first U.S. Ordinations. Now there are over 160 in our movement in Europe, U.S., Canada, and Latin America.  We have 60 inclusive faith communities in 30 states in the United States.

Just imagine this scene perhaps a dozen or more years from now! Remember I am an optimist!

A Vatican spokeswoman will appear before the world press with big news! As cameras’ roll, she will smile and say:

 “The Roman Catholic Church has always taught that women are spiritual equals. We are reclaiming our sacred tradition of women in Holy Orders modeled by deacon Phoebe, bishop Theodora, and by thousands of holy women deacons and priests in the East and West. In recent years, the international women priests’ movement has gifted the church with a model of Gospel equality that we now embrace.”

Now we ordain our Sisters, Mary Theresa Streck, Mary Sue Barnett, and Maureen McGill. Let us live the words of Micah the prophet: to love tenderly, to act justly and to walk humbly with our God. It is time to rock the boat of Peter and walk on water with Christ, trusting that nothing is impossible with God!

Call To Action Gathering In Albany New York

Dear Community,

Wanted to fill you all in as to what's been going on here in Albany.

On Friday night we spoke to a big group (sponsored by CTA/Steve Powers).

The gathering was held at Bethany Reformed Church. The woman pastor, Peg,

also hosted Roy Bourgeois with CTA not long ago. Peg has been very supportive .

The seven of us sat to the front and Bridget Mary began the conversation on

the ordination of women in the church. Each of us took turns speaking from our

experience. We answered questions about liturgies, inclusive language, how to

start up communities, the history of the movement, relations with the Vatican, etc.

Each of us was presented with a bouquet of flowers which we gave to Mary Theresa

for her dinner last night and celebration today after the ordination.

Yesterday we practiced for the ordination and I called media. All four TV stations will

be here, as well as NPR, the religion writer from The Albany Union, and The Daily Gazette (Schenectady),

NBC interviewed Mary Theresa and Bridget Mary on Friday afternoon and the story was on the evening and

late news.

Now, we're engaged in the final preparations before heading for the church by 12:30 p.m. We expect an overflow

of people. Mary Theresa sends her greetings and love to each of you. She has a loving and thriving community here

and she is cherished.

We are together: Maureen, Mary Sue, Betty, Mary C., Rosemarie, Dotty, Bridget Mary, Elly, Donna, Mary Theresa and now Miriam has arrived.

You all are with us in Spirit.

Solidarity and Love,

Janice

p.s. We have people talking about becoming candidates already...