Women's March On Washington - Liturgy

Liturgy in Celebration of WomenSpirit Rising - January 20, 2017

Eve of Women's March on Washington

Members of the ARCWP Community anoint and bless Peg Bowen and Kathie Ryan as they begin their new role as circle leaders:

We your community have called you forth and we bless you as you begin your year of service to the community as our circle leaders.

We anoint your head that you may have wisdom,

We anoint your ears so that you may hear clearly

We anoint your heart for the love you will share

We anoint your hands for the service you provide

We anoint your feet for the many miles

you will journey through this year.

Welcome and Theme:

Presider 1: We celebrate with joy the indwelling of the Holy One among us and honor the Divine Feminine with the theme WomenSpirit Rising. We celebrate women mystics, prophets and rebels who understood the message of Jesus and followed faithfully in his footsteps.  We stand on their shoulders as we faithfully live the Gospel.

Presider 2: Let us pray:  O Holy One, you birthed us and continue to nurture us.  We are your children and we are united with all of your children, those with us now and those who have gone before us.  We are grateful for all of the strong women who continue to encourage and inspire us to be prophets and mystics in our time.

Please join in singing our Opening Song:   

In A Circle of Women

By Jan Phillips

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LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: Soul Sister 

By Edwina Gateley

I saw the God-light

Spilling from your eyes

Like a thousand stars

To light my way.

And as I smiled

Upon your radiant grace,

The face of God

Was all let loose

Upon the earth.

So now

I walk in awe

Conscious that I am tip-toeing

Upon divinity,

Waiting to spring forth

From beneath me

And surprise me

Like the thousand stars

I saw

Shining in your eyes.

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Soul Whispers (2015)  p.84

Alleluia

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Gospel: Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3) and Beatitudes for the 21st Century

 (Adapted by Jan Phillips)

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"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.	Blessed be the story-tellers, music-makers, and artists at life, for they are the true light of the world.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.	Blessed be the tender-hearted who mourn and grieve the wars we've fought, the lives we've lost, may peace ride in on the river of their tears.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.	Blessed be the Earth and those who tend her, for she is the source and sustenance of our lives.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.	Blessed be the children who hunger for food, learning, and homes that are safe, for their future is shaped by our choices today.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.	Blessed be the persecuted and wrongly judged, for theirs is a sorrow lessened only by mercy and human kindness.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.	Blessed be the prophets who speak and write of a world beyond war, for theirs are the words becoming flesh.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.	Blessed be those who are calling for freedom, resisting oppression and risking their lives in the struggle for justice, for they are the shapers of a brighter world.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.	Blessed be the refuges fleeing the violence of war and poverty may they find shelter, peace, and work that sustains them.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.	Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

Shared Homily

Statement of Faith -Let up proclaim our statement of faith:

All: We believe in one God, a divine mystery

beyond all definition and rational understanding,

the heart of all that has ever existed,

that exists now, or that ever will exist.

We believe in Jesus, messenger of God's Word,

bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,

bright star in the firmament of God's

prophets, mystics, and saints.

We believe that We are called to follow Jesus

as a vehicle of God's love,

a source of God's wisdom and truth,

and an instrument of God's peace in the world.

We believe that God's kin-dom is here and now,

stretched out all around us for those

with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,

and hands to make it happen.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Presider 1: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to this table our blessings, cares, and concerns.

We remember all those who are having difficulty with their life's stories and working

through hard times… may they find and feel support and direction

We remember our fragile world struggling with serious ecology issues and those who

are striving to save our earth from destruction by humans.

We remember those who are struggling with war in their neighborhoods, towns and

nations... that world peace become a reality, neighbor to neighbor

We remember those who are involved with human trafficking.... victims and their

captors… that their lives become their own to cherish what they love.

We remember those who are unemployed and under employed suffering poverty that

they may find meaningful work that will give them dignity and sustenance enough to

simply live

We remember those lives that are endangered simply by their race, their beliefs or

their sex… that we as a human race Respect all our brothers and sisters because we

are all one people.

We remember those who are victims of abuse: sexual, spousal, child, elderly, that we listen to their individual stories and provide them safety from their abusers.

We pray for the perpetrators of terror that they may see themselves in their victims

and for the victims of their terrorism that they may find peace in living every day.

We remember those who cling to misogynistic ways, demeaning half the human race

that they begin to recognize women as equals.

We remember those who will lead our country and pray that wisdom will enlighten

them to work for the good of all.

We remember all these intentions with our ritual as well as with our lives.

(Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…”)

Presider 1:  We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.

Presider 2:  O Holy One, you have been called by many names by many people in the centuries of our planet’s life. Yet, no name truly defines you or describes you.  We celebrate you as the marvelous, loving energy of life who caused us and our world to be. We celebrate you as the Source of light and life and love, and we celebrate your presence and all-ways care.

Presider 1: Please (gather around our friendship table and) join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together: WomanSpirit Rising written by Jay Murnane.

O Holy One, You are both Mother and Father to us. You give us life, and we live and breathe with your own Spirit.

You create us female and male; You call us good, and ask us to live as equal partners. You share the earth with us, and ask only that we compliment your ongoing activity of creation.

Among all our blessed ancestors, we celebrate the women who gently and firmly broke through the death-structures of their times with unique vision and compassion: Sarah, Deborah, Judith, Miriam, Ruth, Esther, Anna, Miriam of Nazareth, Julian, Hildegard, and so many more.

United with them, with WomenSpirit rising, with our vast universe, with our Mother-Planet and her people everywhere, with one another and You, Loving God, our spirits dance and sing this song of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker

We give grateful thanks for all your faithful servants, opening for all of us a path to life. We thank you for all the women who risked everything they had so that all of us could live in a better, brighter world.

We thank you for your child and our brother, Jesus. He showed us so simply, so tenderly, how the world is in our hands.  He knew that we would be afraid; he showed us how to be free of the blindness and paralysis of fear.

He had nothing in this world but your love, companions on the journey, and his very self. Together, that was more than enough, and that remains our clarity in the midst of confusion: the miracle of healing, new hope, nurturance, nourishment, liberation and life.

On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and friends.  He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, be bent down and washed their feet.

When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:

Take and eat; this is my very self.

(pause)

He then raised high the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered them the wine saying:

Take and drink of the covenant made new again through my life,

for you and for everyone,

for liberation from every oppression.

Whenever you do this, Re-member me!

(pause)

O Holy One, we have felt deeply the barrenness of our lives and of our community. Yet, we have always been pregnant with your creative Word and your life-giving Spirit.

We have looked for others to save us and to save our world. Yet, we are called, and consecrated and sent into the world to establish justice and show the blessed fulfillment that comes with simplicity and the giving of ourselves in love.  

We will look at our world with open eyes, and make compassion our truest vision.  We will live in the belief that blindness, death and illusion have no final dominion.

We will make new our commitment to the harmony of the original vision of creation. We have held our sisters captive in so many ways and will no longer stand in the way of the development of any living creature, be that a person, a gathering of persons, or the earth herself.

We will live justly, love tenderly, and walk this earth with integrity.  We will bind and blind and burden no longer.  We will deliberately lay down our various weapons, and use our gifts only for life.

We will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and our small circles. Like Jesus, in all openness, we will be filled with your own Spirit and renew the face of the earth.

For it is through learning to live as he lived,

And why he lived,

And for whom he lived,

That we awaken to your Spirit within,

Moving us to worship you truly,

Life-giving God,

At this time and all time and in all ways.

And we say yes to You!

Presider 2: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:

By: Miriam Therese Winter

"O Holy One who is within us, around and among us, We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us.
Oh, Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever.  AMEN!"

(Presiders lift bread and wine)

Presider 1: This is Jesus, Bread of Life.  How blessed are we who are called to the table.

All:  What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.

Presided 2: Please pass the bread with the words, You are the Face of God, and the wine with the words, You are a spark of the Divine and please join in singing our communion song:

Communion Song: The Beauty of the Dancer

By Sara Thomsen

BLESSING

Presider 2: Let us pray together our blessing:

May we be blessed with discontent with easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that we will live from deep within our hearts.

May we be blessed with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that we will work for justice, equality, and peace.

May we be blessed with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we will reach out our hands to comfort them and to change their pain to joy.

May we be blessed with the foolishness to think we can make a difference in this world, so that we will do the things which others tell you cannot be done. Amen.

Adapted from a “Mixed Blessing by Sister Ruth Fox, OSB

Presider 1: Please join in singing our Closing Song: Woman’s Spirit

words and music: Marvella McPartland & Lynn

Fugua  sung by: Karen Drucker

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Listen, Pray, and Act for Justice and Equality: A Message from Sister Simone Campbell/NETWORK

Bridget Mary's Response: May we be the loving face of the Holy One and instruments of healing as we work for justice and equality. Let us listen with compassion, love tenderly, act for justice and walk humbly with our God. 

Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

From Sister Simone Campbell/NETWORK

I believe we are all challenged by the Gospel to do our work differently. We are challenged to fight for a vision of who we are called to be in our nation and our world. To create this vision, we need to enter into a contemplative space where we let our guard down, listen to the Spirit, and act out of that centered space. We call on our elected officials to do the same deep listening, that leaves us all open to hear stories of people around us and grasp reality in new ways.

We are being called to a new level of engagement and action. Hard as it will be, we are called to take a radical dive into the deep listening that can reveal the new way forward. Let us commit to seeing the nourishment of our community in this very struggle. Only love can cast out hate, and we accept this challenge.

Our Commitment to Mending the Gaps Continues.

• We believe that we are stronger as a nation when we take decisive steps to create a just economy and a more inclusive society.
• We commit to working for policies that are effective in lifting families and individuals out of poverty across the nation.
• We confess that on nearly every measure, African-American and Latino Americans experience systemic obstacles in the quest for success.
• We know that women are the cornerstone of many families, yet are still more likely to be pushed into poverty than men.
• We pledge to work for an end to the racial and gender wealth gaps. And we continue to lift up the importance of intersectionality in pursuit of an economy that puts people – not profit – at the center, and a society where no one is excluded.

We can and must do better, as individuals, as a community, and as a nation.

So, in the new reality, let us begin to advocate strongly together, but also begin a time of deep listening. Let us share with each other what we hear. Then, we are prepared to lift up a vision of the 100% where all can work together to heal our nation.

When God Imagined Me" by Alana Levandoski

http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/when-god-imagined-me?post_id=10208564597288154_10208564597808167#_=_

When God Imagined Me
by Alana Levandoski

I understand it
When the times are changingPeople get scared of things rearrangingBut even history shifts when told by more voicesWhen not just one kinda person has all the choices

So here we are
There’s no turning back          The cost that was paidFor all that we have A new era dawns as another one dies outBut today, the woman still cries out:

Join Religious Leaders in the U.S. Tomorrow in Prayer and Fasting As We Work to Build a Beloved Community in the NonViolent Way of Jesus

On January 20th, please join us from 12:00 p.m. ET - 6:00 p.m. ET in a moment of self-purification, prayer, and fasting during the presidential inauguration and parade.

We will hold this space together in preparation for a #MoralResistance and civil disobedience to extreme and immoral policies being proposed in the state capitals, by Congress and by the Trump administration.

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. notes that all nonviolent campaigns have four basic steps: collecting facts to determine if there’s injustice; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. Throughout 2016, Repairers of the Breach traveled to over 22 states and heard from impacted persons about injustices in their lives and the need to enlist in the fight against systemic racism, poverty, child poverty, extremism, denial of healthcare, voter suppression, environmental injustice, xenophobia, unchecked militarism, discriminiation towards LGBTQ people, and our current moment in history.

Over 10,000 moral leaders, including imams, Catholic sisters, pastors, and rabbis, have signed on to an open letter requesting a meeting with Donald Trump at a House of Worship to discuss a moral public policy agenda for the nation. To date, we have not heard back from the Trump administration.

So let us pray. And let us prepare ourselves for the long work of building beloved community in the nonviolent way of Jesus.

Forward Together,

Rev. Dr. William Barber II

Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

www.arcwp.org

Priests in Germany Demand End to Celibacy and Women Priests

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-priests-in-germany-demand-end-to-celibacy-2293877

Bridget Mary's Response: Let's hope that as more and more priests and bishops speak out, they will create a groundswell for optional celibacy and women priests. The Vatican's policy excludes women from decision making positions because they are not ordained, and they are not ordained because they are women. The Roman Catholic Church can no longer preach justice and practice injustice by treating women as second class citizens.The international Roman Catholic Women Priests is leading the Church toward gender equality, one woman priest and one inclusive community at a time! Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

Donna Rougeux, ARCWP with Lexington Inclusive Catholic Community

"Creating quiet a stir across Germany, a group of top ranking retired Catholic priests have written an open letter, requesting to put an end to celibacy. These 11 priests who were annointed in 1967 in Cologne have tried to throw light on the isolation faced by many priests.

“We believe that requiring every man who becomes a priest to remain celibate is not acceptable. We think, every Catholic should be allowed to choose if they would rather be celibate or not, regardless of whether they want to work as priests just like in the evangelical Church or the Orthodox Church,” said Franz Decker, one of the retired priest to Deutsche Welle.

“In the letter, they list a number of suggestions on how the Catholic Church could modernise itself to combat the fact that “questions of God are no longer relevant to many people in this country”. Including other demands seen as progressive bordering on radical by many within the church, such as lifting the ban on women as priests,” 

Mary D. Meehan RIP: A Prayer for Your Passing into God's Embrace

May the long time sun
Shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light  that is within you
Guide your way home.

Mary D. and John Meehan in Portlaoise, Ireland

On January 15^th, Mary D. Meehan died in Ireland after a three year struggle with cancer. I visited with Mary and John, her husband, who is my first cousin, and with their wonderful family in their home in Portlaoise in August. Mary told me that she was grateful for the prayers of our Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community. “I need all the prayers I can get.” she said with a smile.

Mary’s positive attitude during the many months of chemo therapy, profound faith and outreach to others with cancer were an inspiration to all. Mary didn’t wear a wig. She collected for raffles in the neighborhood, and spoke openly about her struggles with cancer. During a recent phone conversation, John shared that they were deeply touched by the loving support of their family and neighbors.

 “Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone,” Isaiah wrote in the Hebrew Scripture. Suffering put Mary, her family and neighbors, and all of us in the company of angels. God comes to us in the hard times, weeps with us in our losses, and comforts us through the kindness and courage of those around us. Mary, you will be missed by your family and all who had the blessing of knowing you. May you rest in peace.

Bridget Mary Meehan

Sarasota, Florida

Homily at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 3rd Sunday OT, Jan. 22nd, Beverly Bingle RCWP

It’s hard to keep in mind these days

that the reign of God is at hand, among us, here and now.

It seems that all we hear these days

is quarreling and hostility and division.

We heard it all through that long, long election campaign:

I’m for Hillary. I’m for Trump. Well, I’m not voting.

Welcome to refugees. No, America first.

This past week we heard even more contention:

I’m going to the Inauguration.

No, I’m boycotting it.

_________________________________

The same kind of discord, the polarization,

is evident inside our church:

I’m for restoration; let’s go back to the way it was.

No, I’m for reform; let’s go forward.

In the Presidential election, the pollsters tell us,

52% of Catholics voted for Trump

and 48% for someone else.

We’re split apart, like those Corinthians Paul writes to,

quarreling with each other

because we’ve committed ourselves

to someone or something other than Jesus.

We have to ask ourselves, when we begin to break into factions,

whether we’re motivated by our own wants

or by the common good.

_________________________________

Even here in Toledo, this Compassionate Community,

this big blue zone on the red map of Ohio,

we hear loud, angry arguments.

We see signs of hate.

But we also see signs of hope.

_________________________________

The State of Ohio had set January 12

as the date to kill Ronald Phillips

in the name of the people of Ohio, kill a man in our name.

The execution has been delayed until February 15,

and a hundred people showed up at the Unitarian Church—

some of you were there—

in an effort to stop Ohio’s death penalty for good,

because, as our Catholic Social Teaching tells us,

every person has the right to life.

_________________________________

A week ago Tuesday

the front page of the Blade showed the garage door

at the home of an Arab-American family in suburban Sylvania,

a door that vandals spray-painted with obscene graffiti, including a

swastika.

But well over a hundred people gathered around—

some of you were there, too—

to cover the hate up with love.

_________________________________

Then Friday evening a pretty big crowd

showed up on the Martin Luther King Bridge

to march for unity with the vulnerable.

They sang, they prayed, they smiled.

They carried signs of love for everyone.

Again, some of you were there.

_________________________________

For many people, a light is dawning… the light of justice.

They’re NOT doing it to call attention to themselves—

it’s not a selfie—

but they’re lifting a light

so others can find a way through the darkness.

It’s NOT giant actions, not big events,

but individual people, each doing the right thing,

planting a seed of hope.

When we show up and speak out, it’s what we’re called to do.

_________________________________

In the late 1930s

when the Nazis began purging the opposition, group by group,

German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller

wrote several versions of a now-famous statement.

You’ll recognize it:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—

and there was no one left to speak for me.

We all can easily fill in the groups that are being singled out today:

Muslims, immigrants, people with disabilities,

refugees, migrants, Syrians, LGBTs, the media…

the list goes on and on.

_________________________________

Rabbi Abraham Skorka tells it like it is.

He say’s it’s evil “when a demagogue or a despot threatens

or speaks in terms of destruction,

in terms of denying or demonizing another."

The Rabbi says we have to “strive for a different world,

in spite of everything that happens.”

That’s where we are now in this country.

In spite of what happens, because of what’s happening,

we have to work to make the world different.

We have to speak up.

It’s our prayer, our striving, our work,

that builds the city of God right here.

Because of what we do,

the reign of God is at hand.

Amen!

_________________________________

-- 

Holy Spirit Catholic Community

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

at 3925 West Central Avenue

Toledo, OH 43606

(Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor

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

A New Look at Mary of Magdala: Video with Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD3htra0nHU

"My Journey Into Freedom" by Caryl Conroy Johnson, RCWP Eastern Region, RCWP-USA

https://vimeo.com/172410073?utm_source=email&utm_medium=vimeo-cliptranscode-201504&utm_campaign=29220

"This video is a conversation with Caryl Conroy Johnson, RCWP, about her book entitled "My Journey into Freedom - The Story of one woman's path into ordained priesthood in the Catholic Church."

"How The Women’s March On Washington Has Gone Global" , Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-the-womens-march-on-washington-has-gone-global_us_586e342be4b021b75256f0f1


"When I urged women of the world to join the fast growing Women’s March on Washington (WMW) in my Nov 15 blog – a week after the U.S. election – I could not have foreseen the scale of international support or the newly galvanized women’s movement that would evolve by the start of 2017.


Today the WMW is set to be the largest march of its kind as hundreds of thousands of women and men plan to take to the streets on January 21, the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as the President of the United States. As well as the leading national march in Washington DC and another 200 U.S. city marches, there will also be at least 50 cities in nearly 30 other countries participating and more are organizing each week for the Women’s March Global (WMG).


But less than nine weeks ago, within hours of the presidential election on Nov 8, the WMW was a mere seed of an idea posted on Facebook by Hawaiian grandmother, Teresa Shook, who simply said: “I think we should march.” So how did this grassroots movement strike such a universal chord? Since becoming more involved behind the scenes of the march planning, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the original national and international organizers and seeing up close how things have taken shape.


WMW co-founder and global march coordinator, Evvie Harmon, recalled the first hours after seeing Teresa’s idea following the election result:



For the first 48 to 72 hours it was growing exponentially. It was insane and Teresa said: ‘Evvie, you know I think it’s a wonderful idea but it’s just me in Hawaii. Can you help?’ I was like, I’ve never mobilized anything larger than my own state to march in my state. I’ve never mobilized anyone to DC, but I think what we can do is try to motivate people in their own portions of the United States to mobilize themselves. I immediately created a South Carolina event page for the Women’s March on Washington and I sent it to her. I said I am going to mobilize my state to DC and I’m also going to get some sister marches started.


Within days, news of the march went viral on Facebook. During the first week, organizers connected and mobilized – tens of thousands of American women signed up on the national Facebook page to march on the capital. As many more were signing up at a growing number of marches across the US, the first overseas sister rallies were already being mooted as a core group of global organizers formed: Marissa McTasney (Canada), Karen Olson (Switzerland), Kerry Haggerty (UK), Rebecca Turnbow (Australia), and Brit-Agnes Svaeri (Norway).


By now, the national march was well underway and gaining momentum fast, soon settling on a march name and attracting a formidable team of co-chairs: Bob Bland, Linda Sarsour, Tamika D Mallory, Carmen Perez, and more recently appointed honorary chairs, Gloria Steinem and Harry Belafonte..."

O Great Love by Jan Novotka

https://youtu.be/erojwyuCPGw

Mary for All Ages: An Inspirational Video with Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

https://youtu.be/4T6InR2KmQ8

Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP : March for Peace on Martin Luther King Day

Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP with Max and Veterans for Peace

Max, dog friend, Reese, and I marched today in the MLK parade here in Baltimore, as always with our friends in the Veterans for Peace contingent, the Philip Berrigan Memorial Chapter. We dressed warm, it was damp, but there was no wind. Children were aplenty, enjoying the marching bands and dancers. Lots of great drumming. As in previous years, the little ones enjoyed petting Reese the Protest Dog as much as Max relished talking with them. "Show me the peace sign!" I urged the crowds, but especially looking at the children who managed bare fingered, in gloves, or even mittens. So many on the streets responded affirmatively.  Peace was on the lips of the parade watchers. Remembering Dr. King, the people of Baltimore yearn for peace and justice.

Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP at MLK March for Peace

Vatican newspaper expands guidelines on Pope Francis' view that remarried Catholics can receive Communion

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/vatican-newspaper-communion-guide-remarried-catholics-article-1.2946142
Bridget Mary's Response:
These guidelines affirm thee primacy of conscience and is a positive step forward. Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

VATICAN CITY — "The Vatican is making clear Pope Francis supports letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Communion under certain conditions by publishing a set of new guidelines in the pope’s own newspaper that go beyond even what he has said.


The Catholic Church in Malta issued the guidelines Friday on applying the divisive Chapter VIII of Francis’ document on family life that concerns ministering to Catholics in “irregular” family situations.


The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published the guidelines in full.


The Maltese church said that if a Catholic in a new civil union believes, after a path of spiritual discernment searching for God’s will that he or she can be at peace with God, “he or she cannot be precluded from participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.”


Pope calls on bishops for 'zero tolerance' of child sex abuse


Church teaching holds that unless divorced Catholics receive an annulment — or a church decree that their first marriage was invalid — they are committing adultery and cannot receive Communion.


For a variety of reasons such annulments often cannot be obtained. Citing Jesus’ teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, some conservatives have insisted the rules are fixed and that the only way these Catholics can receive Communion is to abstain from sex.


Progressives have sought wiggle room to balance doctrine with mercy and look at each couple on a case-by-case basis. In his 2016 document “The Joy of Love,” Francis said pastors should help individual Catholics ascertain what God is asking of them. Using vague language and footnotes, he linked such discussions of conscience with access to the sacraments.


The Maltese bishops go further and say flat out that if certain conditions are met, these Catholics cannot be excluded from the sacraments."