Lennon Censures Marrone in Clevelend

"Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon has issued a "Declaration of Loss of Canonical Office" to Fr. Robert Marrone for refusing to step down as pastor of the Community of St. Peter...."

Marrone says, "In the years since Lennon arrived as bishop and began the downsizing of the diocese, Marrone said, everything he had learned, worked for or “held as sacred and meaningful, has been challenged and in so many ways devalued. I have felt marginalized and dismissed by the very institution to which I have given practically my whole life. My trust has been shattered by the cold, legalistic and rigid attitude by which much of my life and my life’s work were rendered irrelevant, and by actions which I have always believed were both invalid and vindictive.”

He can now get a sense of what it has been like for so many of us to work with "hierarchical clericalists".....I feel deeply his pain.

http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/amid-doubts-cleveland-bishop%E2%80%99s-leadership-he-suspends-priest

Support the Sisters Campaign

The Woman's Ordination Conference would like to present the Bishops with 57,000 signatures representing the 57,000 sisters in the US.  At present they have about 52,000.  If you have not signed this petition, would you please consider doing so.... also, send it on to your friends and family.  It would be great to surpass this goal.....

http://www.womensordination.org/content/view/378/

Vatican VA Nuns CBS-Maureen Fiedler

Outstanding:  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7410228n&tag=strip

Vatican in Free-Fall

Sunday, May 27, 2012  http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/


Vatican in Chaos after Pope's Butler Arrested for Leaks, Bank President Ousted for Negligence/,Women Priests, Married Priests, Empowered Communities Needed Now to Reform Church

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/vatican-confirms-popes-butler-arrested-in-embarrassing-leaks-whodunit/2012/05/26/gJQAoUNvrU_story.html

"VATICAN CITY — An already sordid scandal over leaked Vatican documents took a Hollywood-like turn Saturday with confirmation that the pope’s own butler had been arrested after documents he had no business having were found in his Vatican City apartment.



The detention of butler Paolo Gabriele, one of the few members of the papal household, capped one of the most convulsive weeks in recent Vatican history and threw the Holy See into chaos as it enters a critical phase in its efforts to show the world it’s serious about complying with international norms on financial transparency. The tumult began with the publication last weekend of a book of leaked Vatican documents detailing power struggles, political intrigue and corruption in the highest levels of Catholic Church governance. It peaked with the inglorious ouster on Thursday of the president of the Vatican bank. And it concluded with confirmation Saturday that Pope Benedict XVI’s own butler was the alleged mole feeding documents to Italian journalists in an apparent bid to discredit the pontiff’s No. 2.
“If you wrote this in fiction you wouldn’t believe it,” said Carl Anderson, a member of the board of the Vatican bank which contributed to the tumult with its no-confidence vote in its president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. “No editor would let you put it in a novel.”

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
 This sordid story of  corruption and scandal has repeated itself  throughout the history of the Vatican. They would be triple X rated by today's standards. Under the white hot scrutiny of worldwide internet media coverage and thanks to the Vatican Leaks, millions know the story that is rocking the Catholic Church today. Isn't it unbelievable and evidence of a sick institution, that the Vatican is investigating the nuns? (for their support of women's ordination, gays and lesbians and birth control, which the majority of Catholics support.)
More than ever, Catholics need to wake up and take responsibility for our church, which by definition is the people of God. What options should be on the table when the Vatican is in free fall? The answer is obvious.  Reform and renewal that encompasses structural change is the only way forward. Yes, and as I have said a number of times, this must include women taking their rightful places in decision making positions as equals in an open, accountable, transparent Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered community.  It also means that the Catholic Church should follow Jesus' example of Gospel equality and reclaim our earlier tradition of married priests, and women priests as an issue of justice and prophetic obedience to the Spirit. Church leaders should be chosen by their local communities. Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday,  Now more than ever, the Catholic Church needs to affirm the gifts and ministries that the Spirit has given to all the baptized! Come, Holy Spirit,  renew our beloved faith Church with a new outpouring of your gifts!

Father Doug Koesel...NCR..January 9,2009

Comment:  Here is a priest who has compassion, understanding and gets it right....dd
Compiled by NCR Staff

Publication date:

January 9, 2009

Section:

T. Letters to the Editor

Sign of peace
Regarding your article “Where to put the sign of peace?” (NCR, Dec. 12): We priests will obediently implement whatever the bishops ask. But they must know that as we tend to yet another liturgical norm, we are embarrassed by their bewilderment regarding the mass exodus of Catholics from the church, their rigidity regarding the shortage of clergy, their moral ineptitude in the face of the pedophilia scandal and subsequent cover-up, consistent irrelevance during the Iraq war and the current economic crisis, their political naiveté, their silence in the face of genocide and torture, and their failure to grasp the real struggles that the average Catholic endures daily. We priests will ask the people to stand on their heads if the bishops want us to, but these constant liturgical directives are making us look frighteningly ridiculous. Let’s hope for something more.
(Fr.) DOUGLAS H. KOESEL
North Ridgeville, Ohio

Vatican Declares a Year of Assault

"While said to be a time of renewal, the “Year of Faith” is really dedicated to the idolatry of doctrine, power and hierarchy. The sisters in their communal service to the Church and world, who not only take a vow of poverty but actually live that vow without privilege, status or accumulation of wealth are a vivid and prophetic contrast to the inauthenticity of the call to retrenchment masquerading as renewal."

http://istandwiththesisters.org/vatican-declares-year-of-assault/

Father Doug Koesel, Cleveland, Ohio

Father Doug Koesel is a diocesan priest in Cleveland, Ohio.  He is pastor of Blessed Trinity.  I do hope he does not lose his job over this analysis of the difference between the Sisters and the Vatican.  His analysis is on the mark.  Good for him....wish others would come to the fore. dd

From the Desk of Fr. Doug

What the Nuns’ Story is Really About

Many of you have asked me to comment on the recent investigation into the US nuns. Here goes. In short, the Vatican has asked for an investigation into the life of religious women in the United States. There is a concern about orthodoxy, feminism and pastoral practice. The problem with the Vatican approach is that it places the nuns squarely on the side of Jesus and the Vatican on the side of tired old men, making a last gasp to save a crumbling kingdom lost long

ago for a variety of reasons. One might say that this investigation is the direct result of the John Paul II papacy. He was suspicious of the power given to the laity after the Second Vatican Council. He disliked the American Catholic Church. Throughout his papacy he strove to wrest collegial power from episcopal conferences and return it to Rome.

One of the results of the council was that the nuns became more educated, more integrated in the life of the people and more justice-oriented than the bishops and pope. They are doctors, lawyers, university professors, lobbyists, social workers, authors, theologians, etc. Their appeal was that they always went back to what Jesus said and did. Their value lay in the fact that their theology and their practice were integrated into the real world.

The Vatican sounded like the Pharisees of the New Testament;— legalistic, paternalistic and orthodox— while “the good sisters” were the ones who were feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, educating the immigrant, and so on. Nuns also learned that Catholics are intuitively smart about their faith. They prefer dialogue over diatribe, freedom of thought over mind control, biblical study over fundamentalism, development of doctrine over isolated mandates.

Far from being radical feminists or supporters of far-out ideas, religious women realized that the philosophical underpinnings of Catholic teaching are no longer valid. Women are not subservient to men, the natural law is much broader than once thought, the OT is not as important as the NT, love is more powerful than fear. They realized that you can have a conversation with someone on your campus who thinks differently than the church without compromising what the church teaches. (For example, I could invite Newt Gingrich here to speak. You’d all still know what the church teaches about divorce in spite of him)

Women religious have learned to live without fear (Srs. Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clark, Ita Ford) and with love (Mother Teresa). And the number of popes and bishops and cardinals following in their footsteps, Jesus’ footsteps, is_____? This is what annoys American Catholics. The Vatican is hypocritical and duplicitous. Their belief is always that someone else needs to clean up their act; the divorced, the gays, the media, the US nuns, the Americans who were using the wrong words to pray, the seminaries, etc. It never occurs to the powers that be that the source of the problem is the structure itself. We can say that now with certainty as regards the sex abuse crisis. It was largely the structure of the church itself, the way men were trained and isolated, made loyal to the system at all costs and not to the person, that gave us the scandalous cover-up.

US nuns work side by side with the person on the street. They are involved in their everyday lives. Most cardinals spent less than five years in a parish, were never pastors, are frequently career diplomats. Religious women in the US refuse to be controlled by abusive authority that seeks to control out of fear. They realize that Jesus taught no doctrines, but that the church, over time, developed what Jesus taught in a systematic way. Nuns have always tried to work within the system.

This time their prophetic voices may take them out of the system. They may take a lot of Catholics and a lot of their hospitals, schools, colleges, orphanages, prison ministries, convents, women’s shelters, food pantries and, of course, the good will they have earned over the centuries with them.

This investigation is not about wayward US nuns. It is the last gasp for control by a dying breed, wrapped in its own self-importance. It is a struggle for the very nature of the church; who we are, how we pray, where we live, who belongs, why we believe. The early church endured a similar struggle. The old order died. The Holy Spirit won. Happy Pentecost Sunday!

P.S. On Wednesday, May 30, there will be a prayer rally for US nuns at St. Colman on W 65th St. All are invited and encouraged to attend. The nuns were there for us. Let us be there for them.

Most Irish want married priests and women priests...

Comment:  These are MY people.....the tide is rising...

http://irishecho.com/?p=71185

Most Irish want married priests

News & Views | | April 18th, 2012

---

Fr. Tony Flannery

Most Catholics in Ireland would like to see priests being able to marry, this according to a survey carried out by a clergy representative body,
87 percent of those surveyed believe priests should be allowed to get married while 77 percent supported the ordination of women as priests.
72 percent believe that married men should be allowed to be ordained while 46 percent said they opposed the church’s stance on homosexuality.
75 percent of respondents said they believed that the church’s teachings on sexuality were irrelevant to their lives.
The survey was conducted on behalf of the 800-strong Association of Catholic Priests which has had one of its founding members, Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery, disciplined by the Vatican in recent by the Vatican for his views on issues such as celibacy and the ordination of women.

The Inquisition Runneth

http://reform-network.net/?p=16556

Vatican in Chaos after Pope's Butler Arrested for Leaks, Bank President Ousted for Negligence/,Women Priests, Married Priests, Empowered Communities Needed Now to Reform Church

Sunday, May 27, 2012
From Bridget Mary's blog

Vatican in Chaos after Pope's Butler Arrested for Leaks, Bank President Ousted for Negligence/,Women Priests, Married Priests, Empowered Communities Needed Now to Reform Church

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/vatican-confirms-popes-butler-arrested-in-embarrassing-leaks-whodunit/2012/05/26/gJQAoUNvrU_story.html

"VATICAN CITY — An already sordid scandal over leaked Vatican documents took a Hollywood-like turn Saturday with confirmation that the pope’s own butler had been arrested after documents he had no business having were found in his Vatican City apartment.
The detention of butler Paolo Gabriele, one of the few members of the papal household, capped one of the most convulsive weeks in recent Vatican history and threw the Holy See into chaos as it enters a critical phase in its efforts to show the world it’s serious about complying with international norms on financial transparency. The tumult began with the publication last weekend of a book of leaked Vatican documents detailing power struggles, political intrigue and corruption in the highest levels of Catholic Church governance. It peaked with the inglorious ouster on Thursday of the president of the Vatican bank. And it concluded with confirmation Saturday that Pope Benedict XVI’s own butler was the alleged mole feeding documents to Italian journalists in an apparent bid to discredit the pontiff’s No. 2.
“If you wrote this in fiction you wouldn’t believe it,” said Carl Anderson, a member of the board of the Vatican bank which contributed to the tumult with its no-confidence vote in its president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. “No editor would let you put it in a novel.”

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
 This sordid story of  corruption and scandal has repeated itself  throughout the history of the Vatican. They would be triple X rated by today's standards. Under the white hot scrutiny of worldwide internet media coverage and thanks to the Vatican Leaks, millions know the story that is rocking the Catholic Church today. Isn't it unbelievable and evidence of a sick institution, that the Vatican is investigating the nuns? (for their support of women's ordination, gays and lesbians and birth control, which the majority of Catholics support.)
More than ever, Catholics need to wake up and take responsibility for our church, which by definition is the people of God. What options should be on the table when the Vatican is in free fall? The answer is obvious.  Reform and renewal that encompasses structural change is the only way forward. Yes, and as I have said a number of times, this must include women taking their rightful places in decision making positions as equals in an open, accountable, transparent Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered community.  It also means that the Catholic Church should follow Jesus' example of Gospel equality and reclaim our earlier tradition of married priests, and women priests as an issue of justice and prophetic obedience to the Spirit. Church leaders should be chosen by their local communities. Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday,  Now more than ever, the Catholic Church needs to affirm the gifts and ministries that the Spirit has given to all the baptized! Come, Holy Spirit,  renew our beloved faith Church with a new outpouring of your gifts!

Cardinal Dolan and the Bishops Bully Obama with Church Dollars

Comment:  Sexism at its finest....This is bullyihng at it's finest

It is time to recognize that there ARE two Catholic Churches. This Cardinal represents less than .01% of the hierarchical arm that would take money from the poor to support a false notion that the birth control mandate is a moral threat.......The second "Catholic Church" are the 99.9% that believe this is nonsense, have used birth control since 1968 and taught our children to do the same, and see this as a domination struggle to regain their lost moral status.

One of the hallmarks of radical hierarchical is the absolute denial of reason.  Listen to the commentators talk about the issue and how the administration tries to negotiate.....Can you hear any reasonable response from the Bishop-are the 43 Bishops being reasonable?  Is this really moral?  For the most part, all Catholics using or who have used birth control need to tell the Bishops to back off.....we need to address this from the pews and get rid of the double standard.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/47524412#47524412

Vatican Decree Calls Attention to the Place of Women Religious

Comment: This is the best description of how sisters interfaced with the Vatican that I have ever read. Women in the church have always worked to maintain a balancing act -moving toward Gospel ministries on the one hand and helping an uneducated and misguided hierarchy that reacts rather than listens. I love the description of the women being a Pascal candle...passing light to many while maintaining their own. What is good about this article is that it gives a slight picture of how women have renewed their lives and are renewing the church. This happened in the 19th century when they worked to build hospitals and schools...... One reflection that comes to mind is that while the women followed the gospels-men seem to want to follow the money.....perhaps this is a cultural rather than a "Catholic" reflection.
Diane Dougherty, ARCWP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olga-bonfiglio/vatican-decree-calls-attention-to-place-of-women-religious_b_1516232.html

"We didn't walk away agreeing," she said, "but we maintained a working relationship that kept the door open so the ministry and mission didn't suffer."

    

Cardinal Calls for Equality of Heterosexual and Homosexual Relationships

Comment: Perhaps this is an appointment the Pope regrets!  This gives me hope that the Vatican is not stacking the deck for the next papal appointment.

http://newwaysministryblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/cardinal-calls-for-equality-of-heterosexual-and-homosexual-relationships/

 

Cardinal Calls for Equality of Heterosexual and Homosexual Relationships

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki

So far I’ve only seen one news report in English about this item, but there are several in German that are floating around the web. It is too good not to report, even though the information is rather sparse.
Berlin’s Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki told a major Catholic conference in Germany that relationships of same-gender couples should be treated equally with heterosexual couples. An article in The Local, an English news source in Germany reports:

“He told a crowd on Thursday that the church should view long-term, faithful homosexual relationships as they do heterosexual ones.
” ‘When two homosexuals take responsibility for one another, if they deal with each other in a faithful and long-term way, then you have to see it in the same way as heterosexual relationships,’ Woelki told an astonished crowd, according to a story in the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
“Woekli acknowledged that the church saw the relationship between a man and a woman as the basis for creation, but added that it was time to think further about the church’s attitude toward same sex relationships.”

Speaking at the 98th Katholikentag (Catholic), a conference of 60,000 Catholics in Mannheim, Woelki joins a growing chorus of episcopal voices who are calling for change in the hierarchy’s traditionally absolutist refusal to acknowledge the moral goodness of lesbian and gay relationships.
Last December, London’s Archbishop Vincent Nichols made headlines by supporting civil partnerships for lesbian and gay couples in the U.K. That same month, Fr. Frank Brennan, a Jesuit legal scholar in Australia, also called for similar recognition of same-sex relationships. In January, Bishop Paolo Urso of Ragusa, Italy, also called for recognition of civil partnerships in his country.
March of 2012 saw an explosion of questioning from prelates of the hierarchy’s ban on marriage equality. At New Ways Ministry’s Seventh National Symposium,Bishop Geoffrey Robinson of Australia called for a total re-examination of Catholic sexual ethics to allow for, among other things, moral approval of same-sex relationships. The Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, supported a bill that would legalize civil unions (albeit as a stopgap measure to prevent marriage equality). Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine, announced that the diocese would not take an active role in opposing the state’s upcoming referendum on marriage equality, as it had in 2009. In Italy, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini of Milan stated in his book, Credere e Cognoscere (Faith and Understanding), that “I do not agree with the positions of those in the Church who takes issue with civil unions.” You can read excerpts, in Italian, from the book here. An English translation of a different set of excerpts, thanks to the Queering the Church blog, can be found here.
While opposition to marriage equality from the hierarchy, especially in the United States, is still massive and strong, it is significant that these recent statements are all developing a similar theme of at least some recognition of the intrinsic value of lesbian and gay relationships, as well as the need for civil protection of them. May this trend continue and grow.
–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Attack on Girl Scouts shows current law isn't working

Comment:  In a true sense, the only Church we know is the church of our time.  We get confused when we say the "universal church" and are taught to think of it as unitative through all ages beginning with Jesus, when in reality the church as we have experienced it began with Pope Pius XII, and was concretized through his emphasis on Canon Law.  Joan says, "Under Pacelli, law became the power of the church; the Gospel, its victim."  She got it right.....Diane Dougherty, ARCWP

http://ncronline.org/blogs/where-i-stand/attack-girl-scouts-shows-current-law-isnt-working

Attack on Girl Scouts shows current law isn't working

by Joan Chittister on May. 16, 2012

FromWhere I Stand

This month, it was the Leadership Conference of WomenReligious that bishops were concerned about. Before that, it was CatholicCharities in the United  States. Then it was Caritas, the church'sumbrella organization for the coordination of international charity. And now itis the Girl Scouts. Each of them has been curtailed, "investigated"or put in some kind of canonical receivership because of their reputed lack oforthodoxy on sexual issues or because of association with other groups that,according to the bishops, have the same problem. And all of that in the face ofthe sex abuse debacle of the church itself, still to be resolved, nevermonitored, and totally closed to outside investigation.

The question is, Where has all this energy for empirical destruction come from in a church now projecting its own serious problems with sexual issues onto everything that moves?

In his new book, Pius XII: The Hound of Hitler, noted historian Gerard Noel traces the history of this pope's "Great Design." The material starts with the rise of the young canon lawyer Eugenio Pacelli to a position of power in the Vatican. It winds its way through Pacelli's election as Pius XII and the suppression by Pacelli himself of Germany's Catholic Centre Party and even Catholic social action groups in pre-WWII Germany, the only bodies in Germany strong enough to have checked the rise of Nazism. It concludes with the rise of another man, Adolf Hitler, whose reach for power matched his own but whose rise his very Concordats assured.

Pacelli rose to power, Noel explains, on the arm of a canon law degree in a church still smarting from the loss of the Papal States and the consequent unification of Italy.Pacelli dreamed of using a system of Concordats -- particular legal agreements with the major powers in Europe -- to restore the quasi-imperial power that went with the temporal power and wealth the Papal States had assured. Pacelli's life goal became the centralization of the church, thecontrol of all its organizations. Under Pacelli, law became the power of the church; the Gospel, its victim.

For the first time in history, the Vatican took sole control of episcopal appointments, extended "infallibility" to"definitive" statements like encyclicals and gave the pope the right to declare on universal issues without the advice and consent of episcopal conferences, synods or councils. It was a recipe for monarchical control. And it worked.

Now, as a result, bishops are cut out of common cloth. Theyare chosen to be what the Vaticanwants rather than what the culture or the people need. They are an arm of the Vatican rather than the voice of the flock indialogue with the Vatican.

Have no doubt about it: Such equilibrium might be necessary,but it is also difficult to achieve. How does any international organization,in fact, preserve its values in such a disparate universal situation?Especially at such a distance from center? Given the multiple cultures? In thelight of varying systems in which they themselves are embedded?

But isn't that exactly why a nation's bishops must have aheart for the national culture and tradition and values and respect for theworkings of the society itself in which we are attempting to evangelize?

The American tradition comes out of a commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of thought and democratic participation in the politicalprocess, which, admittedly, the Vaticanhas always suspected; indeed, has never liked. To ask Americans to take on notsimply a European or Eastern European or Asian or African approach to"obedience" or governance or women, but a medieval one at that, isasking for what no law can provide. It is easy, of course, to force obedience;but, never doubt, it is impossible to force belief.

The effects here are beginning to show, as they did inPacelli's Europe. The second-largest religiousdenomination in the United  States, after Catholic, is now ex-Catholic.

The pope wants a smaller, purer church, we're told.Apparently that's what they wanted after the Protestant Reformation in the 16thcentury, as well. And they got it. They lost half of Europe.They are now losing large segments of South America.The Irish Church is listing. Only 5 percent ofinfants born in Europe are now baptized. Andthe United States,once the largest church-going country in the world, in the light of the sexabuse scandal, is teetering, as well.

From where I stand, it seems that law isn't working.

Maybe the Vatican needs to go back to the approach of the loving John XXIII or the patient PaulVI.

Maybe we ought to try the Gospel again, the one that understandspeople who lift their work animals out of a ditch on the sabbath, or get caughtin adultery, or are shunned because of their leprosy, or decide thatcircumcision is only one culture's sign of commitment, not theirs, or are thewrong sex, as was the Woman at the Well, to preach the Word of God. Let's tryagain the one that doesn't use investigations or intimidation or silencing orexcommunications for the sake of control rather than make compassion the markof the church. As they have, for instance, with bishops caught between twodifferent sets of law -- civil law and canon law -- in the sex abuse scandal.

The results cannot possibly be worse than the ones we'regetting. But one thing's clear. I know my own problem now: I was a Girl Scout.

I’m not quitting the church E.J. Dionne

I’m not quitting the church
By E.J. Dionne Jr., Published: May 13
Recently, agroup called the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) ran a full-page ad in The Washington Post castas an “open letter to ‘liberal’ and ‘nominal’ Catholics.” Its headlinecommanded: “It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church.”
The adincluded the usual criticism of Catholicism, but I was most struck by thisparagraph: “If you think you can change the church from within — get it tolighten up on birth control, gay rights, marriage equality, embryonic stem-cellresearch — you’re deluding yourself. By remaining a ‘good Catholic,’ you aredoing ‘bad’ to women’s rights. You are an enabler. And it’s got to stop.”
My, my.Putting aside the group’s love for unnecessary quotation marks, it was shockingto learn that I’m an “enabler” doing “bad” to women’s rights. But Catholicliberals get used to these kinds of things. Secularists, who never likedCatholicism in the first place, want us to leave the church, but so do Catholicconservatives who want the church all to themselves.
I’m sorry toinform the FFRF that I am declining its invitation to quit. It may not see theGospel as a liberating document, but I do, and I can’t ignore the good done inthe name of Christ by the sisters, priests, brothers and lay people who havedevoted their lives to the poor and the marginalized.
And on women’srights, I take as my guide that early feminist Pope John XXIII. In Pacemin Terris,his encyclical issued in 1963, the same year Betty Friedan published “TheFeminine Mystique,” Pope John spoke of women’s “natural dignity.”
“Far frombeing content with a purely passive role or allowing themselves to be regardedas a kind of instrument,” he wrote, “they are demanding both in domestic and inpublic life the rights and duties which belong to them as human persons.”
I’d like the FFRFto learn more about the good Pope John, but I wish our current bishops wouldthink more about him, too. I wonder if the bishops realize how some in theirranks have strengthened the hands of the church’s adversaries (and disheartenedmany of the faithful) with public statements — including that odious comparisonof President Obama to Hitler by aPeoria prelate last month — that threaten to shrink the church into a narrow,conservative sect.
Do the bishopsnotice how often those of us who regularly defend the church turn to the workof nuns on behalf of charity and justice to prove Catholicism’s detractorswrong? Why in the world would the Vatican, apparently pushed by right-wingAmerican bishops, think it was a good idea to condemn the Leadership Conferenceof Women Religious, the main organization of nuns in the United States?
The Vatican’sstatement, issued last month, seemed to be the revenge of conservative bishopsagainst the many nuns who broke with the hierarchy and supported health-carereform in 2010. The nuns insisted, correctly, that the health-care law did notfund abortion. This didn’t sit well with men unaccustomed to beingcontradicted, and the Vaticantook the LCWR to task for statements that “disagree with or challenge positionstaken by the bishops.”
Oh yes, andthe nuns are also scolded for talking a great deal about social justice and notenough about abortion (as if the church doesn’t talk enough about abortionalready). But has it occurred to the bishops that less stridency mightchange more hearts and minds on this very difficult question?
A thoughtfulfriend recently noted that carrying a child to term is an act of overwhelminggenerosity. For nine months, a woman gives her body to another life, not tomention the rest of her years. Might the bishops consider that their preachingon abortion would have more credibility if they treated women in the church,including nuns, with the kind of generosity they are asking of potentialmothers? They might usefully embrace a similar attitude toward gay men andlesbians.
Too manybishops seem in the grip of dark suspicions that our culture is moving atbreakneck speed toward a demonic end. Pope John XXIII, by contrast, was moreoptimistic about the signs of the times.
“Distrustfulsouls see only darkness burdening the face of the earth,” he once said. “Weprefer instead to reaffirm all our confidence in our Savior who has notabandoned the world which he redeemed.” The church best answers its criticswhen it remembers that its mission is to preach hope, not fear.
ejdionne@washpost.com

Robert Reich-Bad Morality

The similarities between this and the Catholic hierarchy are profound.  Could it be that the Catholicism has become an arm of the republican party?

http://front.moveon.org/robert-reichs-smart-take-on-the-kind-of-morality-thats-been-bad-for-america/#.T7F3DGbIZ9I.facebook

Richard Sipes-Vatican Attacks Nuns

 Here is my favorite Reflection:
"If these are the women leading the "radical feminist agenda" the Vatican is so worried about more power to them. They lead the solid Christian way in the tradition of American nuns. They are involved in leadership not politics."   This is correct-we are leading according to the spirituality of the gospel...not partisan politics.  Diane Dougherty


http://www.richardsipe.com/Comments/2012-04-23-Vatican-attacks-nuns.htm

VATICAN ATTACKS NUNS

The boys are at it again. I use boys pointedly and advisedly. The guys in the Vatican cannot tolerate honest women who think for themselves, tell the truth and put Gospel values above conformity and submission to Vatican appointed males.
Nuns in the United States have educated many of us, our parents, and our grandparents, built hospitals and cared for our sick and poor all the while on slave wages and in quiet subservience to boy bishops and cardinals who never developed psychosexual maturity and balance in their homosocial bubble; there they wrap themselves in pretty - I repeat pretty dresses, and expensive - I repeat expensive hats protected by toadies who agree and adulate them as if boyfriends.
Nuns paid attention to the voice of the Vatican Council. Vatican II changed things for all women. They became part of the People of God. Nuns increased and accelerated their own education (there are more nuns than priests with earned masters and doctoral degrees).
Sr. Mary Luke Tobin, S.L. was one of the few nuns allowed to be an auditor at the council, but she could stand shoulder to shoulder spiritually and intellectually with any of the best men there. She could recall by heart to her dying day the pledge of the document Gaudium et Spes, "With respect to the fundamental rights of the person, every type of discrimination, whether social, cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent." We are all one in Jesus Christ.
The boys have forgotten the primacy of that doctrine and the importance of conscience. They think that American nuns spend too much effort on eradicating poverty and injustice. The boys want nuns to "talk" about important doctrinal issues like abortion, contraception, premarital cohabitation and same-sex marriage. They want nuns to spend more energy like bishops do - fighting sex, namely, everybody else's sex.
Bishops are more than reluctant to step up to the plate to answer the myriad questions about their sexual play (crimes) with children, affairs with grown women and men (and each other). They are not reluctant to spend their time, money and energy covering up their sexual lives and covering up their cover-ups. That price tag is close to a billion dollars. But nuns must be quiet and conform. Consciences be damned.
For instance Tommy Olmsted a person innocent of any expertise in medicine or the medical ethics procedures that hospitals employ, from his throne in Phoenix excommunicated Sr. Margaret McBride, R.S.M. who heads St. Joseph's Hospital, despite scrupulously following ethically appropriate procedures in the difficult medical case of an abortion to save a life. Like a sixth grade boy on the playground he threw his hissy fit because she did not "respect my authority".
Bishops do not like women they can't control. In fact, many bishops don't like women. Women threaten their authority; little girls who surround bishops can be managed and even manipulated.
I was in a Vatican room with Pope John Paul II in 1993 when he said that he as pope did not have the authority to change the rules on celibacy; and it goes without saying the same holds true in Vatican minds about the ordination of women to the priesthood. Fr. Roy Bourgeois, M.M. ruffled the boys club feathers by attending the ordination of a woman. His support of an issue that an ever-increasing proportion of Catholics also support merited him dismissal from the Maryknoll fathers and the penalty of a Roman excommunication. Abuse of children merits far more tolerance, understanding and even personal support than adult dissent and dialogue. That would not be the case if women could be priests. Pope John Paul II literally embraced two clerics who without doubt sexually abused young men: Cardinal Hans Groer of Austria was a close personal friend of John Paul. Despite this he was forced to resign by courageous fellow bishops. (Real men those Austrians.) Father Marcial Maciel the discredited founder of the Legionaries of Christ was disciplined already in 1948 for sexual misbehavior and later reported to Rome for grave sexual offences years before John Paul put his arms around him in 2004 at a public audience. After all boys will be boys. They are out of their depth in dialogue. They dare not stray into adult territory where issues of equality and justice prevail. It is above their developmental grade and comfort level. They all quickly disavow responsibility for their conspiratorial part in countenancing abusive priests.
The Vatican's boy, Peter Sartain former bishop of Joliet, is now sent to investigate head-strong and devout nuns who head up the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. He presided over one of the dioceses most resistive to openness and transparency about its documentation of clergy abuse. In contrast, women who have led the LCWR are vigorous adults with a sense of right and courage unmatched by most bishops. Sister Theresa Kane, R.S.M. spoke directly and openly to the pope in 1979 about the rights of women to the squirms and gasps of the boys in the pews - she wasn't playing fair speaking frankly, with respect as one adult to another. That's not the way the boys play the game - don't women know about all the secret handshakes that have to be observed?
Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. is spiritually and character-wise superior to any of the boys in their flowing silk skirts and lace who are out to investigate the doctrinal purity of American nuns (that 2008 visitation report is not yet public) and bishops now aim their sights on the LCWR. Chittister led the LCWR in its early days and helped set its course solidly in the Vatican II tradition. Their strength is in willingness to dialogue about important issues that effect people's lives not just blindly echo doctrinal pronouncements.
Catholic women theologians are another cause for the boys' fear and envy. Sister Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J., author of Quest for the Living God, is currently widely considered the best Catholic theologian in the United States. Her book raised close and restrictive scrutiny - all but an outright condemnation - by the authority of the American Bishops Conference.
If these are the women leading the "radical feminist agenda" the Vatican is so worried about more power to them. They lead the solid Christian way in the tradition of American nuns. They are involved in leadership not politics.
Paul Claudel said, "The church turns to politics when it fails to produce enough saints". Today that is exactly where the Vatican and American Catholic church are - looking for political power and passing up and impeding the strength and sanctity in the corps of women most dedicated to Christian service, its method and message.
The boys just can't compete. Women won't play their game.

Catholic High School Denies Same Sex Couple to Prom

Comment:  When will the world wide Catholic Community discover that there is more to Catholic than "what hierarch's" say is Catholic?  Oh-how about now....these seniors are the hope of our Catholic tomorrow.  Diane Dougherty

http://www.kentucky.com/2012/05/13/2186828/same-sex-couple-denied-entrance.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop

Richard Rohr-Vatican VS American Nuns

http://richardrohr.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/vatican-versus-american-nuns/

May 10, 2012

Vatican Versus American Nuns

We must be honest and admit that there are only two remaining large systems in the world that are totally patriarchal in their style and in their leadership: Communist states and the Roman Catholic Church. Ours never looked quite as bad since we at least used the language of Jesus, the symbols of communion, humility, and service, and we men even dress in rather feminine robes. The Communist states make no display of humility themselves or respect for the feminine side of anything. But the real bottom lines in the Roman Church are becoming more and more apparent to thinking and spiritual people in the last decade or so. Despite the very clear reforms of the II Vatican Council in the 1960′s, the Roman patriarchy, a closed system that allows no prophetic critique, and their branch appointed officers (bishops), are step by step rolling back both the spirit and the letter of the Vatican II reforms–while pretending and saying they are not. (Remember, if you can reject this Council, then you have the basis for rejecting the other 20 Councils of the Church too! The Pope and bishops had better be very careful!)
Deceit and supposed magnanimity are at the heart of all patriarchies, or otherwise their subjects would see what they are actually doing. North Koreans also believe their “Great Father” is protecting them, as did many Filipinos under Marcos, and Russians under their Czars and Czarinas.
No group accepted the reforms and tried to renew itself following the Council like the American Sisters. Yes, they made their mistakes, and also enjoyed certain matriarchal benefits over the laity. Nevertheless, this cruel, humiliating, and intimidating attempt by the Roman Curia (“the place that cares for”) to punish and control the American sisters is being seen for what it is, and what it is not:
It IS male patriarchal control, hurt feelings because they are not that much in control any more; and it is certainly NOT anything like Jesus or the Gospel. Patriarchal systems normally engineer their own demise by such gross misuse of power.
We all need to sincerely pray–and speak much needed Gospel to very worldly power.

Vatican's War on Girls-New Initiative

Comment:As you read this article, please note that there are minions of the bishops, searching and reporting on the finer details of every organization to the USCCB, their local bishops and to their priests, setting up briefs that are telling these "hierarchs" who is and who is not following thier lead in the name of all Catholics.  Now the Girl Scouts ARE NOT a Catholic organization so my question is-whay does "what the USCCB have to say mean anything to this organization."  Why don't the Bishop's spend their time and our money working on formative teaching-oh yes-could it be that few are attending at all?  Remember, 98% of Catholic adults use contraception, support planned parenthood and teach their children to follow their conscience. 

How about starting an I'M A CATHOLIC AND I FOLLOW MY CONSCIENCE.....I TEACH MY GIRLS TO DO THE SAME.    Campaign...

This Pope has gone after Women priests, the Sisters, their assests, altar girls and now girl scouts.  This is not moral teaching nor is is gospel mandated. It is direct sexist practices in operation that is not representative of the larger group.
Diane
Dougherty, ARCWP

http://news.yahoo.com/girl-scouts-under-scrutiny-catholic-bishops-181843252.html?ugc_c=y.ZD8Lf12QCktcwOtgMLxYjAl79nkgxZj3qQWwDHvnLBBjuuiSYXioc2VCq30jf31cz1FNKIxc4EJXoNweBfLKRBnTel3smCAVgkMv3O173GNOhSjhBb4SEd4OINKqf5OCks66oMyEV2ChgzdKszwzkd75D9whL2TDzlLnYgUiZG5H2waTausNIvi01qZArNLoVNxYn6u7M0edvrPdDwKuHSZyc9dV0z5bDPZKh6jlCUylSFE562xnGG7GFu5ew-&bcnv_s=e&ugc_scnv=1&ll=3

Vigils for Nun Justice

Vigils for Nun Justice in Support of LCWR Are Being Held During May Outside Cathedrals in the U.S.

Tuesday evening May 8th Prayerful Vigil Portland, Oregon outside St. Marys Cathedral to support Catholic sisters. Catholics prayed this evening for the religious women and their leadership the LCWR as they begin to deal with the latest mandates from the Vatican. This is just one of many vigils taking place around the country on Tuesday nights during May. The message is clear that "The people are the Church" not the Vatican and that the people support the sisters and their positions on subjects of health care, women's equality in the church, gays and lesbians and freedom of conscience. Vigils in support of nun justice are being held on Tuesdays outside cathedrals in the United States.

Dear Cardinal Dolan: Is the Pope Catholic?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-dechant/is-the-pope-catholic-letter-to-cardinal-dolan_b_1472421.html
Dear Cardinal Dolan,
Because "60 Minutes" names you Our Man in Rome (as the most likely to become the first American Pope), I'm writing to ask about the Vatican's investigation of American nuns -- presumably for not being "Catholic enough." Can you find out: What is the Pope thinking? Can you influence this disastrous endeavor?
Let's assume the Vatican lacks knowledge of the role of nuns in American history: those women who pioneered health treatments, of cancer and hospice (Sister Rose Hawthorne Lathrop), of alcoholics (Sister Mary Ignatia) and of lepers (Mother Marianne Cope); who built schools --through college -- to educate African- and Native-Americans more than 80 years before our Civil Rights movement began (St. Katharine Drexel); and the colonist who founded the first American religious order (St. Elizabeth Seton) to care for poor children. Does the Pope know that American nuns developed the first infant incubator, built and ran the hospital that became Mayo Clinic and founded the world's largest private school system? That nuns were once THE educated working women in our country, establishing orphanages, hospitals and social service agencies with creativity, grit and perseverance (and sometimes being silenced by their bishops for their innovations).
If the Pope does not consider this history significant to today's nuns, please appeal to the Vatican's self-interest. I'm aware that public relations is not a Vatican concern (nor even a concept) and that our hierarchy responds globally to crises with advice only from its lawyers. But isn't it time to ask the Pope: How's that been working out for you? It's time to suggest firing the lawyers and hiring a public relations consultant.
Please don't forget to quote those adjectives the U. S. media use to describe this "insulting" "immoral" "abusive" "sexist" "hostile" investigation. Newspapers claim the nuns are "being bullied" by the Vatican, and speculating that the underlying motive of this "inquisition" is for the Vatican to raid the assets of female religious orders to help pay claims from the pedophile lawsuits. Note that this is just what our Catholic media is saying!
Please also warn the Pope about repercussions in terms of branding and image. These elderly women -- their average age is 70 -- who've spent their lives as poorly paid servants in parishes and communities, are still working because they were given no pensions or health care benefits. They cannot afford to retire. Their only rest will come in their coffins, when each sister is buried with the letter she wrote when she entered her convent decades ago, telling why she chose to serve God by serving others. Common decency aside, common sense dictates that sympathy will be for these women, rather than for the powerful men investigating them.
It's also been reported that because the Vatican suspects our nuns of disregarding Catholic teaching on certain hot-button issues, it needs to determine if these sisters are verifiably Catholic. No doubt birth control is one of these issues. But why pick on our nuns? More than 77 percent of American Catholics consider using birth control morally acceptable. None of us can recall the last time we heard a priest support the Vatican's birth control ban from the pulpit; even our pastors -- looking into parishes with two-child families -- know that that ship has sailed. It left way back in 1963, when the pill was prescribed by Catholic doctors for the health and welfare of mothers and families. Our nuns should be the last to be interrogated on this issue, and at this late date.
Our Catholic media also speculates that the investigation is an attempt by the Vatican to influence American politics, specifically to oust President Obama. Has anyone pointed out to the Pope that even Catholic Republicans did not vote for the Catholic, Rick Santorum, who championed the Church's birth control ban? GOP Catholics support the Mormon!
Perhaps the sisters have been discussing the ordination of women and married people, though open discussion of this is forbidden by the Vatican. Please inform the Holy Father that we've all been discussing that, for decades. Tell him about the doctrines we cherish, the First Amendment to our Constitution, and Article 6, #1782 in the Catechism on "Moral Conscience": "Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters."
OK, let's admit that the "f-word" has surfaced in coverage of this nightmare, as the most damning charge of all. U.S. bishops reportedly alerted the Vatican that many of our nuns are ... Feminists. That may be because our American sisters took Vatican II and Pope John XXIII seriously 50 years ago, when they were challenged to rethink their vocations, "to make the truth of the Gospel shine," and to "dedicate [them]selves without fear to that work which our era demands of us." The nuns quit wearing the medieval habits that separated them from others, and many moved from convents into a larger community to serve in new ways. They also embraced the Council's call for dialogue, by not only talking with but listening to those they serve, many of whom are poor women. Would that our hierarchy could seek and get such an education!
These questions remain: Does the Pope really want to force American Catholics to choose between standing with our nuns or with a male hierarchy interrogating them for nebulous infractions, with a stated agenda of keeping their findings secret? Where could we find Jesus in all this -- among our nuns, whose life of service is based on the Gospels' call to justice and charity, or in the Vatican, whose concerns appear to be power and secrecy? At the very least, let the investigators ask those who know our nuns best -- the homeless, prisoners, battered women and their children, immigrants, inner-city students, the disabled, the bereaved and the bullied -- if these elderly women are "Catholic enough." And if not, then who is? Is even the Pope "Catholic enough"?
Carol DeChant founded the public relations firm DeChant-Hughes & Associates, Inc. Her recent book is "Great American Catholic Eulogies" (ACTA Publishers).

PressRelease: Historic 2nd Ordination in Lexington as Donna Rougeux willbe ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest

PressRelease:  Historic 2nd Ordination in Lexington as Donna Rougeux willbe ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest

Releasedate:  May 9, 2012
Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, 859-684-4247, rhythmsofthedance@gmail.com
BishopBridget Mary Meehan, 703-505-0004, sofiabmm@aol.com
DonnaRougeux, 859-221-3082, dlrougeux@insightbb.com
See:http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/
http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/

On Saturday, June 9,2012 at 3:00 p.m. Donna Rougeux of Lexington, Kentucky will be ordained apriest in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.  The presidingbishop will be Bridget Mary Meehan of Falls Church, Virginia and Sarasota,Florida. The ceremony will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church ofLexington, 3564 Clays Mill Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503.

As a pre-ordinationevent, on Saturday, June 2 at 10 a.m. "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican"will be shown at the Kentucky Theater, 214 East Main Street, Lexington 40507.The 58-minute documentary by filmmaker Jules Hart is the story of the justicestruggle for ordination for women in the Roman Catholic Church. Tickets are $10at the door. A Q/A will follow.

All are welcome to theordination and pre-ordination screening.

Media are invited to apre-ordination press conference on Saturday, June 9, at 1:30 p.m. at the churchwith the candidate and Bridget Mary Meehan. Call Janice (859-684-4247) toschedule an interview.

The ordinand istheologically prepared and has many years of experience in ministry. 
Donna LeMasterRougeux graduated from Lexington Theological Seminary in 2009 with a Masters inPastoral Studies. She completed a residency with Hospice of the Bluegrass in2010, earning four units of Clinical Pastoral Education. She has worked as aHospice chaplain since she finished the residency and plans on becoming acertified chaplain. Donna is married and has three teenagers.
"I am sothankful that God has called me to work for reform in the Roman CatholicChurch. I hope that my daughters, granddaughters and all women will be foreverchanged and affirmed to follow God's call because of the work that thismovement has done and will do in challenging the Church to be the Kin-dom onEarth."
The Association ofRoman Catholic Women Priests rejoices in a “holy shakeup” that millions ofCatholics worldwide welcome. The good news now is that male priests, bishops, acardinal as well as theologians have expressed their support of female priests.They are following in the footsteps of Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois whose propheticcall for a dialogue on women priests is being heard in more and more placestoday in our Church.
“Nothing can stopthe movement of the spirit toward human rights, justice and equality in ourworld and in our Church,” said Bridget Mary Meehan. “The full equality of womenis the voice of God in our time.”
ARCWP celebratesthe Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the nearly 60,000 womenreligious they represent in the United States. We reject the unjust, bullyingbehavior of the scandal-ridden Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of theFaith who has ordered the LCWR to reform itself more closely to "theteachings and discipline of the Church." It is the corrupt hierarchy, whohas spent billions of dollars and devastated the lives of thousands of youth inthe sexual abuse crisis that needs reform, not the dedicated nuns in the U.S.Now is the time for the LCWR to speak truth to power. Declare a nuns'emancipation proclamation from Vatican control. Challenge Vatican misogynypublicly. Affirm primacy of conscience and gender equality including women'sordination.
The Women Priestsmovement in the Roman Catholic Church advocates a new model of priestlyministry united with the people with whom we minister. We stand in propheticobedience to Jesus who calls women and men to be disciples and equals. Themovement began with the ordination of seven women on the Danube in 2002. Todaythere are over 130 in the movement worldwide. ARCWP is in the United States andLatin America. Our specific charism within the broader global Roman CatholicWomen Priests initiative is to live Gospel equality and justice for women inthe Church and in society now. We work in solidarity with the poor andmarginalized for transformative justice in partnership with all believers. Our visionis to live as a community of equals in decision making both as an organizationand within all our faith communities. We advocate the renewal of the vision ofJesus in the Gospel in our Church and world.

THE ASSOCIATION OF

ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS

INVITES YOU TO  

THE LITURGY OF ORDINATION

TO THE PRIESTHOOD

Donna LeMaster Rougeux

Ordaining Bishop

Bridget Mary Meehan

June 9, 2012     3:00 P.M.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington

3564 Clays Mill Road

Lexington, Kentucky 40503

Dinner at the church will follow

RSVP TO:  dlrougeux@insightbb.com

Read more about Donna here:

arcwp.org

http://arcwp.org/biogs.html

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/09/10/1876391/catholic-hierarchy-wrong-women.html#storylink=misearch

Georgetown’s Kathleen Sebelius invitation called a ‘direct challenge’ to bishops

Comment:  Thank you Georgetown-for giving witness to the fact that the Catholic Church is not represented by the radical politics of the evangelical right.....Catholicism is much broader than the political left or right....dd

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/under-god/post/georgetowns-kathleen-sebelius-invitation-called-a-direct-challenge-to-bishops/2012/05/07/gIQA7qxY8T_blog.html
“The left-liberals who run the show at Georgetown have found a way to signal to the world that the nation’s oldest Catholic, and most famous Jesuit, university stands with the Obama administration in its war (to use, if I recall correctly, Kathleen Sebelius’s own word) against the Catholic bishops and others who oppose the HHS mandate as a violation of religious freedom and the rights of conscience (you know, the enemies of women’s ’reproductive health’). By honoring Secretary Sebelius, they can help to undermine the bishops’ credibility and blunt the force of their witness as leaders of the Catholic church....

Association of Catholic Priests discuss Church's future

Excellent Article-question: What will we do if the hierarchy (appointed) will NOT move along to reform?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17973830

Declare a Nuns' Emancipati​on Proclamati​on from Vatican Control

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priestscelebrates the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the nearly 60,000women religious they represent in the United States. We reject the unjust,bullying behavior of the scandal-ridden Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrineof the Faith who has ordered the LCWR to reform itself more closely to “theteachings and discipline of the Church.”  It is the corrupt hierarchy, whohas spent billions of dollars and devastated the lives of thousands of youth inthe sexual abuse crisis that needs reform, not the dedicated nuns in the UnitedStates.

Now is the time for the LCWR to speak truth to power.Declare a nuns’ emancipation proclamation from Vatican control. ChallengeVatican misogyny publicly.  Affirm primacy of conscience and genderequality including women's ordination.
 
"As a Sister for Christian Community, I belong to anindependent community of women religious not under Vatican control,"Bridget Mary Meehan, bishop of ARCWP, reflects. “This means that I am blessedwith freedom to live my vocation as a woman priest. "

Nuns who are called by God and their communities shouldbe able to serve as priests.

“Religious communities of women have been the backbone ofthe church and the heart that pumps hope through the life of the church,” saidnewly ordained woman priest Miriam Picconi of Palm Coast, Florida.

 In the Biblical prophetic tradition the sistershave devoted their lives to living Gospel justice and reading the signs of thetimes.  They have heard the cries of the poor, the exploited and theabandoned.  Lifting oppression and birthing community and right relations,women religious have been at work transforming the world.

 We as women priests express our gratitude to thesisters, our mentors and teachers, who have been inspired by the Spirit. They have re-discovered and reaffirmed in us the Feminine Wisdom of God. They have blessed the love and commitment of same-sex partnerships.  Theyhave encouraged us women called to priesthood to live out our call.  Theyhave been prophetic voices for the liberating activity of the Spirit in ourchurch and world.  We stand in prayerful solidarity with all nuns and theLCWR in time of crisis. May women religious lead the church into a new beginningof justice and equality!

Association of Romen Catholic Women Priests, arcwp.org

The Spirit is blowing through my Motherland......

A statement from the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland.
http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2012/05/statement-from-towards-an-assembly-of-the-irish-catholic-church/

Video-100,000 gathered in Dublin to support the 800 priests....wow...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17982360

James Martin SJ calls all to say thanks to the sisters

Well worth the time to watch.  Jim Maartin talks about how the Sisters responded to th Vatican to renew themselves and their communities and how important they are in the building up of the Church.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ALx-eolC1FI

http://articles.philly.com/2012-05-03/news/31556803_1_catholic-priest-grave-scandal-church-leaders

Church’s sexism is a scandal

May 03, 2012|By Roy Bourgeois

• 

Father Roy Bourgeois has urged the leaders of the Roman…

I have been a Catholic priest for years, and, like most people I know, I have been changed by my experiences over the years.
Growing up Catholic in a small town in Louisiana, I and others did not ask why the black members of our church had to sit in the last five pews during Mass, or why our schools were segregated. Nor did we, needless to say, ask why women could not be priests.
The military was my ticket out of Louisiana. I volunteered for duty in Vietnam, which became a turning point in my life. In the midst of all the violence and death of the war, my faith became more important, and I felt that God was calling me to be a priest.

Story continues below.

After four years in the military, I entered the Catholic Church’s Maryknoll Order, was ordained, and went off to serve the poor of Bolivia for five years.
Later, during my years of ministry in the United States, I met many devout Catholic women who were also called by God to be priests. Such women are rejected based on the church’s teaching that only baptized men may be ordained.
This makes no sense to me. Don’t we profess that God created men and women of equal worth and dignity? Doesn’t Scripture state clearly that “There is neither male nor female. In Christ Jesus you are one” (Galatians 3:28)? How can we men say our call from God is authentic, but the call women feel is not?
After much reflection, study, and prayer, I believe the exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women and our loving God, who calls both men and women to be priests. I also believe that to have a healthy, vibrant church, we need the wisdom, experiences, and voices of women in the priesthood.
The Vatican has referred to the ordination of women as “a grave scandal.” When most Catholics hear the word scandal, however, they think of the many priests who sexually abused children, and of the many bishops who covered up their horrific crimes.
Pope Benedict XVI is telling priests like me to be obedient to church leaders and refrain from questioning or discussing church teachings. This presents a problem, because the church teaches us the primacy of conscience. One’s conscience is sacred, because it gives one a sense of right and wrong, and urges one to do what is just. When we betray our consciences, we separate ourselves from God.
I often think about our silence in the days when the black members of our church had to sit in the last five pews. As a priest, I have learned that our silence in the presence of such injustices is the voice of complicity.
Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard we try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is not the way of God.
Roy Bourgeois is expected to be in Philadelphia for a discussion and screening of a documentary about women’s ordination, “Pink Smoke Over the Vatican,” at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany, 330 S. 13th St.

This World The Shame of the Church BBC

Every Catholic has the responsibility to sit down and listen to this.  It also is incumbent on us to form our own opinions and act.  Not tomorrow -today.  This did not happen in Ireland.  It happened in every country in the world.  In part one the narrator said the priest, Father Greene, had the disease, and the bishop spread it with every move.....It was also moved by the silence of the people.  There are NO systems that alter the movement of this fraud.

Bishop Wilton Gregory in Atlanta, my bishop, is as responsible as every bishop in the USCCB.  This act of clericalism is the tip of the iceburg...there is MUCH more to this documentary that the abuse of children.  There is the abuse of women who were cowed into silence, the intimidation of women religious now threatened with the dismantling of thier system including their property, the embezzlement of monies given by the faithful, trusting there would be a place in the future for our children....our heritage.  Few know that 3.3 billion has been given over to protect pedophiles. And that is in America alone.

But most of all-this continues by the silence and docility of its members.  My new goals are to encourage the raising of all voices by the many who ARE Catholic but have moved to the fringes in light of this pronounced clericalism. 

First-there must be an examination and revision of Canon Law by all members of our faith so that the voice of laity can be heard-NOT just men....certain systems must end-no more appointments of priests to parishes.  All parishes should recieve a resume and recommendations if a priest is to be reassigned.  Any priest who tears down the life of a parish by  removing anyone from their position because they have spoken out should be removed themselves AND a balance in power between the pastor and the people of the parish should be established immediately.

In Atlanta, I would like to see a firm movement toward renewal of Vatican II parishes and am calling for preparation groups centered in a Theological discussion of Priestly Ministries for all the Baptized.  Time, tithe and talent needs to be redirected toward this effort so that in 2016, on the 50th Anniversary of Vatican II, Atlanta can go back to its original mission and reboot its efforts to build the church the Spirit has led us to form.

By ending our silence and victimization, we will engage in the healing of the church and prevent further destruction of the body of Christ. 

Diane Dougherty, ARCWP


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ma9ALRpEVw  Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHhyju2GfdE&feature=relmfu   Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZW0zG9y_eI&feature=relmfu  Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFvKokHnNrQ&feature=relmfu Part 4