Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ,

 I want to draw your attention to one of  the four icons specially commissioned for the Dublin 2012 International Eucharistic Congress. The icons, together with a bell are going to all the parishes in the country.  The icon  entitled PENTECOST (see picture and accompanying text below) depicts 12 men, and NO WOMEN, even though the Acts of the Apostles tell us clearly that the women disciples together with Mary were there. Instead of these women who WERE present, some men like Paul, Luke and Mark who WERE NOT, are included!

The icon is meant to illustrate the Christian community being empowered for mission.

What it illustrates most clearly is the deeply entrenched sexism in our church. The theme of the Congress is communion with Christ and with one another, but obviously that communion does not include women as equal disciples.  It is a regrettable fact for the patriarchal domination of our church that the Holy Spirit at Pentecost did NOT discriminate against the women disciples. This icon seek to propagate the lie that it did and that therefore the current gender apartheid in the church is God's Will.It is not!     

(description from the Eucharist Congress 2012 Dublin website below)

 

I do love red....Deb

 

From: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of John Wijngaards
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 12:51 PM
To: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Team-womenpriests] A sexist Pentecost!

 

 

A wonderful vision!

 

I wish, Deb, you could disguise yourself as a Cardinal and pass this kind of insight to people in the patriarchal core of the Curia in Rome  .  .  .  Surely some of them must have had a mother?!

 

Love and greetings,

 

Hans

 

From: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Deb
Sent: 01 February 2012 2:42 PM
To: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Team-womenpriests] A sexist Pentecost!

 

 

Dear Soline,

 

This came across one of my networks (WATER) regarding the celebrations today of St. Brigit...   There are days when I like leaving behind the odd work of crusty old patriarchs in order to focus on the power women have always had. There is a long history of love, service and healing over power, pretentiousness and privilege.   I especially like this line:

 

The Spinners were the Wise Women ‒ the midwives, healers, community leaders, mothers, grandmothers, and all those who wove and spun the fragile threads of community through prayer, ritual, feeding, healing ‒ bringing new life into the world...

 

Deb

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Greetings to all in our growing Brigit Circle, far and wide, on this her Feast-Day, the festival of Imbolc 

 

Imbolc has often been translated as “ewe milk” and we often focus on new lambs; new milk. However, in the Old European tradition Brigit’s Day was known as a Holyday for Spinners.

 

The Spinners were the Wise Women ‒ the midwives, healers, community leaders, mothers, grandmothers, and all those who wove and spun the fragile threads of community through prayer, ritual, feeding, healing ‒ bringing new life into the world, and easing souls from the world when they were ready to pass on.

 

On Brigit’s Day it is said that no wheels were allowed to turn. The day was given over to remembering the ancestors at the hearth; weaving precious memories into Brigit’s crosses; passing through her girdle (crios) making new promises and intentions for the coming year; and ensuring that her cloak gathered up the healing dew, reminding us of the healing power of the earth, so long as we kept in tune with its rhythms.  

 

Our ancestral spinners ate of the bread, honey, and milk (and Brigit is said to have been fond of beer!) as her holyday came to a close.

 

Beannachtaí Lá Féile Bhríde: May the blessings of Brigit’s Day be upon you and yours.

New Song for Brigit

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ovsx90IL2Bo#!

 

Thanks to The Circle At Brescia University College,  London, Ontario for sending it on.

 

Making Brigit’s Crosses

 

In response to various requests, Merovee Guerin has kindly written up instructions on how to make Brigit's crosses, and how and what kind of rushes to collect in so doing.

You will find her article under "News and Events" on our website:

www.instituteforfeminismandreligion.org

Thanks Merovee!!

 

 

Meditation for Brigit: Alastair McIntosh

 

Thought for the Day – c. 0723, 1 February 2011 - BBC Radio Scotland

 

from Alastair McIntosh, a Quaker, author and Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology

 

 

Good Morning

 

We so often hear the bad news, but I was heartened to learn yesterday that the rate of stillbirth in Scotland has fallen to less than five infant deaths per thousand deliveries.

 

New Year’s Day has never been the same for my wife and I this past five years.

 

Vérène was thirty-two weeks pregnant. We had gone to bed early on Hogmanay, but the next morning, her womb was motionless.

 

The radiologist at the Southern General turned on the scan. There was the outline of our little son, but no heartbeat.

 

I just said it … “He’s flown the nest, my dear.”

 

The staff were incredible. But what so shook me was how, during the delivery, I was swept up by a sacred sense of knowing this child intimately; some glimpse of life running deeper than death.

 

Today is Saint Bride’s Day – the festival of Bridget or Bhrighde. Her many patron sainthoods include midwives, babies and children in difficulties, because, according to the Scottish version, this lass was flown by angels to the Holy Land to become the foster mother of Christ.

 

It’s one of those crazy traditions, but I’ve learned that some of these stories can reveal spiritual depths unspeakable … like when you have to gaze beyond the life of your own child.

 

Alexander Carmichael who collected Bridget tales from the Hebrides saw this Celtic goddess and Christian saint as the timeless principle of life, death and rebirth.

 

He wrote that on this first day of February: “Brigit with her white wand, is said to breathe life into the mouth of the dead Winter and to bring him to open his eyes to the tears and the smiles, the sighs and the laughter of Spring.”

 

Today we welcome news from the NHS that stillbirth in Scotland has fallen to its lowest rate ever. But to families that suffer on the wrong side of the statistic - stay alive - to those “sighs … and the laughter … of Spring.”

 

Places Still Available : Brighid Festival: London, Ontario, Feb. 17th to 19th 2012

http://www.brescia.uwo.ca/thecircle/events/brighid_festival.html

See this website for more info. re Brigit and interviews on her traditions.

 

 

From: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Soline Humbert
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 7:18 AM
To: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Team-womenpriests] A sexist Pentecost!

 

 

Dear Hans,

 Thank you very much  for this.

 But the focus of this icon is actually Pentecost... Not content with excluding women from the Last Supper, women are also to be written out of Pentecost!... THe International Eucharistic Congress here in Dublinin June is shaping up to be the demonstration that the old wine skins can still hold....

Today is the feast of St Brigid, patron saint of Ireland, who according to tradition, was ordained a bishop by St Mel: He argued he didn't know what had come upon him, but that was the work of the Holy Spirit!

Blessings,

 Soline

 

From: John Wijngaards <nicholas@womenpriests.org>
To: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, 1 February 2012, 9:36:28
Subject: RE: [Team-womenpriests] A sexist Pentecost!

 

 

Dear Soline,

 

To help you in your effort to draw attention to the anomaly, you will be aware of course of the material we have on our www.womenpriests.org  website, documenting the reasons why we know women were present at the Last Supper:

 

A short overall presentation: http://www.womenpriests.org/psupper.asp (with video clip!)

 

Article by Suzanne Tunc: http://www.womenpriests.org/scriptur/tunc.asp

 

Article by Marjorie Maguire: http://www.womenpriests.org/scriptur/maguire.asp

 

Love and greetings

 

Hans

 

 

From: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Soline Humbert
Sent: 31 January 2012 5:27 PM
To: Team-womenpriests@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Team-womenpriests] A sexist Pentecost!

 

 

 

 

 Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ,

 I want to draw your attention to one of  the four icons specially commissioned for the Dublin 2012 International Eucharistic Congress. The icons, together with a bell are going to all the parishes in the country.  The icon  entitled PENTECOST (see picture and accompanying text below) depicts 12 men, and NO WOMEN, even though the Acts of the Apostles tell us clearly that the women disciples together with Mary were there. Instead of these women who WERE present, some men like Paul, Luke and Mark who WERE NOT, are included!

The icon is meant to illustrate the Christian community being empowered for mission.

What it illustrates most clearly is the deeply entrenched sexism in our church. The theme of the Congress is communion with Christ and with one another, but obviously that communion does not include women as equal disciples.  It is a regrettable fact for the patriarchal domination of our church that the Holy Spirit at Pentecost did NOT discriminate against the women disciples. This icon seek to propagate the lie that it did and that therefore the current gender apartheid in the church is God's Will.It is not!     

 

 

 

 ( From the Eucharistic Congress web site)                    The Pentecost Icon from Staronikita Monastery, Mount Athos will be the inspiration for our fourth image. It dates from the 16th Century and presents the classic group of the early Christian community. The community has “moved on” however. Mathias has already taken the place of Judas. Paul (as an apostle to the Gentiles) also appears, together with Luke and Mark. Christ holds out to the Apostles the scrolls with the Good News, symbolic of the mission which flows from the Paschal Mystery.

This icon will be used to represent Stage 4 of the pastoral preparation for the Congress: “Christ gathers and strengthens us for Mission by the Word and the Bread of Life.”

The coming of the Holy Spirit is what transforms the Church into a missionary Church. Those who come to the Congress “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2) will be invited to return home and to share the promise with their children and “all who are far off" – whether physically or spiritually. The Pentecost icon will serve as a reminder that the “ekklesia” that gathers for the Eucharist is also sent out to the ends of the earth.

The choice of the Pentecost image highlights the importance of the 'epiclesis' (let your Spirit come upon these gifts) in our prayer and its importance as our source of energy for mission.

Iconographer: Colette Clarke

 

 

 

 

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Paul Donovan writes in the Universe Catholic Weekly....

What sort of welcome are those Anglicans who have followed the Ordinariate path to Catholicism receiving?
The thought occurred to me after attending a Mass in east London, cele­brated by one of the clergy who had come into the Ordinariate. He conducted the Mass correctly and gave a homily which was lively and thought-provoking.
However, when it came to communion, the people streamed towards the  Eucharistic ministers, leaving the poor priest somewhat marooned in the centre of the altar - a clear act of exclusion.
The church in question, it should be added, is not renowned for its radicalism, and the congregation are usually reluctant to go to a Eucharistic minister if a fully fledged priest is available.
The behaviour is not very Christian. People have been asked to open up and welcome the Anglicans who come over via the Ordinariate but this behaviour sug­gests the exact opposite.
Part of the problem rests with how this has been done by the Church hierarchy No-one in the Catholic Church has actu­ally been asked whether they like the idea of married priests coming over from the Anglican faith - it has effectively been foisted upon them.
 
There is a populist belief that many of those coming over - priest and laity - are doing so purely because they have a big problem with the idea of women priests.
When recently interviewed, Keith New­ton, the Ordinary, was at pains to point out that he was not anti-women, but saw other forms of ministry for them.
There is also a feeling among the laity of a real injustice at the heart of the process, with married Anglicans able to quickly become priests, while Catholic priests who enter the Church in a more traditional way are denied the right to marry and must remain celibate.
This has been nicely illustrated in the Brentwood parish, where many of the first wave of Anglicans to join the Ordinariate have come over.

“No-one in the Church has actually been asked whether they like the of idea of married priests ”

Former Anglican Bishop Keith Newton can come over with the minimum of fuss and be welcomed into the Catholic Church, but Fr John Glynn of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Wickford, Essex, who has given most of his life to the priesthood, must leave in order to marry the woman he loves. In the pews, at grassroots level, this is not seen as a level playing field.
The reaction to some of the Ordinariate is not the only sign that some of the laity are less than happy with some of the proclamations coming from on high.
There was much protest across the world to what has been seen as the imposition of the new translation of the Mass, which has again been carried out with minimal consultation.
A petition raised last year, calling for a delay in implementing the translation, was signed by thousands of people.
The translation is now in use in Britain and Ireland. Co-founder of the Associa­tion of Catholic Priests in Ireland, Columban Father Sean McDonagh, has called on the bishops to conduct a survey among the laity as to the level of satisfaction with the new translation. Fr McDonagh noted that a number of women in his congregation had voiced objection to the amount of non-inclusive language in evidence.
There is a growing sense of dissatisfac­tion about how some of these things are being handled, a feeling that things are being rolled back to a pre-Vatican II posi­tion. This may well not be the case but the hierarchy of the Church needs to make a bigger effort to consult and be seen to be consulting with the laity on such mat­ters. Otherwise, people might start simply walking away.
In the past, it may have been fine to pass down edicts from on-high. Whether that was right or wrong is not the point, the reality is that today, in a democratic, accountable world occupied by educated people, this approach will simply not wash.
The hierarchy also need to remember the immense damage done to the Church by the child abuse scandal. A huge amount of trust has been lost, making the mass of people much less tolerant of decisions seen as being taken without consultation.
It has to be time for the institutional Church to democratise itself, recognise that the Church is all of its people and that they need to be consulted and taken notice of on the most basic of questions.

Paul Donovan is a journalist who writes weekly columns for the Irish Post and Universe newspapers on political/social justice issues

■ www.paulfdonovan.blogspot.com

  

Another Voice

Reflections about Contemporary Catholic Belief and Practice

Cardinal Law : In Praise of Folly

Banned in Boston

Party Boy in Rome

VATICAN CITY — (As reported in the Boston Herald on 5 November 2011) Cardinal Bernard Law was treated to a lavish birthday party, the company of high ranking clerics and even the music of a mariachi band in a four-star Italian hotel. Bernard Law’s guests rolled up in Vatican Mercedes sedans and left singing the praises of the fallen prelate, promoted to his Vatican post after decades of covering up clergy sex abuse back home in Boston….

With a pair of guards in colorful threads standing sentry at the gate, Cardinal Law and his old boys’ club wined and dined at the Al Chiostro restaurant in the four-star Palazzo Rospigliosi hotel facing the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where Law serves as a humble archpriest.

Beyond the gate, a cobblestone path led to the airy courtyard, where two banquet tables offered dozens of bottles of vino and meat-stuffed pastry d’oeuvres. Inside, a mariachi band played and sang the well-known ranchero refrain, “Cielito Lindo,” as guests devoured a main course of lasagna and snacked on cheese, tomatoes, vegetables and fine prosciutto, piled in a pyramid and placed on a pedestal. The party drew high clergy and laymen alike; guests sat six to a table. Not exactly a re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party.

Nor of the Last Supper……

“The meal was spectacular,” said Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general emeritus of the Archdiocese of Rome. He twirled his hand in the air, a common Italian gesture for satisfaction. He said Law appeared to enjoy the feast as well…. The resplendent reception that marked Cardinal Law’s 80th birthday sent shock waves an ocean away in Boston, where the mere mention of his name still sparks seething anger in clergy abuse victims whose attackers he protected during his years as archbishop.

Meanwhile back in the United States….

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit, has revealed for the first time yesterday details about his removal as a parish pastor in 2007. When he challenged his fellow bishops about their  handling of sexual abuse, he was quickly removed as pastor of his parish by the Vatican. The Vatican told Gumbleton he had broken the “communio episcoporum”: the communion of bishops. In layperson’s terms: he dared to break free from the old boys’ club party line. “We’re all supposed to be together, think together, talk together, you know, one voice,” said Gumbleton. ”You know, how can that be? You’re a church of human beings; you can’t be.”

Gumbleton knows first-hand what sexual abuse is about and how bishops have coverd it up for years. He was also a victim of sexual abuse.

The Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC, founded 1980)

will present its 2011 Hans Küng Rights of Catholics in the Church Award to Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

at the BWI Best Western, Friday, November 11, 2011, at 7:30 P.M.

Best Western Hotel

6755 Dorsey Road, Elkridge Maryland

Register TODAY to attend the Bishop Gumbleton Award event in Baltimore.

http://arcc-catholic-rights.net/gumbleton/index.html

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Canada’s Catholic Network for Women’s Equality
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:Therese Koturbash,(National Coordinator,CNWE) shaburtok@yahoo.ca

Since Pope John Paul IIʼs 1994 Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Catholics who want to discuss the ordination of women have been officially silenced. Even though canon law invites our Church leaders to
hear from the faithful, on this subject there is no place in our Church where our voices are welcome. Our leaders are silent when we try to engage. More and more, this silence is being enforced by oppressive
authoritarianism. Within the last 15 months, the people of our Church have witnessed

our Vatican leadership -

• change canon law so that the gravity of the purported crime of attempted ordination of a woman is now equal to that of priest paedophelia.

• force Australiaʼs Bishop Wm. Morris into early retirement for his suggestion that dialogue about womenʼs ordination be officially opened. With dismay we listened to Australians tell us that his
  pastorally sensitive suggestion emerged from concern for Catholics being deprived of the Eucharist due to a shortage of priests.

• call Portugalʼs elderly Cardinal Policarpo ʻin from the fieldʼ for a face to face discussion about his frank public statement that there is no theological obstacle to the ordination of women. Subsequent to that meeting, the Cardinal publicly retracted his statement and resume silence about the possibility of women priests.

• forbid the rite of Christian burial in Chicago for a womenʼs ordination advocate who, shortly before she succumbed to death from cancer was ordained a Roman Catholic Womanpriest.

• excommunicate  our friend Father Roy Bourgeois for his conscientious support of womenʼs ordination is not enough. Though it is the most serious penalty that can be levied in canon law -- excommunication deprives one of all sacraments -- we see his Maryknoll leadershipcrumbling to Vatican authoritarianism that demands that Roy, now at age 70, be dismissed both from the priesthood and his order on account of his stand for women priests.

» Read More

Female Catholic bishop?

Dr Patricia Fresen ordaining a candidate in the documentary "Pink smoke over the Vatican", Eye Goddess Films and Jules Hart  

Related Audio:

Dr Patricia Fresen

Bishop of Roman Catholic womenpriests

Download as MP3

 

If you are a religious person, how much would you sacrifice for your beliefs?

Our guest on the good life in this episode is a formally excommunicated Catholic- the first one I have ever met in person. Heretic or woman of conscience? You decide.

South African Dr Patricia Fresen is a former Dominican nun, a Professor of Systematic theology, and now says she is ordained as a Roman Catholic bishop. Patricia Fresen's ecclesiastical crime was not stealing money or engaging in corruption. She was not charged with sexually assaulting minors. Rather she was charged with something far worse in the eyes of Catholic church law. She says she has been secretly ordained a bishop by a male Catholic bishop in good standing, and refuses to recant her position.

Dr Fresen told the ABC that the bishop who ordained her believes it is right to ordain women as well as men. As you would know dear listener, for a woman to be ordained in the Catholic church is one of the most serious of crimes against the catholic faith. The Goodlife spoke with South African Patricia Fresen to find out why, in her personal journey to lead the goodlife, she defied the authority of the Catholic church she served for 45 years as a nun to follow her own conscience. Accordingly, she risked everything to lead her new organisation. Archbishop Raymond Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis excommunicated her for founding a "new and separate sect" called Roman Catholic WomenPriests USA. Her story has been shown in the film Pink Smoke Over the Vatican.

ABC web page

For a third time in just a few of years, WOC is traveling to Rome to bring your voice to the Vatican. You may recall that last time I witnessed at St. Peter's Square, the Vatican banned me from ever entering again. Well, it's a good thing that the hierachy's threats have yet to stop me from being an advocate for women in church. From October 16th - 20th I will again represent you at the gates of St Peter's, - drawing international attention to the issue of women's ordination

This year, WOC is leading a delegation and is blessed to be joined by Fr. Roy Bourgeois and coalition partners including representatives from Women's Ordination Worldwide, Call to Action, and Roman Catholic Womenpriests/Association of Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

You are invited to join WOC on this historical delegation.

If you unable to join us, but still want to support our action, here are three ways to make a difference right now:

• Sign the petition in support of Fr. Roy. We will hand deliver this petition to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Every name counts!
• Renew/Join WOC and help fund this action. Your gift will support our organizing and outreach today and in the coming weeks.
• Forward this email to a friend and help us spread the word.

Thank you for helping us shatter the stained glass ceiling in the church! Together we are making a difference.

In deep gratitude,

Erin Saiz Hanna

Executive Director 

An Open Letter to Kathleen Sebelius from Catholic Theologians(USA)
September 26,2011

Dear Secretary Sebelius,
We Catholic theologians appreciate the provision of preventive services and the elimination of cost sharing in the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

This is a major step toward the goal of affordable, accessible healthcare for all. We respectfully request that you eliminate the proposed religious exemptions because they are unnecessary and unjust. Instead, we suggest that you let citizens make their own choices about which medical services they use. In our opinion, this is the best way to respect the variety of religious views within and among ourfaith traditions and to live responsibly in a pluralistic democracy.
Let us clarify several Catholic dimensions of this discussion.

First, among American Catholics the senaus fidelium—the graced and experience-fed wisdom of the faithful that has always been one of the sources of truth in the Catholic tradition—is clear on the matter of contraception, the only area that is covered
by the exemptions. The overwhelming majority of Catholics favor and use contraception. The majority of Catholic moral theologians hold that artificial contraception is a moral option and, in some instances, even a moral mandate.
We understand that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to hold a public position in opposition to most birth control methods.
Catholic theologian Christine Gudorf notes that "when Humane Vitae, the papal encyclical retaining the ban on artificial contraception, was issued in 1968, the Episcopal conferences of 14 different nations issued pastoral letters assuring their laity that those who could not in good faith accept this teaching were not
sinners.” While the more conservative bishops have every right to speak for themselves and to make their own medical choices, most rank and file Catholics simply disagree with them and make differing choices on this matter. No one is forced to use contraception, but all deserve access to it as part of regular
medical care. To permit exemptions that adversely affect countless women based on the views of a tiny religious minority seems to us unfair and unwise.

Second, Catholic teachings respect and encourage the exercise of conscience.Thomas Aquinas wrote that conscience is “reason attempting to make right decisions." The Second Vatican Council called conscience 'a person’s most secret core and sanctuary’.  We expect ourselves and our fellow Catholics to form
our consciences in ways that are consistent with the Christian tradition. But we do not coerce one another, nor do we tolerate the coercion of others, whether Catholic or not.
Regulations intended to allow religious institutions to dictate the medical care of their employees would encroach on this conscience. We are especially concerned about regulations that would allow employers to penalize persons who make choices that go against certain debated religious teachings.
This is taking the conscience of another into one’s own hands, decidedly not a Catholic teaching.

Third, the well-being of women, including their reproductive healthcare, is a Catholic value. We are gratified that the US Department of Health and Human Services recognizes “the need to take into account the unique health needs of women". We trust that the guidelines developed by the Institute of Medicine reflect the best way to meet those needs. Consequently, we see no medical or religious justification for exempting employers from paying for some necessary aspects of women’s healthcare.

Just as HIV testing and mammograms are part of women’s healthcare, so, too, is contraception recognized as an integral component by most other modern democratic societies.

Fourth, workers’ rights are a sacred part of a Catholic commitment tojustice.These include the right to receive fair compensation. We would prefer that healthcare be available to all and not simply to those with jobs. But because the covered medical services in question are employer supported, medical coverage without exemptions is simply a fair labor practice. There is no Catholic teaching to support selective fairness.

Finally, healthcare is conducive of the common good, a hallmark of Catholic social teaching. We see the Affordable Care Act as a step in the right direction, one of many steps toward narrowing the wealth gap and equalizing opportunities for all Americans.

We strongly urge you to erase the asterisks that taint the proposed regulations with exemptions that will cost some women more to make healthy choices and will violate our covenant of
“justice for all” that is both Catholic and catholic.

As Catholic theologians, we are pleased to partner with you in the creation of a just American society. We look forward to the new guidelines going into effect for everyone.

Sincerely,
Sheila Briggs, School of Religion, University of Southern California

Paul F. Knitter, Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture, Union Theological Society

Dr. Christine Gudorf, Florida International University, Department of Religious Studies

Daniel C. Maguire, Professor of Moral Theology, Marquette University

Mary E. Hunt, Ph.D. Co-director, Women s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER)

Rev. Dr. John J. McNeill

Kate M. Ott, Ph.D.,Assistant Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Drew Theological School

AnthonyT. Padovano S.T.D, Catholic Theologian

Rosemary Radford Ruether, Ph.D. Carpenter Emerita Professor of Feminist Theology Pacific School of Religion, Georgia Harkness Emerita,  Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary

Todd Salzman,   Professor of Theology

Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Ph.D., Krister Stendahl Professor, Harvard Divinity School

Nancy E Snow Professor of Philosophy, Marquette University

A Christ-centered vision of service must be adopted to end inequalities

Virginia Saldanha, Mumbai
India
September 28, 2011

The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in 1990 came up with a wonderful vision for the Catholic Church in Asia called the “New Way of Being Church.” It was described as a “participatory and co-responsible Church, which lives as a communion of communities.”

It is a great vision for the future of the Church in Asia that preempts the problem of priest shortages and is in keeping with the vision of Vatican II, which calls for the participation of the Laity (People of God) in the mission of the Church.

Serious about this new vision, the Asian bishops appointed lay woman Cora Mateo as the first woman executive secretary of the FABC’s Office of Laity.  She immediately went to work on giving flesh to the “New Way of Being Church” by spelling out the vision and creating training modules known as the Asian Integral Pastoral Approach (AsIPA), which are offered to the member countries of the FABC to help realize the vision.

» Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 22, 2011 

Contact: Erin Saiz Hanna, 202 675-1006,                                              woc@womensordination.org

Women's Ordination Conference 

 Decries Ban on Altar Girls in Phoenix Diocese

WASHINGTON, DC - August 22, 2011 - Girls will no longer be allowed to serve as altar servers during Mass at the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, SS. Simon and Jude. In response, Women's Ordination Conference has issued an action alert calling on the Diocese to immediately reinstate female altar servers in that parish.