Over the past decade as a feminist activist, I have made several protest signs – signs for women’s ordination, to support anti-domestic violence legislation, to close the SOA, end the war, support marriage equality, women’s health, immigrants’ rights, and Fr. Roy . . . but if you told me I would need to make signs to save nuns from the Vatican, I would have said you’re fooling me.
But here we are, fighting a ridiculous crackdown on the women who, for centuries, are the backbone of the church. Women whose median age is seventy-seven, work tirelessly for the poor, dedicate their entire lives to service and being the Gospel message, and die with their boots on for justice.
From pre-K through college, I attended Catholic schools and, in many ways, am unlike my peers because I grew up with women religious in my life. I can recite prayers I bet you didn’t even know existed. (Driver’s prayer to St. Christopher, anyone?) Now, I know what you’re thinking. The executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference was educated by nuns. There you have Vatican’s case and point. So let’s take a moment to discuss what these crazy, wild, radical, feminist nuns actually taught me.
The sisters I had in school taught us to be compassionate, strong women and to stand up against injustice. They ingrained ‘love our neighbor’ and the Beatitudes into the core of our very beings. They didn’t just make us read the Gospel, they made us live the Gospel by taking us on field trips to work beside them in shelters, in soup kitchens, and in ministries that supported the poor, women, children, and the earth. These ministries were also run by other sisters.
They demanded we work harder in class. They cheered us on in our sports games and our plays. In prayer services, they actually shared stories of biblical women so we could relate to our faith. In every aspect of our lives, they rooted for us and were our role models.
I see classmates on Facebook now – they are mothers, teachers, nurses, doctors, researchers, volunteers, lawyers, leaders, and community activists. I am proud to know them because they are living lives of service and compassion. It is not a coincidence we each grew up to work for a world that is merciful and just. These strong women may not all agree on women’s ordination, but I am certain we all agree that women religious taught us how to think for ourselves.
USCCB Sign, Photo by Ted Majdosz
This past Tuesday, WOC participated in a vigil to support women religious outside the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). We told folks to meet near the USCCB sign in front of their building. When we arrived to the location, however, the bishops had covered their sign with a garbage bag so we could not find them or have the sign seen in our photographs. This was confirmed by a USCCB representative who was standing outside watching us.
I stared at the garbage bag covered sign for some time to take it all in. This childish act spoke volumes – they were hiding in shame. The Vatican’s mandate against LCWR, which threatens sisters’ works of charity, is reportedly backed by the USCCB. How many bishops were educated by nuns? Work alongside these very sisters they are threatening? What would the churches in their diocese be without the work of sisters? Since I have yet to hear one bishop shout from the rooftop that this crackdown on women religious is completely outrageous, then suppose hiding in shame makes sense. It’s what our church hierarchy does best.
Despite the tragic sign incident, there was hope. Over 75 people gathered at the vigil to show their support for the sisters – all affected by women religious in some way. I met many for the first time and felt their holy anger. We talked, prayed, and became friends. Several USCCB employees honked and gave us ‘thumbs-up’ as they left their offices for the day, and you could feel the tide-turning. A few sisters came by to say “thanks” for supporting them. One sister I never met told me she loved me – and I felt her love. Another, not realizing the one-year-old attached to my hip was mine – asked if I had ever considered religious life. This question, I have received more than once in my life, but for the first time my answer was very clear. “Sister, in my heart, I am a woman religious.”
The Nun Justice Project is hosting several vigils and actions to support women religious. To get involved, visit: www.nunjustice.org.
The Rev. Dr. Gisela Forster (right) and the Rev. Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger (left) thank participants after their ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood.
On the Danube River in June 2002, seven women were ordained into the Roman Catholic priesthood by a valid Roman Catholic Bishop (in apostolic succession). Known as the Danube Seven, these women have inspired the hearts and minds of Catholics around the world to continue to seek justice and equal Rites for women in the Church we love.
On May 12, 2012 – 5 PM the Women’s Ordination Conference and Roman Catholic Women Priests will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Danube 7 in Cleveland, OH. Dagmar Celeste, the only North American in the Danube Seven, and the first U.S. Roman Catholic Womenpriest will be our guest of honor. The celebration will begin with Mass at 5:00 PM. Reception immediately following with a silent auction, light buffet, and tributes. To reserve tickets or to get more information contact: Alan D. Klonowski, WOC Board Member adklonowski@sbcglobal.net or 216.334.4021.
Tickets are free, but required ($25 suggested donation). All proceeds benefit the priestly formation of women. To make a separate contribution: http://bit.ly/Danube7
As I’m sure you’ve heard, the Nun Justice Project launched this petition just ten days ago:
On April 18, 2012, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) launched a crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), an umbrella group that represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 women religious in the United States.
We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). We are shocked by the Roman Catholic hierarchy’s recent crackdown on nuns in the United States. The mandate forced upon LCWR, which threatens their works of justice, is a prime example of how the hierarchy in the Roman Catholic Church misuses its power to diminish the voice of women. We value the prophetic witness of women religious and appreciate their commitment to social justice. We are asking that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith respectfully withdraw the mandate forced upon LCWR.
Now with over 24,000 signatures, the Nun Justice Project is organizing weekly vigils across the country, each Tuesday from May 8th – May 29th in support of our sisters and LCWR. Please contact nunjustice@gmail.com for more information and to get involved locally. Media kits, prayers, and local contacts will be made available soon.
Ray Grosswirth has a M.A. in Theology and an M.Div (Master of Divinity) from St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry. He is certified as an officiant by the Federation of Christian Ministries for baptisms, weddings and funerals and minister independently of the Rochester Diocese. His life has encompassed many interesting paths: broadcasting, free-lance writing, video-production, music, ministry and a secular job in government. In addition to his blog, he has a YouTube site at www.youtube.com/priestray and a Facebook page.
Dear Blog Visitors:
I have noticed that the Women’s Ordination Conference has been very successful with its efforts at recruiting young members, in addition to maintaining its long-time base. Sadly, this has not been the case with the married priest movement. At age 62, I am still one of the youngsters at annual gatherings of male, married priests. Most of my colleagues are in their seventies and eighties.
I continue to feel gratitude for all who continue the fight for inclusivity at the altar. As I grow older, I must continue to ask myself whether or not I will be making the best use of my time by trying to change the mindset of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, or if I am better off by simply continuing with my ministries independently of the RCC. A possibility I continue to ponder is that of continuing my ministry as a wedding officiant, while at the same time joining an inclusive community in my neighborhood, such as the United Church of Christ. Some married priests have indicated to me that they have found spiritual fulfillment with such dual affiliations. The only way I can be a member of a Roman Catholic diocesan parish is by renouncing my married priesthood, which I am unwilling to do at this point in time. The Spiritus Christi community (independent of the Rochester Diocese) continues to be available to me. However, as I grow older, I seem to be more drawn to smaller faith communities.
Women who continue the fight for equality at the altar continue to inspire me, and I want to applaud their efforts. The fact that they have attracted so many young recruits is a sign that the reform movement will go on for an indefinite period. I am not sure what will happen with the married priest movement, but hopefully, young recruits will eventually be enticed to join this worthwhile effort.
In conclusion, my congratulations to the Women’s Ordination Conference for its success at bringing a new generation of members on-board.
On the weekend of March 24, 2012 over 40,000 Catholics gathered in Anaheim, CA for the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference. For the 2nd year in a row Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Call to Action-LA and the local Women’s Ordination Conference group gathered outside the event to call for women’s ordination. We held banners, passed out information from all three groups and engaged in many conversations with conference goers about women’s ordination and other church justice topics. At noon on Saturday about 40 people gathered to collectively read a prayer for inclusive vocations. By the end of the event we had handed out over 3,000 RCWP bookmarks and hundreds of pieces of information about Call to Action and Women’s Ordination Conference.
Conversations ranged from a simple thumbs up, to a quick I support you and thanks for being here, to in depth conversations about who we (womenpriests) are, how we came about, what we stand for and why the inclusion of women as priests is important in the church justice movement. Not surprisingly, there were also those who said the ordination of women was not possible and advocating for it was wrong, but those opinions were few compared to the overwhelming amount of support that was expressed to all of us who stood outside the convention center.
There were two encounters from the weekend that I found particularly moving and have stayed with me since. The first was an encounter with a young man, maybe 17, who walked up to me, said thank you and then spontaneously hugged me for standing up for the rights of women in the church. He shared with me that as a young gay man he understood the need to speak up for our rights within the church and the importance of not being afraid to be a clear presence, even when the “church” has rejected us. He was obviously moved by seeing our presence and understood the importance of standing up for church justice.
The other encounter that I found particularly moving was when a man who had accompanied two young women from his parish, to the Congress, brought them to me and began to ask questions about who we were and what we stood for. After a bit of conversation he very strongly said, “Here are two women who should join you. Give them some information.” I complied and we continued to converse about women’s ordination and how important it is to have women present on the altar. As I have experienced in many other conversations with those in the millennial generation, they didn’t understand why church authorities have refused to ordain women or even have a discussion about it. They expressed their frustration at the church’s refusal to recognize the rights of women who have been called to the priesthood. As with many other conversations, this one also ended with a mutual thank you and spontaneous hug of support. Again, the message was clear that these young women and the man who accompanied them understood the importance of standing up for women’s ordination in the frame of women’s rights in general.
The many conversations, those of us present at the Congress had with the participants clearly showed that the tide has risen and cannot be reversed. The people have accepted women as priests. They do not see us as a threat to the church, rather, many of those we spoke with see the presence of women priests as a necessity.
Jennifer O’Malley is an ordained Roman Catholic deacon in active preparation for her ordination as a priest in the Fall of 2012 with the Roman Catholic Womenpriests. She is an active member of CTA and the Women’s Ordination Conference. See the video coverage from the Congress. Jen can be reached at jomally72 (at) gmail (dot) com
Monday April 2nd, the Women’s Ordination Conference held a vigil outside of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC prior to the annual Chrism Mass, bearing witness to the absence of women in the Roman Catholic Church leadership. With heavy foot-traffic and the throngs of priests and women religious of the Diocese of Washington, our group enjoyed not only the subtle “thumbs up” from pedestrians and priests alike, but also the curious and supportive questions of passersby. What joy comes from stopping someone in their tracks to discuss women’s ordination!
Will you be witnessing in your local area during Holy Week? Tell us about your action and send photos to WOC@womensordination.org! We’d love to hear about how Catholic communities across the country are coming together to beg the question: “where are the women?” (And answer the question: “we are here! we are Church!”)
The World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination is a concerted global action held annually on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, to draw attention to women’s ordination into an inclusive and accountable Catholic Church. Every year, WOC members in the USA and women’s ordination activists around the world host events to honor this special day.
On March 25th 2012, WOC members honored the 18th Annual World Day of Prayer in their own creative ways in their communities. I’ve received emails of gratitude, stories of prayer groups using the Liturgy for Women of Vision and Courage, photographs of springtime house-gatherings or screenings of Pink Smoke Over the Vatican, and notes of the witnessing for women’s ordination to come. Many WOC and Call to Action members will bear witness outside the Chrism mass in their city during Holy Week.
Here is some of the action captured for World Day of Prayer 2012:
WOC, Call to Action, and Roman Catholic Women Priests held a vigil for women’s ordination outside the Religious Education Congress on March 24th.
Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an ordained woman priest, speaks and answers questions about the documentary Pink Smoke Over the Vatican.
In Milwaukee, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Roman Catholic Women Priest, screened the film Pink Smoke Over the Vatican for over one hundred Marquette students. Fr. Roy Bourgeois joined WOC Executive Director, Erin Hanna, and Roman Catholic Woman Priest, Jean Marchant in Providence, RI for a screening of Pink Smoke as well!
Sometimes it can be difficult to understand the tone of our World Day of Prayer gatherings. Are we celebrating women of faith, courage, and vision? Are we bearing witness to sex discrimination and injustice? Are we mourning a hierarchy so out of touch with its people–the body of Christ–that they’re refusing the gifts of half the human race? All of these, and more, are part of the rich and beautiful tapestry that strengthens the Church justice movement; it is the fabric that keeps those outside of the hierarchical Church warm, and reminds those lonely and left cold in the pews, that the movement for women’s rights and justice within the Catholic Church is here to embrace you. On this day, and especially throughout Lent, we are reminded that for those who seek justice, the Women’s Ordination Conference is your home.
Women-Church gathering in Claremont, CA
How did you honor the World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination? Will you witness during Holy Week?
A reflection on the World Day of Prayerfor Women’s Ordination services by Christine Haider-Winnett, WOC Board Member and student of Theology at the Pacific School of Religion.
On March 6, Pacific School of Religion (PSR) hosted a chapel service in honor of World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, which was attended by over 60 people. As the Vice President of the Women’s Ordination Conference and a student at Pacific School of Religion, I worked with PSR’s incredible Campus Ministry team (lead by Rev. Jim Mitulski and Rev. Ann Jefferson) to put together the chapel service.
Because PSR is an ecumenical school, it was important to us that the service celebrate all women called to ordination, not just Roman Catholic women. The preacher was Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon, a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister who was raised in a Baptist denomination that doesn’t ordain women. Rev. Joellynn Monahan, who was raised Roman Catholic and is also a UCC minister, presided over the Eucharist. PSR student Bonnie Rambob (who was raised Seventh Day Adventist) and Natalie Terry (a Catholic student at Jesuit School of Theology) also participated in the service. PSR student and UCC seminarian Liz Armstrong also participated to highlight the discrimination women ministers still face in more ‘progressive’ denominations.
Rev. Dr. Nixon’s sermon was about God being “for women.” She invited us to reflect on the ways that being unconditionally for women is so much more transformative than simply being against patriarchy, misogyny and injustice. Dr. Nixon’s sermon warned me against mirroring the closed-minded, prejudicial structures I work against in the Roman Catholic Church, and challenged me to build up the inclusive, life-giving Church that I dream of.
Laying of hands ritual at PSR Chapel
Rev. Joellynn Monahan’s celebration of the Eucharist was vibrant, inclusive and joyful. At the end of the service, she also lead a laying of hands ritual for women who can’t be ordained and for everyone who supports an inclusive vision of ordination. To stand in the middle of that circle surrounded by people who supported my own calling, as well as people with their own stories of discrimination, was deeply moving.
The choir, lead by professor Aeri Lee, lead us in singing “Bring Many Names” and “For Everyone Born a Place at the Table.” They also performed awesome renditions of “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me” and “Salve Regina” (the Sister Act version, of course!). However, my favorite musical moment was when PSR student Jamie Michaels sang a version of the Kyrie written by Hildegaard von Bingen.
During the service, we collected an offering for WOC. Before taking up the offering, I took a moment to speak about WOC, and the effect that it has had on my own life. WOC was one of the first places that I felt truly nurtured and supported as a woman minister, and I believe that if it hadn’t been for the work of WOC, I would not be a student at Pacific School of Religion today. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to be able to introduce my fellow students to WOC, and to share that part of my story with them.
Celebrating the Eucharist
I am one of the few Catholics at PSR, and the vast majority of PSR students belong to denominations where ordination is open to women. When we were planning the service, I was concerned that this issue wouldn’t seem relevant to other students. After the service, I was stunned by how many students and staff members came up to me to say that they were grateful to have an opportunity to pray over this issue. Many of these people had left the denominations of their birth because they had faced sexism and homophobia, and seemed to truly appreciate having an opportunity to reflect on that experience in a safe and loving setting. One woman told me “if I knew there was a place like this for me in the Catholic Church, I don’t think I would have left!”
That day, I think that we all took a small step toward creating the inclusive, pro-woman community that Dr. Nixon had challenged us to build in her sermon.
Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon, Senior Minister of Congregational Church of San Mateo preaches in Tuesday Chapel at the Pacific School of Religion. The theme of this chapel was the ordination of women and representatives from Women’s Ordination Conference participated in worship. See the video.
Nuns Coalition Denounces Limbaugh, Catholic Church Leaders & All Groups Whose Actions Contribute to Violence & Discrimination Against Women
Maryknoll votes on Bourgeois’ dismissal from order: NCR reports on the General Council’s split decision.
The Christlike Reversal: a Pink Smoke Over the Vatican Review
Guest Post by Janice Poss, WOC Member
Pink Smoke Over the Vatican, now available for purchase
“The Buddha and Jesus have to meet every moment in each of us. Each of us in our daily practice needs to touch the spirit of Buddha and the spirit of Jesus so that they manifest…It is like cooking, if you love French cooking, it does not mean that you are forbidden to love Chinese cooking…You love the apple, yes, you are authorized to love apple, but no one prevents you from also loving the mango.” – Thich Nhat Hahn
I came across this quote from Thich Nhat Hahn in his book,Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers that appeared in We Walk the Path Together by Brian J. Pierce OP because in viewing the documentary,Pink Smoke over the Vatican, along with about eighty other interested, faithful, and involved Catholics, analogies surfaced to describe the bravery, courage and hope that women bring to our Church and how for over two thousand years, they have had to walk in silence and without an equal voice or as equal participants at the table of plenty. Where in this quote do we find any reference to the other half of humanity; although ‘we walk this path together’? Half the story is missing, or is it? Half the voices of truth are missing, or are they indirectly couched in the analogy of cooking and fruit? Although ‘we walk this path together’; it is direct vs. indirect. The indirect silence is deafening and is too loud to ignore anymore because ‘we must walk this path together’. Indeed, since Vatican II, the indirect part of this story has been emerging in small, but distinct ways. More and more women theologians are out there writing the other half of humanity’s story, filling in the blanks with our direct experience and our direct spirituality that can no longer be silenced or couched in metaphoric analogy by anyone and certainly not an all male clergy and hierarchy who see women as a threat. We are not a threat. We want equality. We want the other half of the table to be populated with us, the whole table that all people of faith have been cheated of for two thousand years!
How long will it take for our Church to stop cheating us of the other half of humanity that needs to share the table and partake in real co-celebration of the Mass next to that all male clergy; so we truly can walk this path together? How long will the all male hierarchy of our Church prevent us from taking our rightful place as sisters in our own Imago Dei next to our brothers who serve at the table sharing with them in the joyous offerings and thanksgiving of our sacraments? How long will they make us wait to walk this path together?
Well, we have already waited too long; and so as action in service is part of the mission of our Church, there are women who have courageously begun a movement within the Church by becoming Roman Catholic Women Priests. Historically it has been women who have had to take matters into their own hands in order to institute societal change and so once again, this movement has done just that. This important documentary, Pink Smoke over the Vatican, beautifully and truthfully tracks the movement from its inception up to the most recent ordinations. There are now over 100 womenpriests in the United States alone and the number is growing. The Vatican has tried to squelch these prophetic voices, but it cannot. Women have their own voices and no longer need the frightened approval of a disordered and distorted hierarchy that will not admit guilt in covering up sexual abuse of minors, but wants to excommunicate women for hearing and responding to Christ’s and God’s call to them to become the priestly people ad verum that they have been called to be, many have had this call for decades. As demonstrated in the film, their calling is as genuine as any males’ and why should it not be considered such? We are all equal anthropological products of half the gene pool of our Mothers and half the gene pool of our Fathers. How can the Vatican claim that a woman’s call to lead and be in persona Christi is less valid than her equal male counterpart? Aristotelian anthropology needs to be thrown out and real facts brought to bear as truth. These men must realize that we are not refuting tradition, it is our tradition as much as theirs; we want updated truths wanting our part to be inserted because it has been missing for far too long. Women’s deafening silence has become so loud that it now must be heard.
It strikes me as quite interesting to be witness to the idea that all these men who have spoken for so long have now been silenced by the actions of a few women who have dared to stand up to the Vatican and that our numbers are growing. No, the Vatican has no control over this. It will move forward in grace, spirit and service to those who need ministering, filling a spiritual void because so many ordained men do not know how to minister well. Their own lack of knowing and having contact with real women makes them cling to idealized versions of women of their own invention, primarily modeled on their mothers, thus keeping them in a perpetual state of fear of a female coup d’état from which they believe they will never recover.
There are many malepriests who support us, but are sotto voce because they fear hierarchical retribution. They are imprisoned in another form of silence. Bishop Zavala’s situation has come to light—albeit differently; but along with Roy Bourgeois, we hope and pray the support will grow because priests need to begin to stand up in solidarity with women because in the end it is the only way to heal the unhealthy nonsensical rhetoric against women as evil Eves and aborted males that this Aristotelian/Thomistic/Augustinian/Chrysotomian construct has created in our Church and society. What is wrong must be made right, now, because apples and mangoes can walk the path together as they must.
