December 20th, 2022
Beginning on Saturday, October 6th, 1979, on the eve of the last day of Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States, members of the Women’s Ordination Conference held an all-night vigil in Washington, D.C. They were there to greet the pope as he arrived to conduct Mass at the National Shrine of the…
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December 17th, 2022
It seems almost surgical, the excision of women’s ordination from the conversation. This week, when I watched the BBC documentary “The Women Fighting to be Priests” on YouTube, I was thrilled with the stories of two Roman Catholic Women Priests, Fr. Anne and Olga Lucia Alvarez. Then Kate McElwee of WOC calmly presents the Vatican situation,…
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December 10th, 2022
One comment I understood in all the World Cup coverage this week was that “representation matters” on the French team. The players of color represent France as would any white team member. Colonials are fully incorporated into the citizenry when it comes to soccer. I heard the same phrase from a woman who is a…
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December 6th, 2022
Coming into this position of being an intern for the Women’s Ordination Conference and taking part in being a blog editor, I was excited yet nervous. I will admit that my knowledge of certain topics in Catholic news was hazy. This sparked the nervousness I felt in the beginning. However, that soon changed. The more…
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December 3rd, 2022
“Francis is Stuck. Let me count the ways.” That was my first title for this blog. I saw no change in what he said to a gathering of people who work at America magazine. Deliberately diverse, the group posed questions one after another. Executive editor Kerry Weber was third and set up her first question:…
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November 29th, 2022
Author’s note: I initially wrote this piece in September 2019, in response to the article referenced in thefirst paragraph below. The “spousal metaphor” is back in Catholic news after yesterday’s interview with Pope Francis in America Magazine, in which he exploited the metaphor to dismiss the sincerely discerned vocations of women to the priesthood. Given…
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November 26th, 2022
We are so grateful to those of you who replied to the survey about The Table, and especially those of you who might think about writing for it. You are absolutely welcome to share your insights. We look forward to hearing from you all. I am listening to Fresh Air on Tuesday as I write…
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November 19th, 2022
Were you expecting me to write about anything else? Two weeks ago, I picked Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne as the most progressive of the ten nominees for President of the USCCB. He got 30 votes on the first ballot and 37 on the second. My second choice was Daniel Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, because he…
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November 15th, 2022
When it comes to advocating for the advent of women’s ordination in the Roman Catholic Church, the theological and moral reasoning extend far beyond the concept that we should allow ordination because it has occurred in the past. But there is evidence to support this reasoning in the figure of Saint Brigit of Kildare. Saint…
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November 12th, 2022
They surprise me, these Bishops. A measure of transparency surrounds the USCCB meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday. A news release lists items on the agenda for the plenary sessions with links to relevant documents. There’s a live stream and social media coverage. WOW! But before I knew all this, I made a list of some…
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