Category: Women’s Ordination

The cause of women is advanced in two surprising ways this week. A priest in Hoboken uses his religion column in the local newspaper to suggest that women’s ordination may not be impossible. And Pope Francis encourages religious and consecrated women to “fight back” if they are exploited. Rev. Alexander Santora, pastor of Our Lady…
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Like their pagan mothers and grandmothers, the women of early Christian Ireland lived comfortably with power. It wasn’t a feminist paradise—their society was ruled, after all, by aristocratic warriors—but women who became Christians were still influential in the new religion. Brigid of Kildare is one of the best examples. Today is her feast day. Patrick…
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You may have heard the big news from earlier this week that the Vatican has included a link to WOC’s website on the “Synod Resources” page of the Vatican’s own website. It seems that, in advance of the 2023 Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis wants to hear from ordination justice advocates. Alleluia! In the wake…
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I just read Krista Tippett’s recent interview with author Katherine May, on NPR’s “On Being.” May’s book is Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. I have to admit, as relevant as the topic seemed, I had to force myself to continue past the subtitle. I’m inordinately wary of the “rest, relax,…
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Again, a simple greeting. You may be eager to see 2021 end. We will remember this year, or these two years, as historic. We pray that the number of deaths from COVID will never be repeated – yet we are fearful of global climate catastrophe. Despite our technological progress, can we keep people alive? At…
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Merry Christmas to you and your family: your family of origin and your chosen families as well. If it seems trite to focus on family at Christmas, being in a loving community is the essence of the message of Jesus. I have been moved by a post by Jacob Kohlhaas, an associate professor of moral…
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This painting is by Flemish painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. If you know his paintings, you also know they are most always teeming with abundant life. Everyone is busy, tending to chores, to animals, to each other. Men and women in this painting are toiling or transacting or talking or taking time for skating, sledding,…
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After a month of looking at issues of oppression that we can use our priesthood to address, I am delighted to find important articles on ordination.  In La Croix International, George Wilson presents a deceptively simple analysis of the situation. He begins slowly: it’s a “policy” to exclude a “class” of people based on “gender.”…
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We were so optimistic in the beginning. We rejoiced over the appointment of Sr. Nathalie Becquart to the Synod of Bishops and wondered what kind of expanded representation her presence portended. Then we looked at the responses and the “handbook” and we had second thoughts. The local bishop as the synthesizer was not good news…
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A central task of the priest. I use the gerund (remember them?) to suggest that pastoring is something that priests do, not just a role that they play. Lots about pastoring this week. “A pastor at heart,” Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong died last Monday at 90. Bob Smietana of Religion News Service has a…
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