September 15th, 2020

A Moral Dilemma

I am always fascinated by “moral dilemmas”, and so, as you can imagine, I am in a state of constant fascination these days since there are so many demanding our attention out there in our world. The good news is I feel rather equipped to deal with them, as maybe you do, because I’ve had…
Read more

September 12th, 2020

On Labor Day, I worked.

Breakfast reading brought inspiration through fabulous writing by Patricia Williams in The Nation. In “The Color of Contagion” she ties diverse topics like medical education and the history of discrimination to the coronavirus and its disparate impact on minorities in the United States. A sample: “Americans are not raised to believe in the entanglements of…
Read more

September 8th, 2020

Progressive Catholicism in the Rural Church?

In an unexpected turn of events, I find myself living in my childhood home. Before the pandemic hit, I hoped to find a job that would allow me to stay in New York City among a community of seminarians, activists, and artists. Instead, I’m working remotely from my lilac-painted bedroom, searching for other part-time work…
Read more

September 5th, 2020

Your Glass?

Half empty or half full, as the old cliché goes. Is it possible for you to keep up your enthusiasm, or do you despair that women will be ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in your lifetime? Several long articles examining this very question have appeared in the last couple of weeks. FutureChurch’s Deborah Rose-Milavec…
Read more

September 1st, 2020

‘Vesper Flights’

He could have been speaking about us, Irish author, Niall Williams, poetically capturing our ancient and current plight. No matter what we do or say, we women and other marginalized people are unable to “escape the feeling that folded against (our) back” are “wings that have failed to open.” Oh, it is not that we,…
Read more

August 29th, 2020

The Limits of Suffrage

Was this an apology? America threw up online a 2009 article about the errors it had published in its 100 year history. Among them, opposing suffrage in September 1920. James T. Keane, summarizes: “the editors fretted about the damage universal suffrage might do to so delicate a creature as woman.” He quotes, “‘Is the contest…
Read more

August 27th, 2020

“What is to prevent me?”

[Editors’ note: Kori Pacyniak is a 2019 awardee of the Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship for women and non-binary persons discerning priestly ordination. This is the third and final in a series of reflections from our 2019 awardees on how the scholarship impacted their journey over the academic year. Read the first reflection from Molly Minerath here,…
Read more

August 25th, 2020

Speaking the Same Language – If Only…

There was no way I could not weave women’s suffrage into this narrative today, for tomorrow, August 26, 2020, is the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. What a journey they undertook, what a victory they earned. And what a reminder that to truly realize equality, we…
Read more

August 22nd, 2020

Parishes

Maybe Christine Schenk, CSJ, had the same problem I had this week. There is so much going on, from the Conventions to the Centenary, that I need a nice, quiet topic. What have I missed in this summer of news breaking all the time? Parishes. Specifically, the July 20 papal Instruction on parishes. It’s especially…
Read more

August 20th, 2020

Praise the Lord

[Editors’ note: Kate Fontana is a 2019 awardee of the Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship for women and non-binary persons discerning priestly ordination. This is the second in a series of reflections from our 2019 awardees on how the scholarship impacted their journey over the academic year. Read the first reflection here.] Feeling into this last…
Read more