Annette Esser, Germany
womensordinationworldwide.org
SUN OF JUSTICE, RISE UP IN OUR TIME.
SHINE INTO YOUR PEOPLE
THAT THE WORLD MAY HEAR YOU.
BE MERCIFUL, O GOD.
Women's
Ordination Worldwide (WOW) celebrates the feast of St. Mary Magdalene
(22 July) with the launch of Dr. Annette Esser’s beautiful original
painting, "Longing for the Sun of Justice." The painting symbolizes
women’s calling to priesthood, not granted by men in the church, but
through Christ.
Read More
|
On the Home Page
* Marie Bouclin celebrates ten years of blessings as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest
*Taproot, a Toronto alternative faith community
* Celebrate the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala!
* Vatican women’s council hopes to be ‘electric shock’ for global Church
* Due to the Catholic priest shortage, women stand at the altar in Portuguese churches
* Uphold a woman's right to contribute fully to society, pope says
* Incarnation instead of Atonement
* Archdiocese of Regina Theologians give balanced view of feminine and masculine images for God
* New Swedish cardinal suggests advisory group of women akin to the College of Cardinals
* Archdiocese of Regina Theologians give balanced view of feminine and masculine images for God
* Zagano discusses women deacons on Salt+Light TV
* New way to donate to RCWP Canada -- via PayPal
* 195 Reasons why women should be ordained
* Messages to the Editor
* Continuing Features
* Francis, the comic strip
*Top and bottom of the page menu
Vatican women’s council hopes to be ‘electric shock’ for global Church
Claire Giangravè, CruxNow | June 24, 2017
The female advisory board of the Pontifical Council for Culture has big
plans: By sending an “electric shock” within the Church, it hopes to
spark thousands of similar councils around the globe in search of
solutions that go beyond women priests.
If women were protons and men were electrons, the Vatican would be a
pretty negatively charged electric field, meaning that men generally
own the stage.
The female advisory board for the Pontifical Council for Culture wishes
to change that, sending an “electric shock” that will open discussion
on women’s roles in the Church.
“The Church is a male-dominated world, but the [wider] world in which
it exists is both male and female,” Consuelo Corradi, vice rector for
research and international relations at the LUMSA University of Rome,
told Crux.
“The global church needs to enter a continued dialogue with women,” Corradi said.
That’s precisely what Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican’s
formerly all-male Pontifical Council for Culture, tried to do by
creating a permanent advisory board entirely comprised by women.
Read More
Due to the Catholic priest shortage, women stand at the altar in Portuguese churches
Agence France Presse | April 11, 2017
In some villages of southwest Portugal, the Catholic priest shortage
had led several women, simple believers, to celebrate the Sunday
encounter themselves to facilitate the religious life of these
communities that are aging but open to change.
In the tiny church of Carrapatelo, a village of fifty houses set on a
hill that looks out over the vineyards of the Reguengos de Monsaraz
region, Claudia Rocha (photo), dressed in black with sneakers,
addresses a dozen faithful, mostly older women.
While her leather jacket and smartphone are waiting for her in the
first pew, the 31-year-old woman easily handles this "Sunday assembly
in the absence of a priest."
Read More
Uphold a woman's right to contribute fully to society, pope says
Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service | June 9, 2017
The more women are involved in and contribute to communities, politics,
economics and the church, the more positive changes will come about,
Pope Francis said.
"Women are fully entitled to actively take part in all settings, and
their rights must be affirmed and protected, including through legal
instruments wherever it may prove necessary," he said.
Read More
Incarnation instead of Atonement
Richard Rohr | Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Franciscan alternative orthodoxy emphasizes incarnation instead of
redemption. For the Franciscans, Christmas is more significant than
Easter. Christmas is already Easter! Since God became a human being,
then it’s good to be human, and we’re already “saved.” Franciscans
never believed in the sacrificial atonement theory because it wasn’t
necessary. Christ was Plan A, not Plan B. Atonement implies that God
had a plan, we messed it up, and then God had to come back in to mop-up
our mistakes.
Read More
Archdiocese of Regina Theologians give balanced view of feminine and masculine images for God
Editor, RCWP Canada Website | June 19, 2017
In a fast paced, lively, even jocular podcast, two archdiocesan
theologians drew on scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church
to give a positive and balaced view of the use of feminine and
masculine images for God. The only caution was to beware of the
use of language in a political fashion to argue against another point
of view.
If anything, the one weakness of the presentation was that the
presenters appeared to say it was okay to use both feminine and
masculine images in private prayer, but they avoided any mention of a
need for reforming the exclusive language used in public worship.
The "new" translation for the Mass comes to mind.
The podcast's theme was initiated by inquiries related to the appropriateness of the images for God as portayed in the movie, The Shack.
Theologians Brett Salkeld and Eric Gurash concluded that it was okay to
portray God in both feminine and masculine images, keeping in mind that
God is neither a woman nor a man, but that humans have a need to
express their ideas about how they relate to God, even if these images
are always inadeqate.
Listen to the podcast by clicking here.
New Swedish cardinal suggests advisory group of women akin to the College of Cardinals
Joshua J. McElwee, National Catholic Reporter | Jun. 28, 2017
One of the five prelates Pope Francis just made a new cardinal of the
Catholic Church has suggested the pope consider creating a special
advisory body of women akin to the College of Cardinals to offer more
opportunity for women's leadership in the church.
Stockholm Cardinal Anders Arborelius, whom Francis made Sweden's first
cardinal in a consistory Wednesday, June 28, said he thinks "it's very
important to find a broader way of involving women at various levels in
the church."
"The role of women is very, very important in society, in economics,
but in the church sometimes we are a bit behind," Arborelius said in a
June 28 NCR interview. The new cardinal mentioned that Pope John Paul
II had often sought counsel from Mother Teresa and Chiara Lubich,
founder of the Focolare movement.
"Maybe it could be made more official," he suggested, adding: "We have
a College of Cardinals, but we could have a college of women who could
give advice to the pope."
Read More
Continuing Features:
With appologies to Martin Luther
Click here for book-length pdf
copy
My Journey From Silence to Solidarity
This
book available for free as a pdf file downloaded here. |
 |
COMMISSION WATCH
On
May 12, 2016 Pope Francis announced that he
will create a commission to study the possibility of restoring the
tradition of ordaining women deacons in the Catholic Church.
Follow this special section to stay up to date and get insights and
commentary on developments from many news sources.
|
Donate to RCWP Canada via PayPal or a Credit Card:
Click on the button below for Information for other ways to donate to RCWP Canada
[RCWP
Canada is applying
to Canada Revenue Agency for charitable status, but is not able to
offer income tax deductable receipts at this time. Each
donation
will be promptly acknowledged with our thanks.] |
|
|
 |
Marie Bouclin celebrates ten years of blessings as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest
|
|
Marie Bouclin, RCWP Canada | June 29, 2017
[In response
to congratulatory messages and promises of prayer, Marie Bouclin,
bishop for Canada within RCWP Canada wrote the following:]
Thank you for the prayers and good wishes on the occasion of my tenth
anniversary of ordination to the priesthood on May 27, 2017. We had a
glorious celebration with about 50 people, including five RCWP Canada
co-presiders at the Anglican church of the Ascension in Ottawa. The
anniversary fell on the Feast of the Ascension, whereas the 2007
ordinations in Toronto, ON were celebrated on Pentecost Sunday. For
those who were not yet part of our movement, I’d like to record the
event as I remember it – with the help of the Rite of Ordination and
the many cards and letters I received on that occasion.
The ordination celebration was attended by at least 200 people and was
organized by a team headed by now ARCWP bishop Michele Birch Conery. At
that time she was the only woman priest in Canada. Bishop
Patricia Fresen traveled from Germany to preside. We were in Westhill
United church, whose pastor, Rev. Gretta Vosper, I had a chance to
thank publicly when I introduced her at a conference in Victoria last
January. It was an event neither of us has forgotten. Three of us being
ordained to priesthood: Mary Ellen Robertson and Cheryl Bristol, RCWP
USA and me. Monica Kilburn-Smith, Jim Lauder and Alice Iaquinta were
ordained to the diaconate. CORPUS Canada priest François Brassard
served as our Master of Ceremonies. Outside, there were plain-clothes
police officers posted to protect a Muslim woman and all those in
attendance from fanatics.
We began with Alexandra Caverly-Lowery leading the opening procession
with a liturgical dance. As one woman remarked, “As that woman waved
her huge white banner, it was as if the Holy Spirit herself was blowing
through the church.” Rosemary Ganley and Robert Bouclin proclaimed the
First and Second Readings. We were graced with the participation of a
Muslim woman of faith and feminist, and Johanna Manning, now an
Anglican priest, who laid out the red prostration cloth. My dear
friend, Anglican priest Lyn Fisher delivered the homily. My entire
family, including then 18-month old grandson, Maxime, were in
attendance, as were all eight members of my small faith community,
Levain.
I would like to share with you the following, taken from Rev. Lyn Fisher ’s homily:
“This
is a momentous day for the whole church. We are all changed by this day
– not just the Roman Catholic Church and your own community but the
universal body of Christ. The following words are not mine but I say
them here because they gather together many of the conversations we’ve
had about the purpose and nature of Christian community. They are from
Mary Grey.
"
'Transforming society in the name of the ethics of the kingdom through
its witness to truth and justice is the most cherished part of the
church’s mission, never totally lost sight of and always glimpsed in
new forms… It is the role of the Spirit to discover the cracks in the culture
and open up new possibilities to lead into a yet uncharted future. It
can be no accident that from various Christian communities the search
for prophetic leadership is becoming powerful, a leadership which is
shared, which enables and empowers the gifts of others. It is no
accident that the Spirit is creating a new vulnerability towards
acknowledging the truth of others, particularly the truth of groups on
the periphery.' ”
The entire liturgy was filmed by Vision TV. The documentary is
entitled, “Ordination” and features, besides the ordinandae, Irene
Deschenes, then director of the Canadian Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests. Irene had not set foot in a church for many years,
having been abused by her parish priest as a child. It was fitting that
she represent the many women who suffered violence at the hands of
clergy with us who would be excommunicated for wanting to offer the
church a new model of priestly service.
Then, on June 11, 2007, in the community centre of Cold Springs, ON,
with the fledgling Christ the Servant community, I presided at my first
public Mass. It was the Feast of Corpus Christi. The symbolism was not
lost on those present. Are we not ordained, first and foremost, to
ensure that the memory of Jesus is maintained alive through the
Eucharist, “source and summit of the life of the church”?
The following year, 2008, on May 20, Monica Kilburn-Smith and Jim
Lauder were ordained to the priesthood at St. Alban’s church in
Victoria, BC . Then, in 2009, Rose Mewhort and Kim Silvester were
ordained to the diaconate. Attending was Dr. Linda Spear who later
applied to our Program of Preparation. Rose and Kim were ordained as
priests on April 17, 2010 in Centennial United Church, Victoria, BC.
Later that same year, on October 9, Linda was ordained a priest by
Bishop Andrea Johnson of RCWP USA Eastern Region, in Grace Anglican
church, Sutton, QC. By this time, RCWP Canada had become two regions,
East and West. The East had an unordained woman, Danielle Whissell, as
its first Administrator.
In 2011, Patricia Fresen of Germany, our bishop at the time, felt that
it was time Canada had its own bishop, and so a selection process began
in March which resulted in my being elected bishop for Canada. My
Episcopal ordination, presided over by bishop Patricia, was attended by
five other bishops: Ida Raming and Gisela Forster of the “Danube
Seven”, and Americans Joan Houk, Andrea Johnson and Regina
Nicolosi. Also attending were Michele Birch Conery and Rose
Mewhort, priests, Roberta Fuller, deacon, and the adult members of my
family. The event took place on October 9, 2011 in the Asemwald
Ecumenical Chapel, near Stuttgart, Germany. Shortly after our return,
on December 3, I presided at my first priestly ordination, that of
Roberta Fuller, in the Christian Reform Church of Cobourg, Ontario.
Roberta had been called to ordination by Christ the Servant Catholic
Community, Cobourg, ON, which I had served as pastor from 2007 to 2009,
and had been ordained to the diaconate earlier that year by Bishop
Olivia Doko, in California.
On March 31, 2012 Ruth Wasylenko was ordained to the priesthood in her
home in Sherwood Park, AB. She had founded Emmaus Inclusive Catholic
Community. The music for the event was provided by two Anglican
priests, Carol and Ray Canton, who would subsequently be welcomed into
RCWP Canada as Catholic priests. On July 29 of that same year, Victoria
Marie, who had been ordained a deacon the day before in the Catholic
Worker House of Vancouver, was ordained a priest in Lakeview
Multicultural United Church.
Late August 2013 found us gathered at King’s Fold Retreat outside
Cochrane, Alberta for our first RCWP Canada retreat. In attendance were
Rose Mewhort and Victoria Marie of British Columbia; Monica
Kilburn-Smith, Ruth Wasylenko, Carol and Ray Canton of Alberta; Jane
and Felix Kryzanowski of Saskatchewan; Kim Sylvester, Roberta Fuller,
Danielle Whissell and me from Ontario. It was at this meeting that
Felix became an associate of RCWP Canada, and so joined with Danielle
Whissell of Sudbury and Karen Leedon of Vancouver, as permanent
associates.
On October 5, 2013, at A Coruna, a city in northern Spain near
Compostella, I ordained Christina Moreira to the diaconate. She later
joined ARCWP and was ordained to the priesthood with them. On November
17, of that same year, Catherine O’Connor was ordained to the
priesthood in Trinity United Church, Cobourg ON. Cathy, who had been
preparing for the priesthood in the Anglican church, came back to her
Catholic roots and began to search for a friendly church where
Catholics could form a new worshipping community. She found just that
at Roncesvalles United Church in Toronto, ON.
Saskatchewan’s first Catholic woman priest was Jane Kryzanowski,
ordained in Sunset United Church, Regina, SK on July 11, 2015. In 2016,
Pat Cook was called to the priesthood by the Church of the Beatitudes,
and was ordained on January 31 in the sacred space of Roncesvalles
United Church, Toronto, ON, where the community gathers. Later than
same year, a "catacomb priest" was called by her small faith community
and St. Brigid’s Catholic Community, and ordained in St. David’s United
Church, Calgary, AB on August 25th.
As I record these memories this June 29, 2017, we celebrate the
fifteenth anniversary of the priestly ordination of the Danube Seven. I
had the immense privilege of witnessing that event in 2002 as a
representative of Canada’s Catholic Network for Women’s Equality. Three
years later, in 2005, on the St. Lawrence, Michele Birch Conery was
ordained as Canada’s first woman priest. We now count eighteen Canadian
priests in two streams, RCWP Canada and ARCWP. One of our number,
Ruthie Wasylenko is serving from her eternal home. She went to her
glory on Easter Sunday, 2017. May she send many more workers to
God’s Canadian vineyard.
For the innumerable blessings of these past ten years, the privilege of
serving as deacon, priest and bishop, and for the many wonderful women
and men without whom there would be no RCWP Canada, I am truly grateful.
Taproot, a Toronto alternative faith community
Marie Cerny | June 27, 2017
[In response to a request from the editor, Marie Cerny wrote the following:]
I have been thinking of writing something, but I am not sure if Taproot is suitable for the RCWP website. [Editor's note: Yes it is suitable. The RCWP Canada website promotes small faith communities.]
As much as I believe that the RC Institution has to change—in many ways
-- and include women priests in order to remain relevant, Taproot is an
alternative community self-organized by lay people.
The founders of our small group came historically from some painful
experiences of a dictatorial hierarchical system. We are an egalitarian
bunch, careful about concentration of power. In our liturgies, we try
to avoid patriarchal God-language.
Aside from our history, we also have some members who are educated in
theology, Scripture and liturgical leadership. Most of us are
up-to-date in reading contemporary spiritual literature. Other members
have learned, over time, to prepare and lead liturgies. The volunteers
take turns. As I see it, we are lucky to have enough internal
resources. (Not all Catholics have such opportunities; for such
communities a “good” priest could be an important resource person
and facilitator.)
In the liturgies, sitting in a circle, we started with a somewhat
structured, sort of “Mass” format, but this changed over the
years. Now, we always have a Gospel reading, shared reflection and we
"break bread”; otherwise leaders are free to use any material that they
find relevant.
Taproot Faith Community website:http://www.taprootfaithcommunity.ca/
The following is an older article published in Catholic New Times, as well as on the Taproot web page: Click here. At the bottom of the webpage are two samples of our liturgies.
Celebrate the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala!
|
Join thousands of Catholics across the U.S. and worldwide as we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala.
|
|
|
Zagano discusses women deacons on Salt+Light TV
Shireen Korkzan, National Catholic Reporter | Jun. 30, 2017
Phyllis
Zagano, a columnist for NCR and an academic who serves on a Vatican
commission studying the possibility of women in the permanent
diaconate, was featured in two recent programs on Canada's Salt+Light Television.
Zagano appeared in a June 18 episode of Salt+Light's ongoing "Witness"
series to discuss the origins of women deacons in the Catholic Church
and referred to the story of Phoebe delivering Paul's letter to the
Romans. In Romans 16:1, Paul calls Phoebe a deacon of the church in
Cenchreae, a village in the ancient Greek municipality of Corinth.
Zagano
also discussed roles women deacons have had in Catholic Church history,
including, but not limited to, ministering to the poor and to women.
Read More
Some
say that we need to get rid of the ordained priesthood and have deacons
run our parishes. I disagree. I believe in the sacraments. I do believe
that ordination and Holy Orders are real but being abused in our
church.
We teach that because Christ blew on the apostles and disciples he
ordained them. Women were present in that room too because they were
among the disciples. Praying over and laying hands on people before
they begin mission was done by the apostles to likely countless people,
male and female, since the apostles praised even women who led churches
in their homes.
I believe when God calls someone to lead a flock, and if that person
receives proper training and shows forth a genuine love for God and the
people, that God has gifted that person for that task much like a
doctor is gifted to heal. Bishops praying over them for their mission
in life and consecrating them before the people is good and a real
spiritual event.
Our problem is we have turned ordination into a segregation weapon
against women. The permanent diaconate should end – it’s unnecessary,
and can become a real impediment for lay people who desire more active
roles, especially in liturgy. I truly believe it is wise to end
any ministry which stifles parishes rather than builds them up.
Nora Bolcon, Pawtucket, RI
Women
and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted
interpretation of the word of God -- Jimmy Carter article still
circulating on the Internet six year later
Jimmy Carter | July 19, 2017
Jimmy Carter was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.
I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible
teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to
me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around
the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist
Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was,
however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting
a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created
second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that
women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from
serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.
Read More
|
|
|
