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Women and gay people -- waiting for justice in the Roman Catholic Church

5/30/2015

 
Please read this excellent essay by Jamie Manson recently published in NCR: Are Francis and Parolin playing good cop-bad cop on same-sex marriage?  We found the two paragraphs below especially interesting: 
If the vote (for marriage equality) in Ireland proves anything, it is that both Francis, the good cop, and Parolin, the bad cop, will fail in their efforts. Ireland demonstrates that the pope's understanding of acting mercifully toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will not be adequate to bring them into the pews.

Sure, Pope Francis believes the church should minister warmly to LGBT people, but he also believes they should never be given the impression that their relationships have the same potential for goodness and holiness as heterosexual relationships. The pope's brand of mercy suggests that LGBT Catholics should be tolerated by the church, but not embraced with genuine justice.  continue
What we found interesting is the way in which the Vatican led church treats gay catholics so closely mirrors the unjust way that they treat women.   To illustrate the point we modify Jamie Mansons’ text:
Sure, Pope Francis believes the church should minister warmly to WOMEN, but he also believes they should never be given the impression that THEY have the same potential for goodness and holiness IN PRIESTLY MINISTRY AND CHURCH LEADERSHIP ROLES as THOSE BLESSED ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN BORN WITH MALE BODY PARTS. The pope's brand of mercy suggests that WOMEN should be tolerated by the church, but not embraced with genuine justice.
We love Jamies' phrase "embraced with genuine justice".  This is exactly what we have a both human and baptismal right to expect from OUR Church.

The Roman Catholic Church must embrace both Women and lesbian/gay people with genuine justice. We’re waiting Francis. ORDAIN WOMEN NOW.  MARRY GAY AND LESBIAN COUPLES NOW.
Justice demands nothing less.

Catholics lead the way on marriage equality

5/27/2015

 
From NYT: On Same-Sex Marriage, Catholics Are Leading the Way by Frank Bruni
Take a look at this list of countries: Belgium, Canada, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Brazil, France, Uruguay, Luxembourg and Ireland. Name two things that they have in common.

They don’t share a continent, obviously. Or a language.

But in all of them, the Roman Catholic Church has more adherents, at least nominally, than any other religious denomination does.

And all of them belong to the vanguard of 20 nations that have decided to make same-sex marriage legal.  continue reading

Catholic Ireland embraces marriage equality

5/23/2015

 
From Huffington Post: Ireland Votes Yes To Legalize Gay Marriage In Historic Referendum Reuters by Shawn Pogatchnik
DUBLIN (AP) — Ireland's citizens have voted in a landslide to legalize gay marriage, electoral officials announced Saturday — a stunningly lopsided result that illustrates what Catholic leaders and rights activists alike called a "social revolution."

Friday's referendum saw 62.1 percent of Irish voters say "yes" to changing the nation's constitution to define marriage as a union between two people regardless of their sex. Outside Dublin Castle, watching the results announcement in its cobblestoned courtyard, thousands of gay rights activists cheered, hugged and cried at the news.   continue reading
We call that "social revolution" - JUSTICE.  
“This decision makes every citizen equal and I believe it will strengthen the institution of marriage,” Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said.
The archbishop of Dublin said "the result should be a wake-up call for the Catholic church in Ireland."  We agree entirely with the archbishop.  The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland (and worldwide) needs to "wake up".  You, archbishop, should be fighting FOR justice rather than against it.

The beatification of Oscar Romero

5/22/2015

 
From NYT: A Victory for Pope Francis By Paul Vallely
The assassinated Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero is at the final milestone of a tortuous road to sainthood with his beatification by the Roman Catholic Church on Saturday. The occasion has brought celebrations of the highest order in his native El Salvador. But the event calls for much wider rejoicing — for it reveals a victory over malign influences within the church and provides further evidence of the radical nature of the revolution Pope Francis is forging in Rome.  continue reading

Boy Scounts’ President urges end to ban on gay leaders

5/21/2015

 
This is progress...
From NYT: Boy Scouts’ President Calls for End to Ban on Gay Leaders By Erik Eckholm
The president of the Boy Scouts of America on Thursday called for an end to the group’s blanket ban on gay adult leaders, warning Scout executives that “we must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be,” and that “any other alternative will be the end of us as a national movement.”

At the same time, religious organizations that sponsor a majority of local Scout troops, including the Mormons and Roman Catholics, should remain free to set their own policies for leaders, said the president, Robert M. Gates, the former director of the C.I.A. and the former secretary of defense.  continue reading

Catholic Ireland to vote on marriage equality

5/21/2015

 
From the Star Tribunte: Coming out: Catholic Ireland looks in mirror as it debates whether to legalize gay marriage By Shawn Pogatchnik Associated Press
DUBLIN — Gays in Ireland often have faced a stark choice between leading secret lives or emigrating to more liberal lands. This week, the Irish could turn that tradition on its head and vote to legalize same-sex marriage in the world's first national referendum on the matter.

The campaign ahead of Friday's constitutional referendum has featured searing testimonies designed to make the voters of this predominantly Roman Catholic nation look in the mirror. continue reading

Vote on Marriage equality in Ireland scheduled for Friday

5/18/2015

 
This Friday is the referendum on marriage equality in Ireland. If the vote goes as expected, Ireland will become the first country to establish marriage equality by a popular vote of its people.

It’s good to see the Irish people continue to shake off the narrow moralism that is the unfortunate legacy of their history as a majority Roman Catholic Country.

In the United States, we have an equal protection clause in our Constitution.  By the end of June, we expect that the US Supreme Court will rule that this clause of our Constitution requires marriage equality nationwide.
The countries which currently have full legal marriage equality are:
2001  Netherlands
2003  Belgium
2005  Spain
2005  Canada
2006  South Africa
2008  Norway
2009  Sweden
2010  Portugal
2010  Iceland
2010  Argentina
2012  Denmark
2013  Uruguay
2013  New Zealand
2013  France
2013  England
2013  Wales
2013  Brazil
2014  Scotland
2014  Luxembourg
2014  Finland
2015  Slovenia

Cleveland Diocese to ordain four men

5/16/2015

 
We saw, in a recent Plain Dealer announcement, that the Cleveland Diocese will ordain four men to the priesthood this Saturday May 16th.

For these men, It will certainly be a joyous occasion.  We wish each of them many blessings as they begin their priestly ministry.

However, there’s a larger story here.  First some background.  In 1970, the Cleveland Diocese had close to 600 male priests in active ministry.  Now, that number is about 400.  To make matters worse, only a very tiny percentage of these priests are under the age of 40.  Just to maintain its already diminished number of priests, the diocese must ordain nearly 400 men in the next 30 years. Unless something changes drastically, this is not going to happen.  In the next couple decades, as the total number of Roman Catholic Priests in this diocese falls below 200, we will see a large percentage of Catholic parishes closed, merged or functioning without a priest.  In Cleveland, as throughout the developed world, the priesthood of the institutional Roman Catholic Church is in a slow, but inexorable decline.

The institutional Roman Church has nobody to blame but themselves.  Many men and women are still called to the priesthood.  More than enough to shepherd our parish communities.  However, there’s a problem.  Most men and women who are called to the priesthood are concerned with Social Justice.  The Institutional Roman Catholic Church has a TERRIBLE reputation in this regard.  The Rome led church is the largest institution in the world actively promoting the notion that women are inferior to men.  Sure, they say nice things about honoring the unique and special “roles of women” or some such meaningless platitudes.  However, the roles this all male leadership allow women to have ensure that women will remain subservient - that no woman will ever rise to a leadership position.  This is wrong.  Absolutely wrong.

The institutional Roman led church also has a deplorable record on social justice related to LGBT people. The institution clings to an ignorant and stunted version of “morality” which denies the fullness of human experience - love and marriage - to people who are gay and lesbian.  Many LGBT people make excellent priests. Many heterosexual people understand that the Roman Church’s unjust treatment of LGBT people is profoundly wrong.  A sense of ethics and justice would prevent these men and women, otherwise called to the priesthood, from joining an unjust institution such as the Roman Catholic Church.

And, tell us again.  Why is it that priests can’t be married?

Until the Roman Church figures out how to do justice with respect to Women and LGBT people, we expect that the  numbers of men becoming priests in this - currently - all male institution will continue inevitable decline.

In the mean time, men who feel the call to priestly ordination should seek that ordination in an organization which also allows the ordination of women.  

Roman Church - hear this clearly - the days when you can exclude women are over.  ORDAIN WOMEN.

Evolution?

5/12/2015

 
From aeon: Why does the Vatican accept the Big Bang but not evolution? by John Farrell
…When it comes to human evolution, the Vatican of 2015 is stuck in a time warp, unable to integrate the explosion of new knowledge about humanity’s origins and its potential future into a meaningful narrative for the Catholic Church, whose 1.2 billion members worldwide look to it for guidance in a changing world.

The inability to adapt to basic knowledge is a monumental failure on the part of Rome and its theologians, one that, in the prophetic words of the late Pope John Paul II, can only lead to the continuing fragmentation of human culture – not to mention the fragmentation of the Church itself. In fact, refusal to accept the findings of science threatens the Church and its membership not just in Europe and the US (where one in 10 of every Americans is already an ex-Catholic), but in Latin America, Asia and Africa, in almost every populated part of the Earth.  Read full essay.

[John Farrell writes about science and technology for publications including Forbes, New Scientist and The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of The Day Without Yesterday (2005), and lives in Boston.]

America’s Changing Religious Landscape

5/12/2015

 
From Religion News Service (RNS): Christians lose ground, ‘nones’ soar in new portrait of US religion
WASHINGTON (RNS) The United States is a significantly less Christian country than it was seven years ago.

That’s the top finding – one that will ricochet through American faith, culture and politics – in the Pew Research Center’s newest report, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” released Tuesday (May 12).  continue reading

Are things looking up for women in the church?

5/11/2015

 
From NCR: Are things looking up for women in the church? by Christine Schenk 
...Right now, the church has contradictory teachings about women's roles. It teaches that women are equal but that they are forbidden to exercise that equality in church decision-making. If this crazy-making cognitive dissonance prevails, women will forever be deprived of full participation in church life and leadership, not to mention the selection of pastors, bishops and popes.

We have two possible ways out of this debacle. We ordain women, or we change canon law so that governance rests with baptism rather than with ordination.

I personally favor the latter option. The church will make better decisions if the great diversity of voices, lay and ordained, is brought to bear on decisions that affect all of us. Plus, clericalism is an equal-opportunity affliction, and feminist Catholics often caution against an "add women and stir" mentality that does nothing to change oppressive top-down structures.

That said, I also favor anything that provides women with greater leverage in decisions affecting them and their families. If ordination -- beginning with women deacons -- is the only practical option right now, then I'm for it.   read full essay

[A Sister of St. Joseph, Sr. Christine Schenk served urban families for 18 years as a nurse midwife before co-founding FutureChurch, where she served for 23 years. She holds master's degrees in nursing and theology.]

Englands First Women-Only Mosque

5/11/2015

 
From Religion News Service: Plans announced for England’s first women-only mosque
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) The country’s first women-only mosque will open in Bradford, a 19th-century industrial boomtown and one of the most heavily Muslim-populated cities in the U.K., the Muslim Women’s Council announced.

The plan seeks to provide women with a platform where they can play a larger role in the religious life of their community, a role that would include women leading prayers on Fridays and the introduction of female imams.  continue reading
This is a significant step forward for our Muslim sisters.  We wish them well.

When will we have a truly just church?

5/9/2015

 
From NCR: To have a truly just church, Pope Francis must move beyond complementarity by Jamie Manson
Pope Francis seems to be saying a lot about women lately. Headlines declaring his call for the church to hear the voices of women and his call for equal pay could be spotted in both the religious and secular press during the last two weeks of April.

What wasn't talked about much in the media, however, was the context in which those headline-making statements were made.  continue reading

Sexism embedded in Roman Church

5/6/2015

 
From the NYT, Catholicism Undervalues Women by Frank Bruni

Recently Pope Francis said that women should have “Equal pay for equal work”.  Pointing out the hypocrisy inherent in this statement, Frank Bruni echoes our sentiments when he says:
He (Francis) left out the part about women in the Roman Catholic Church not even getting a shot at equal work. Pay isn’t the primary issue when you’re barred from certain positions and profoundly underrepresented in others.

The church’s refusal to follow some other Christian denominations and ordain women undermines any progress toward equality that it trumpets or tries. Sexism is embedded in its structure, its flow chart.

Men but not women get to preside at Mass. Men but never women wear the cassock of a cardinal, the vestments of a pope. Male clergy are typically called “father,” which connotes authority. Women in religious orders are usually called “sister,” which doesn’t.  read full essay

The march of equality

5/5/2015

 
From Vox Media: Today 70% of Americans live in a state with legal same-sex marriage. 11 years ago it was zero.

Extend all seven sacraments to women

5/4/2015

 
From Chicago Sun Times:
Counterpoint: Church fails to fully include women
Posted: 05/01/2015, 04:27pm | Rev. Martha Sherman (RCWP)
The Roman Catholic Church, a mammoth institution plodding through history, changes slowly. Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich and others may move toward fuller inclusion of women, but until they extend all seven sacraments to women, the Roman Catholic Church will not reach wholeness.

Until the Church accepts women as truly equal, the fullness of God’s creation will not be.  continue reading

Seven women priests ordained in NJ

5/3/2015

 
Here's and excellent overview of the recent RCWP ordinations in New Jersey.  Included are 34 photos and a great video.  Catholic women priests fight for inclusion -- for all by Mark Di Ionno.
The call to religious vocation came at different times in different ways. For some, it was a thunderclap, a great moment of clarity. For others, it was a building crescendo after a lifetime of being in harmony with their faith.

But the seven women ordained as Catholic priests last weekend in Morristown all agree on this: Their call to a religious pastoral life was genuinely sent by God and is as pure as any man's.  continue reading


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