From the Blog Questions from a Ewe - Reflections on the Pope's visit to the U.S. Lots of laypeople have a stronger understanding of gospel messages than the bishops, and better and more joyfully imitate Jesus than them. Many very faith-filled people cannot bring themselves to follow the bishops because they find the bishops worshipping a god too weak to call women to priesthood, too weak to allow re-examination of human sexuality teachings based upon millennia-old flawed science, too weak to require admission and correction of the church’s collective institutional sins, and in general too weak to allow rethinking anything about which the hierarchy have declared themselves to be “absolutely correct.” Actually, it seems sometimes they mistake themselves for God and worship themselves and their utterances – and this many people mightily and rightly reject. Consequently, many people do not follow the bishops – not because these people reject the gospel - but because they think the bishops do. read full essay From the New York Times - Francis, the Perfect 19th-Century Pope by Maureen Dowd His magnetic, magnanimous personality is making the church, so stained by the vile sex abuse scandal, more attractive to people — even though the Vatican stubbornly clings to its archaic practice of treating women as a lower caste. We completely agree with Francis on his concern for the environment, the poor, the sick, and homeless refugees. Concern for these issues reaches back to the very foundation of Christianity and it is heartening to see a Pope focus on these issues.
However, Francis is profoundly wrong when he expresses views which subordinate women. Whether or not Francis can see it, the "door" to priesthood is open to women. Not only that, we intend to loudly and proudly proclaim that women have equal access to the Priesthood - until the day when the Vatican (and some future Pope) can no longer ignore this message. From Delaware County Daily Times - Three new female Catholic bishops ordained in Delco by Patti Mengers Thursday afternoon at Pendle Hill Quaker study retreat and conference center, Meehan presided at the ordination of three Roman Catholic women from the United States, Canada and South America as bishops at a Mass celebrated with about 40 Roman Catholic women priests clad in white robes, and approximately 35 other supporters, male and female. The Community of St. Bridget will be celebrating Mary's ordination Saturday, September 26 after the 5 pm mass! Please join us! Address & Map
Joan Chittister: A letter to Pope Francis It is impossible, Holy Father, to be serious about doing anything for the poor and at the same time do little or nothing for women. continue reading The Roman Catholic Church remains the largest and most influential organization in the world dedicated to systematically maintaining bias against women. They relegate women, always and everywhere, to inferior and subservient roles. Francis -- if you want to fight poverty -- there are some huge things YOU can do. This would be a good start - ORDAIN WOMEN. Make it clear that Women are respected, valued and in all ways equal. That's a message the world needs to hear.
The Community of St. Bridget will be celebrating Mary's ordination Saturday, September 26 after the 5 pm mass! Please join us! Address & Map
Thursday, September 24, 2015 @ 2:00 p.m. there will be a Live Stream presentation of the bishop's ordination. For those of you who cannot attend the ordination, you will be able to watch from the comfort of your home. Please note, the stream may not start right at 2:00 p.m. if there is a delay, be patient. You don't have to sign in, just click HERE If you can't tune in on the day of the event, the video will be available the following week after the 24th on Bridget Mary's blog and the ARCWP website. NCR has contributed some great coverage of the recent Women’s Ordination Worldwide conference.
Also Iglesia Descalza provides additional commentary in: WOW 2015: What it was...and what it wasn't Bridget Mary has New Pictures and Videos from Women's Ordination Worldwide which drew more that 500 supporters to Philadelphia this past weekend.
From NPR - In Defiance Of The Church, Some Catholic Women Seek Priesthood by Jeff Brady Sunday morning services at St. Mary Magdalene Community in Drexel Hill, Pa., look different from a typical Roman Catholic mass. The homily is interactive, there's gluten-free communion bread, and the priest is a woman. continue reading From NCR - Pope Francis and the message of WOC in Philadelphia by Maureen Fiedler The Women's Ordination Conference/Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOC/WOW) conference in Philadelphia this coming weekend is critically important for the church and the world. Pope Francis needs to hear the message of gender equality from this conference. continue reading From NCR - Catholic activists raise ordination issue as pope's U.S. trip approaches by Thomas Fox Some 500 Catholic activists from around the globe will converge on Philadelphia for a three-day conference Sept. 18-20 to press for women's rights in the church. They will meet one week before Pope Francis is set to step foot into the city. Cleveland Plain Dealer - Letter to the Editor: Fathers of unwanted babies should also seek forgiveness by Mary Collingwood: Regarding the Sept. 2 front page article, "Pope: Any priest can absolve 'sin of abortion' in Year of Mercy," Pope Francis holds a "blue light special" on forgiving women for aborting their babies for a year, but nothing is ever said about who fathered those babies continue reading Community of St. Bridget priest Mary Collingwood has contributed the inaugural essay in NCR's new blog series "5 minutes with Francis”. Mary Eileen Collingwood, bishop-elect, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP):
The Ordinations will take place Thursday September 24th, 2015 at Pendle Hill, a Quaker Retreat House in Philadelphia.
Every blessing to you, Mary! We are honored and delighted to have you in our community! The Community of St. Bridget will have an open meeting for the community and the leadership core on Saturday, September 12 after the 5 pm liturgy. Come and meet the folks who helped make CSB possible and find out how you can make us grow and spread the gospel of Love and an inclusive church!
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