Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I thought the Pope was the leader of the Roman Catholic Church! What was he doing becoming involved in an Australian parish that welcomed ordinands from a local Episcopal Church? Their Church had burned and they had no place for their ordinations. The Roman Catholic priest welcomed them and the Pope forbade the ordinations in that Roman Catholic Church because several of the ordinands were women and the Roman Catholic Church does not allow women to be ordained.
What does one have to do with the other here? It is not the place of the Pope or any other Church leader to making sinful rulings. No one expected the Pope to recognize the newly ordained priests. Certainly, they were not looking for support from the Roman Catholic Church; only simple hospitality at a time of unfortunate circumstances.
Yes, these questions do fit into a blog on spirituality and the poor. Consider the ordinands as well as the Roman Catholic pastor who were involved in this craziness. The Roman Catholic Church speaks of ecumenism, but obviously does not want to become too deeply involved in outreach and pastoral care.
The poor in this story are those who have been called to priestly ministry in the Episcopal Church and who have no place for the ordinations to take place. Additionally, the considerate and pastoral parish priest is poor in that, despite his best intentions, the Pope rescinded the invitation to use the parish church based upon his marginalization of women and refusal to consider the roles that women assumed in the early church (Yes, before there was a Pope).
If we are going to be Christ-like women and men, we must move beyond outrage at what hymns are sung on Sunday, where the altar candles should be placed, women in the Church speaking to important issues and concerns, and many other areas of minutia. How? I certainly don't have all of the answers, but I am formulating letters to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, to the Vatican (hopefully to Benedict), Local bishops, clergy, and others in both Roman Catholic and Episcopal parishes as well as our own Presiding Bishop.
I believe that if Jesus ever meant to marginalize anyone, the first would have been Peter and his inability to "get it." Obviously, that was not the case. Jesus taught us to respect all persons and to accept and love one another as equal. Perhaps Benedict simply has not read the gospels with an open mind and heart.
If you are so moved, I urge you to write to your bishops and priests; to write to diocesan newspapers and local news sources and have them make this sinful marginalization by the Pope known to all. Trust me, the idea of doing this is daunting. The need to do so is immediate.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Church Often Creates Poverty
My friends continue to ask me why I regularly read THE MIRROR (the bi-monthly newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missiouri). My roommate and I have spent considerable time in and near Cape Girardeau during her parent's illness and death and now, the holidays. It seems reasonable to know what is going on around us in the church.
Unfortunately, THE MIRROR has a negative impact on me; my blood pressure becomes dangerously high and I want to call the columnists and ask in which world and century they live! Most months, I feel as if I have been sent back to the time of Pope Pius XII or earlier. The columnists leave no "wiggle" room nor do they encourage one brain cell to engage. On more occasion, I expect some picture of God to accompany the columns since some of the columnists write as if they were God.
How does the Church create poverty? One means is by the publication of diocesan papers such as THE MIRROR and the ultra-conservative columnists who write regularly for this paper. Imagine having recently agonized over removing a parent from life support (honoring that parent's advance directive) and then reading a MIRROR column that states that this is legalized murder! How might life on a respirator with gradual decreasing muscle tone, choaking on one's own saliva, the inability to keep one's head upright, all while fully aware of what is happening and that these symptoms will only worsen be accepted by the columnist who spoke as if he were infallabile (or perhaps, even God). Those children who loved their parents so very much, respected their wishes to not be kept alive artificially and they fought a system of physicians who could not seem to agree with one another about life support, a church that tells them that, in essence, they are murderers are faithful Roman Catholics. Only by the grace of God, were they able to believe that following their parent's wishes was the only way for them.
On the other hand, I can easily imagine someone whose parents had never written advance directives. Now, the adult child is present when the parent has difficulty breathing and says "yes" to a respirator. One week stretches into four and four weeks merge into six months, and there is no change in the parent's condition. The Church would say to the adult child, "Well done good and faithful servant...." while the decision maker wonders just he/she had done.
Churches can make any claims that they want to, but ultimately, God is the only one to Whom we must answer. I believe that the mind of God is much more open that the mind of the Church. We were created with minds of our own and our life focus is to live as God has taught us in Sacred Scripture and through generations of other followers of God and the Christ.
Creating doubt and worse, pointing an accusatory finger in situations such as I have described, is not acceptable. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have absolutely no authority to dehumanize and marginalize others in matters such as these. I believe that when these family members meet God, they will hear, "Well done good and faithful servants, enter the dominion which has been prepared for you since the beginning of time."
Unfortunately, THE MIRROR has a negative impact on me; my blood pressure becomes dangerously high and I want to call the columnists and ask in which world and century they live! Most months, I feel as if I have been sent back to the time of Pope Pius XII or earlier. The columnists leave no "wiggle" room nor do they encourage one brain cell to engage. On more occasion, I expect some picture of God to accompany the columns since some of the columnists write as if they were God.
How does the Church create poverty? One means is by the publication of diocesan papers such as THE MIRROR and the ultra-conservative columnists who write regularly for this paper. Imagine having recently agonized over removing a parent from life support (honoring that parent's advance directive) and then reading a MIRROR column that states that this is legalized murder! How might life on a respirator with gradual decreasing muscle tone, choaking on one's own saliva, the inability to keep one's head upright, all while fully aware of what is happening and that these symptoms will only worsen be accepted by the columnist who spoke as if he were infallabile (or perhaps, even God). Those children who loved their parents so very much, respected their wishes to not be kept alive artificially and they fought a system of physicians who could not seem to agree with one another about life support, a church that tells them that, in essence, they are murderers are faithful Roman Catholics. Only by the grace of God, were they able to believe that following their parent's wishes was the only way for them.
On the other hand, I can easily imagine someone whose parents had never written advance directives. Now, the adult child is present when the parent has difficulty breathing and says "yes" to a respirator. One week stretches into four and four weeks merge into six months, and there is no change in the parent's condition. The Church would say to the adult child, "Well done good and faithful servant...." while the decision maker wonders just he/she had done.
Churches can make any claims that they want to, but ultimately, God is the only one to Whom we must answer. I believe that the mind of God is much more open that the mind of the Church. We were created with minds of our own and our life focus is to live as God has taught us in Sacred Scripture and through generations of other followers of God and the Christ.
Creating doubt and worse, pointing an accusatory finger in situations such as I have described, is not acceptable. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have absolutely no authority to dehumanize and marginalize others in matters such as these. I believe that when these family members meet God, they will hear, "Well done good and faithful servants, enter the dominion which has been prepared for you since the beginning of time."
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