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Women Forbidden Leadership RolesNot the Final Straw! In non-Catholic Christian churches many women have entered into ministry which is
Scripturally forbidden to them. Since these are self-fulfilling churches the actions taken therein are of little consequence. Had the pseudo-Catholic women taken an equivalent approach to ministry as did the more serious minded ministeresses in non-Catholic churches then calamity might well have occurred. As it was, the pseudo-Catholic women in question presented such a public farce it could not even be taken as serious by reasonable men, let alone by God. These women, along with their indifferent or supportive bishops, have long been out of the grace of God. The following article should be self-explanatory to anyone with moral perception. (NOTE: Emphasis in article has been added by this editor.) The Wanderer, Volume 130, No. 42 - October 16, 1997
“Critical Mass”Shows Aging FaceOf Church Feminists By TERESA CEPEDA OAKLAND, Calif. – “Critical Mass: Women Celebrating Eucharist,” held in Oakland on Oct.5th, was supposed to be a turning point in the history of women in the Catholic Church. The ritual presented in Bishop Begin Plaza in downtown Oakland, two years in the organizing by the stars of the feminist theology set, was to inspire women to throw off the chains of patriarchy, wrest control of the priesthood from men, and begin functioning as self-proclaimed, self-ordained priests. “Some of us are called to the priesthood,” said the liturgy’s emcee. “We are claiming here today the freedom to try or experiment and to do so publicly. . . . We are now doing publicly what we have for years done privately,” she said. “We call on others to do this, too.” About 250 to 300 people attended – they were mostly women, nearly all white, a mixture of aging, rich housewives; young, angry lesbians; and Church bureaucrats. They came from across the country – and especially Chicago. Many wore T-shirts or jewelry proclaiming their lesbianism. At least one participant wore a Catholics for a Free Choice T-shirt. Reporters, homeless people, and TV camera crews ambled through the plaza during the loosely conducted program. While the celebration was described as “the Mass as we know it with the Mass we can only imagine . . . a mixture of liturgy and theater,” the ritual bore no resemblance to a Catholic liturgy. In order to turn the table on the Pope’s instruction that the subject of ordaining women is not open to discussion, the ladies said they would conduct a ritual of mostly silence. “Church leaders have tried to silence women through the centuries,” said the announcer. “They still attempt to silence us. We will not engage in a war of words, but will express our theology in body movements and gestures.” The stars of the show were introduced (feminist bigwigs like Mary Hunt and her partner Diane Neu, with representatives from the Women’s Ordination Conference, Woman Church Convergence, WATER, and the Women’s Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago – most of them aging matriarchs), followed by a demonstration of the gestures to be used in the ritual (viewed from the back, this spectacle looked rather like an army of kindergarten teachers doing the “itsy bitsy spider” song). “If you can, bend and touch the earth,” said the gesture leader. Not many people could. Participants practiced “moving the spirit” from their hearts, pushing it out over the altar to bless the gifts that would be there later, then turning to bless the “gifts” in the room (each other). “Be comfortable with whatever tone comes out from your body as you breathe out,” the instructor advised. “Other Names For God” As an opening antiphon, the emcee proclaimed, “Let us keep recreating the tradition.” Women with long, colorful, silky stoles around their necks began moving in circles around the crowd, dipping pine branches in bowls of water and sprinkling participants. In place of a processional, participants held hands and did a ring-around-a-rosy around the altar, to the beat of the conga drum (processionals are a no-no in Woman-Church – too linear and masculine). Most of the ritual consisted of free-style dance, with lots of spinning and twirling of the pink and purple stoles. “Readings” were taken from popular female authors. “Mother God of Jesus, be with us as we labor to give birth,” they prayed. The participants were asked to yell out “other names for God.” Some of the contributions included Shekinah, Mother, wind and earth. The participants took a break to chat in the middle of the ritual, sitting on the pavement visiting with one another for about ten minutes (this corresponded roughly to the kiss of peace). They were called back to attention with the announcement, "Let us gently regather and offer our petitions and our prayers." With each prayer of petition, the participants used the "pushing their spirit out" gesture they learned, then bowed down (to a casual observer, this part of the ritual would have looked like an exercise class at a senior center). A Gagging Sound The main part of the ritual was a drama involving a man dressed up in Tridentine-style vestments who got "put in his place" by the women. The part of the priest was played by married expriest and CORPUS member Skip Socorro (who apparently felt no need to defend the dignity of either his gender or of his former profession). Twice during the ritual, Socorro attempted to process to the altar, accompanied by the ringing of bells, only to be stopped by women sounding a trumpet and a shofar, causing him to retreat in fear. With his third attempt to approach the altar, the women had begun a halfhearted, off-key rendition of Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. The song was interrupted halfway through by the trumpets, at which time the priest walked toward the altar, holding a large cardboard wafer above a golden chalice. He began the words of the consecration, but was stopped by the trumpets just as he was about to say, "This is my Body." The main women celebrants (the feminist leaders introduced at the beginning of the program) accosted him, taking away the chalice and host, and removing his chasuble, alb, and Roman collar. They then gave him one of the women's purple stoles, while the audience applauded and cheered. Socorro then addressed the congregation: "I was born into the old Church, trained in the priesthood in the changing Church at Vatican II. Now I am a protagonist for the Future Church [applause]. I think the most important question facing Future Church is the equality of women in the Church [applause]. I am happy today to stand with my sisters and concelebrate. By virtue of our Baptism, we all partake in the priesthood of Christ. Let us celebrate." He walked back to the sidelines while the women leaders circled around the altar, dancing and spinning, saying, "We bless these gifts with our holy, holy spirits." They then made a strange gagging sound in unison (no, that wasn't me, I was able to stifle that reflex throughout the proceedings); they may have been repeating a word sounding like "Ru-ach." They repeated this blessing and gagging sequence several times, then picked up loaves of bread from the altar, dancing around, saying, "This is my body. This is my blood" (referring to themselves -- Jesus' name was not mentioned during this ritual). They then began touching each other, saying, "This is my body. This is my blood." They then wandered through the crowd touching participants and repeating this phrase. The loaves were passed around the crowd, with each person tearing off a chunk. Glasses of wine were similarly passed around among attendees. A Coming Footnote The good news for faithful Catholics is that an event like this -- planned for so long by so many of the top radical feminists in the Church -- was so poorly organized and sparsely attended. This movement is truly over the hill and will soon be but a footnote in Church history books. Perhaps the primary question should be: What's wrong with these women that they think it appropriate to demand that every parish around the world immediately stop celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass and replace it with a ritual of dancing and scarf-waving, with no relation to the beliefs and traditions held by Christians for two millennia? And why do bishops leave these women in positions of power in parishes, chanceries, and universities across the country? It is interesting to note that, during the pre-event introductions, many of the feminist leaders indicated that they are working with small base communities in Latin America (apparently because of the movement's loss of momentum in the United States). Hunt brought greetings from her feminist base communities, Con-Spirando in Chile and Pe No Chao in northeast Brazil. (According to the WATER newsletter, put out on the literature table, a big conference of such groups was made possible this summer by a grant from the Ford Foundation -- the same foundation that funds Catholics for a Free Choice.) Kay Norton Haughey, from Women In Spirit in Colorado, brought greetings from a small community in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with which she works. Others among the leaders passed on bons mots from their groups back home. Ruth McDonough Fitzpatrick passed on regards from the Sisters of Loretto. Donna Quinn (a nun famous for conducting pro-abortion demonstrations in front of the Chicago cathedral), representing Chicago Catholic Women, said, "I bring love from the National Coalition of American Nuns." Linda Mershan came representing the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Wisconsin, as well as the Goddess Gate in Mexico City and the Eighth Day Center for Justice in Chicago. A Rosemary Meyer of the Women's Office of the Archdiocese of Chicago was also introduced. Joanne Collins of Chicago WomanChurch wheezed, "We bring you high energy and spirituality. We have many women's liturgies like this." Sheila Durkin Dierks of Boulder, Colo., author of the book WomenEucharist, apparently a major influence on this gathering, was also. introduced as one of the organizers. "The Wanderer" is a conservative Roman Catholic weekly newspaper which does much reporting on the internal ills of what is frequently referred to as the AMChurch (American Church). The AMChurch is considered by many as being in de facto schism. The Wanderer Press, 201 Ohio St., St. Paul, MN. 55107 --- (612) 224-5733 
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