THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES

From the ground up is how change will come.  The AP reports on a Holy Thursday sermon by Pope Benedict critical of a group of Austrian Roman Catholic priests who have taken a stand against celibacy for all RC priests and in favor of the ordination of women.  No steps beyond criticism have yet been taken to discipline the priests.  We shall see.

On the website of the group, the Pfarrer-Initiative is the following declaration.

The Roman refusal to take up long needed reforms and the inaction of the bishops, not only permits but demands that we follow our conscience and act independently:

We priests want to set a mark for the future:

1. WE WILL include a petition for church reform in every liturgy.

2. WE WILL not deny Communion to faithful of good will, especially remarried people, members of other Christian churches, and in some cases those who have officially left the Catholic Church.*

3. WE WILL avoid as much as possible celebrating multiple times on Sundays and feast days, and avoid scheduling priests travelling around or priests unknown to the community. A locally-planned Liturgy of the Word is preferable to providing guest performances.

4. WE WILL use the term “Priestless Eucharistic Celebration” for a Liturgy of the Word with distribution of Communion. This is how the Sunday Mass obligation is fulfilled when priests are in short supply.

5. WE WILL ignore the prohibition of preaching by competently trained laity, including female religion teachers. In difficult times, the Word of God must be proclaimed.

6. WE WILL advocate that every parish has a presiding leader – man or woman, married or unmarried, full-time or part time. Rather than consolidating parishes, We call for a new image of the priest.

7. WE WILL take every opportunity to speak up publicly for the admission of women and married people to the priesthood. These would be welcome colleagues in ministry.

We express solidarity with colleagues no longer permitted to exercise their ministry because we have married, and also with those in ministry who live in a permanent relationship. Both groups live in accordance with their conscience – as we do with our protest. We see in them as we do in our bishops and the pope our brothers. **

* Here we refer to those who officially leave the Church; some to avoid Church Tax as a means of protest

** This is a reference to the German Word "Mitbruder" instead of "Bruder" (=brother) which is sometimes used by clerics and excludes the laity.
Trinity Sunday, 19Th June, 2011

To expect the top levels of the Roman Catholic Church to implement change is unrealistic.  Change will come only from pressure from the folks on the ground, from the priests who serve in parish churches and church parishioners.  I'm pleased to learn of the brave stand by the Austrian priests, and I hope that the movement spreads to other countries.  The majority of the hierarchy seem out of touch with the operations of its parishes where the major work of the church is actually accomplished.

Note: Once you arrive at the website of the Pfarrer-Initiative, click on 'English', if you prefer to read the material in the English language, then scroll down and click on 'Appeal to Disobedience'.  The next link, 'A Plea For a Credible Church' is well worth reading, also.

H/T to Mark Harris at Preludium. 

SORRY, WE'RE NOT READY FOR A WOMAN

A good many folks in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, who see Christians arguing about women clergy and bishops and same-sexuality, bi-sexuality, trans-sexuality look at us in wonder, and not a few conclude, "I want no part of that." Women clergy, women in leadership in the church, same-, bi-, and trans-sexuality are simply not issues for them. Yet, those of us in the church continue to waste time and energy on these matters instead of being about the business of building the Kingdom of God. Is it any wonder that the generations vote with their feet and don't occupy the pews in the churches?

The Episcopal Church has progressed toward implementing just and equal policies for women in the church, but, at the grass roots level, those of us who are present know that in certain parishes and dioceses, all is not as rosy as it might appear in the press reports. The church has had women priests since 1977, 34 years, if you want to count from the date women were" regularly" ordained. It's way past time for those in parishes who say, "We're not ready for a woman priest," and those in dioceses who say, "We're not ready for a woman bishop," to put their (I call it what I believe it is.) misogyny behind them and begin to focus on calling or electing the most qualified of the candidates and the person who is the best fit for the parish or diocese where they will be serving, leaving aside entirely the gender of the candidate as a consideration.

Sadly, the present situation on the ground for LGTB clergy shows even less progress toward justice and equality than for women, but I'll leave that discussion for another post. In the meantime, let's not deceive ourselves into thinking that we don't pay a price for the inequality that remains.