Keynote Speech 2009 CTA Conference A New Model of Being Church

Sister Louise Akers

[1:06:30] ______

Moderator

When Father Roy first let us know about his father, the hardworking CTA staff immediately set to work, investigating who might be available to speak to our assembly this evening on such short notice. One name rose very quickly to the top, and this person has graciously accepted the invitation to speak this evening.

Now, I won't tell you who's about to speak, but I can tell you that this person will be able to speak powerfully and personally on some of the very same themes that were the core of Father Roy's message this evening.

And so, now, to introduce our plenary speaker, please welcome to the stage the president of the board of directors of Women's Ordination Conference and Call to Action Next Generation member Laura Singer. [Applause.]

Laura Singer

Good evening. On behalf of the Women's Ordination Conference, our prayers go out to Roy [Bourgeois] and his family, and we know that God is supporting them during this difficult time.

Ironically, I first met Roy Bourgeois and tonight's speaker on the same day last August—August 9, 2008, in Lexington, Kentucky, at the ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska as Roman Catholic woman priest. [Applause.] I served as an acolyte at that service and [processed in] with a cross before Roy. I remember thinking how calm he looked, knowing that participating in this ordination of a woman as a Catholic priest was a pivotal moment in his life, a very specific point at which he purposefully would publicly state his support for women's ordination.

In the moments before the service, I reflected on what it meant to be at peace with the decision and clearly choose to act and being ready to face the consequences of standing up for what you believe.

At the reception after the ordination, I was mingling with people at the tables. Little did I know that the Holy Spirit was already at work selecting another person to publicly stand up for women's ordination. I knew that she was at the ordination. I had emailed and talked with her on the phone, but I had never seen her in person. I had someone point her out to me. And I went over to her and she welcomed me to her table.

I sat down and said, "So, Louise, are you ready to start working with the Women's Ordination Confer- ence?" She smiled at me with her bright eyes and cheerfully said, "Yes," neither one of us realizing what that decision would mean for her in a short twelve months, almost to the exact day.

Sister Louise Akers is a sister of charity who has worked in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for over four years as an advocate for peace, anti-racism, and interreligious relations. She has dedicated her life and service to social justice. Just check out her bio on the Sisters of Charity's website to see the depth of her social activism. You will scroll through at least three pages of her accomplishments.

This summary of her bio shows her work with the civil rights movements, the women's movement, her leadership with social justice action centers, and her international presence engaging people all over the world, from Malawi to Germany to China. It clearly shows why I was excited that she agreed to work with the Women's Ordination Conference and be a member of our anti-racism team.

Sister Louise is presently the coordinator of the Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation in Cincinnati. Sister Louise has presented numerous workshops on justice-related issues, designing courses for the Cincinnati Archdiocese to instruct religious educators on justice and Church issues.

It was her involvement with the official Archdiocesan events that brought a little bit of attention to Sister Louise. [Laughter.] You may have heard about on the Internet or seen it in the National Catholic Reporter or local paper. It was even covered as far as Australia and New Zealand.

On August 10, 2009, at a meeting that Sister Louise requested after seeing some comments on the web suggesting that her classes were being cancelled, Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk told Sister Louise to publicly disassociate herself from the issue of women's ordination if she wished to continue making any presentations or teaching for credit in any archdiocese and related institutions. He demanded that she remove her name and photo from the Women's Ordination Conferences website and that she publicly rescind her long-held stance supporting women's ordination.

As a matter of conscience, Sister Louise has stated she will not renounce her support of women's ordination. [Applause.]

Based on her spiritual journey, her diversity in ministry, and professional experience, and now through this recent challenge to justice, Sister Louise is with us tonight to share her story and her vision of an inclusive and just church that we can all work to create. So, Sister Louise, thank you for welcoming me to your table and having the courage to act and not be silenced.

Please welcome Sister Louise Akers. [Applause.]

Sister Louise Akers

Thank you, Laura. In the amount of time that Laura and I have known each other, it has already been quite a journey for both of us.

I want to say first that when I heard about the possibility of Roy Bourgeois not being able to make here it to CTA because his father was dying, my heart really went out to him and his dad. Any one of us who has lost a parent whom we loved knows the wrenching time and decisions that are made or need to be made in the midst of the dying process.

In commiserating with one of the CTA staff members, Nicole, in the midst of our commiserating, I said, "Well, what are you going to do?" And there was this pause. And she said, "Well, that's why we're calling you!" [Laughter.] And my instinctive response was, "Oh, no, no, no." I must have said it at least

2 a half a dozen times. She said, "Now, really, no pressure, but"—[laughter]—"why don't you think about it for 24 hours and get back to me."

So, she called me before the 24 hours was up, and as I said, in thinking about Roy and also in thinking about my own dead mom's death ten years ago, I remember again what a wrenching time it was and how you really didn't know what to do; you were torn. And I knew and I know that Roy certainly is torn because of his commitment to the women's movement in the Church, but also, of course, for his deep love for his dad.

So, here I am, standing before you, and no one could be more surprised than yours truly.

So I certainly am going to talk about my experience, but I always like to put my experience into the bigger picture. Because it's really not about Archbishop Pilarczyk and Louise Akers. We all know that. It's much better, as has been beautifully expressed in so many ways already this evening.

So as an introduction to my remarks, I'd like to have us watch an excerpt from a documentary film in the making. And we think Jules [Hart] for permission to share this clip. She's here at our conference. And the name of the film is, Pink Smoke over the Vatican. [Laughter.] So that just about says it, doesn't it?

So we'll see this film clip, which is about five minutes, and then I have a few introductory slides—about eight slides. And then the bulk of my presentation, and then I'm going to end with one slide, a Mary Magdalen slide with a [saw?]. So, first we'll see the film clip, followed immediately by the slides.

Documentary excerpt:

§ In another century, I'm sure I would have experienced physical violence as a result of my choices.

§ We probably would have been burned at the stake centuries ago for going against Church teachings.

§ The Pope has forbidden women's ordination and has even forbidden people to discuss the topic.

§ I was afraid when I first started to speak out.

§ I was silenced for twelve years.

§ I was called a bitch by the Cardinal of Toronto.

§ She put the metal handcuffs on me and took me into the car, and it was right during the gospel.

§ They're abusing their power. They've done it throughout history.

§ Those in power and control will not, out of the goodness of their heart, give up their power.

§ If you're going to belong to a certain group, then you need to be faithful to that group. If you choose to leave, you're free to do that.

3 § I haven't left the Church, because I don't believe that the Church belongs to the Pope and the bishops.

§ They can't have the Church. The hierarchy cannot have it. It is our church.

§ I am as much a Catholic as the Pope is.

§ Tomorrow, a dozen women will make history in this country when they are ordained as Catholic priests and deacons in a ceremony in Pittsburgh. All are devoted Church members, but all are defying Vatican law.

§ They have threatened some of the women with the loss of their immortal souls.

§ It is a desperate, last-ditch effort to keep power concentrated in the hands of these theoretically celibate men.

§ Canon 1024, which says that only a baptized male can be ordained, got me. I thought, that's just the same as saying only white people can live in the cities; only white children can go to white schools. It's exactly the same, and it's just as wrong.

§ Church teaching throughout the centuries has always been made by men, even the decision to exclude women from ordination. So where are women's voices, women who are also gifted with the spirit, women who are lovers of God and proclaimers and witnesses to Jesus's resurrection, where are their perspectives brought to bear on Church decisions?

§ In the name of our Creator, our brother, Jesus, and wisdom, Sophia, amen.

§ It's the argument from testicles and a penis that that's what you have to have in order to do it.

§ We are made in the image of God just as men are, and we can represent Christ just as men can.

§ It's called sexism. And sexism, like racism, is a sin.

§ The group of Dominicans that I joined was very active and courageous in working for the rights of all people in South Africa, all races. I learned a lot. I didn't ever dream that I would use it in the fight against sexism in the Church.

§ It's not a rule of social justice, but it's a rule, an understanding of one's part in the Church— male and female. Different in many ways.

§ As hard as they try, in the end—in the end—it is wrong.

§ If laws are unjust, they must be changed. And one of the best ways of getting them changed, if you have tried and tried and tried, then one of the best ways is to break the law.

§ And he said, "Well, then, if you don't leave, you'll be arrested," and I said, "You're going to have to arrest me."

§ Services were interrupted by a long-time Lexington resident. “I said, I am called by the Holy Spirit to present myself for ordination. I ask this for myself and for all women. Women's

4 voices need to be heard, and I've tried to speak out for those whose voices have not been heard."

§ The call to priesthood is not a right that anyone has; it's a gift, or we believe it's a gift from God.

§ I deeply feel that God is asking me to do this, and I feel that my obedience must first be to God, and then to the Church.

§ This is the first time, really, in my life when I've stepped over that line and broken the rules.

§ I had a growing sense that this was what I was meant to do with my life, and that I needed simply to have the courage to take this final step and do what I was called to do.

As has been announced and celebrated by CTA, fifty years ago, good, old Pope John announced that there would be a Council. He also promoted Catholic social teaching, and within this context and framework, as we see in [pontia minterus], he recognized the seeds of the women's movement and the rights of women. And this was in 1963.

So, my approach to the theme to everyone at the table will be, indeed, to focus on my personal current experience, but as I said, setting it within a larger framework of the institutional church and of the people of God.

This cover was published in November, 1992. Note the subtitle: A second reformation sweeps Christianity. And note, too, this is not the Catholic press; it's the, quote, "secular" press. Sandra Schneiders, professor at California's Jesuit School of Theology, was quoted in this cover article, and she said, The last time there was such a groundswell that was not heated was the Protestant Reformation."

And, in fact, this past October, Sunday, October 25, which I found out from a Lutheran pastor was Reformation Sunday, I was asked to speak at a Lutheran Church in Cincinnati. Following my presentation, there was conversation which included concerns about the institutional Catholic Church and women, along with the questions around the Catholic-Anglican merger.

There were also references to how Vatican II has changed some of the thinking and some of the ritual within the Lutheran faith community, and concern and hope that Vatican II was not going to be further rejected or retracted by the some of the current teaching authority within our Church.

Today, many women, and marginalized people worldwide, accept neither an extension of patriarchal history nor its perpetuation of the status quo. We are no longer saying, "We want a piece of the pie." The strategy and goal now is to change the recipe—[laughter, applause]—and to produce a new product, which is inclusive, egalitarian, and cooperative, rather than exclusive, hierarchical, and competitive. [Applause.]

So, if we agree with this great mind, decision-making strategies and next steps must be made in the context of the major shift that is indeed in process, but that also needs nurturing and deliberate direction. It is an immense task vital to the lives of all of us, and ultimately, it does concern the global common good.

Take a look at some of these women. And these are a few. There are so many women, including women in this room and others who aren't able to be here. These women, and other oppressed peoples, ask the

5 hard questions related to power that we must recognize. At the same time, in asking these questions, we are confronting the core of patriarchy.

Questions that need to be addressed: Who has the power and why? How did this present state of affairs happen? What's keeping it in place? Who benefits, who loses, who is left out? And always, why? How do we restructure with the gospel as our foundation, and how wrenching will it be? Will the institution itself have to undergo the death and resurrection it preaches? Is this in fact what is happening, as many of the people of God emerged throughout the world?

Again, take a look at the sampling of women's organizations within the Church. In Women, Peace, and Power, Joe Callicott quotes the philosopher, Marcuse, who says, "The success of the system is to make unthinkable to possibility of alternatives, and these organizations surely reflect alternatives."

I've had this for almost twenty years. I love it. Oh, pardon me. Okay. So the bishop is saying to the priest, a concerned look on his face, "I think the mistake was teaching women to read." [Laughter.] And as we know, we women ARE reading, writing, speaking up, speaking out, taking up the challenge of changing a system created by persons overwhelmingly male, who presently make the decisions, set policies, enact laws, develop doctrine, establish moral codes—and, believe they do this with and through objective, rational, and detached processes. [Laughter.]

Years ago, Sister Madonna Kolbenschlag, who was the author of a new of books, wrote Lost in the Land of Oz, my favorite of hers. In one chapter she talks about sun preference, which I believe, still, in a horrific way, describes the sexism that is happening in the Church today. This is a quote from her book:

We just understand the birthright that connects every baby boy to the culture in which he was born. This birthright was portrayed very graphically for me in a photo I discovered while assembling materials for a congressional hearing. At first glance, the photo appeared to be a typical family portrait: an attractive, sari-clad Indian woman sitting in a modernized setting with her three children.

Her ten-year-old son was sitting next to her holding one infant, and she was holding the other in her lap. The baby on his lap seemed robust, squirmy, and alert. The baby the mother was holding, by contrast, resembled some of the hollow-eyed children of Ethiopia seen on the evening news.

The caption on the photograph read, ‘The emaciated baby girl on the left and the sturdier baby boy on the right are twins. The difference in their condition is entirely due to the boy being nursed first and his sister getting what was left over. The healthier boy cries for attention and gets it. The glazed little girl no longer even tries.’

She goes on to say,

Few portraits could illustrate so graphically the birthrate of the male and female child in our civilization. It is a snapshot of a myth, a false consciousness, that has crippled both women and men. The myth has three clearly defined elements. First, son preference; second, male entitlement to dominance and power; and third, the worship of what is male identified."

She concludes by saying, “Son preference is a universal phenomenon.”

6 I think it's obvious that her observation and reflection reflects the experience of many women gathered her this weekend. Because we are women, we are invited to some tables and excluded from others in our Church. For women religious, this exclusion and the current investigation is especially painful.

I'd like to read you an excerpt from one of the hundreds of letters I've received. And I won't mention the name of the author.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter of my concerns about the silencing of Sister Louise Akers. I have always appreciated"—and this is written to the bishop, and I received a copy—"I have always appreciated your even-handed and pastoral approach as a bishop in the U.S. church. I write this letter with a degree of trepidation during this time of intense scrutiny of sisters in the United States. I never thought I would have to fear the Church I have loved and served for over 55 years. It is, indeed, a difficult and disparaging time to be a sister.

Another woman religious who I will quote, Sister Theresa Kane—[applause]—when she was receiving the 2004 Outstanding Leadership Award from LCWR, she observed—and I think this is at the heart of the women's movement in the Church, the women's movement in society, of feminism, of equality:

We know and identify ourselves as women in solidarity with other women. We experience this solidarity as we acknowledge the painful realization that all women in church and in society are colonized.

And remember that Roy's remarks included the principle of solidarity.

That all women are patronized, that all women are viewed as objects, that all women are conditioned and expected to be complementary. We need to acknowledge this reality without a severe judgment on ourselves, our church, our society. The conviction that women are called by nature and by grace to be significant primary agents of change in all aspects of church and society is a radical new insight not yet fully appreciated.

And to this I say, let the Church say, amen.

So, in this context, what does it mean to be women of faith? What effect does the phrase "mother church" have within a patriarchal framework? What stand do we take as women of faith and as men who support women of faith? And related to this last question, a favorite proverb of mine comes from Hades, "We see from where we stand." And so, of course, the question is, where do we stand? With whom do we stand, what do we stand for, and who stands with us?

A Korean friend of mine, who is an ordained Methodist minister, once told me, "Louise, it's not only where you stand and with whom, but how muddy your feet get." [Laughter.] My feel pretty muddy right now. And that was twenty years ago that she said that to me.

So, women in the church, as we know, stand in a very different place from any man in this room. Women of color stand in very different places from where I stand. Women who are poor or not formally educated also stand in different places.

So I want to say from the outset, I speak today from a perspective of a white woman who was raised in an Irish-Catholic home. I'm a woman religious, a Sister of Charity, a feminist who is also a child of the Sixties. These were and continue to be important dimensions which have brought me to the stance that I hold today.

7

The Council of Vatican II, the civil rights and women's movements, my work with migrant farm workers and inner cities, and the privilege of my education, all of these have especially nurtured and strengthened how I currently view my role in the Church and, I believe, have been part of a call to work for a more just world and Church.

In an interview a couple of years ago, a Sister of Charity friend of mine asked me two questions in the midst of our conversation. She said, "What's your vision of tomorrow's Church?" I thought about it and then said, "I hope for a great realization of how Vatican II described the Church as people of God. This vision of Church challenges the patriarchal and hierarchical model of Church that we experience today."

I went on to say, "I envision a Church that recognizes and values the reality of pluralism reflected in the many valid faith journeys and operative images of God. Our times call for a Church of openness with action for justice at its very core. I believe these qualities can result in a Church which is more faithful to the mission and vision of Jesus."

Her second question was, "What do you think is the best way to call the institutional Church to a new model?" Now, there's a simple question. [Laughter.]

So I reflected with her and I said, "The Church needs to be more inclusive, obviously, not just in outreach, but also within its internal structures. For example, women need to be more involved in decision-making, which could bring about a very new model. Increasing numbers of educated laity are calling for new models of Church, which would include and better recognize, too, the views of Asian, African, American, and Hispanic peoples. A Church that is universal in cultures and inclusive in gender would project a renewed presence. There's also a need"—and this is what can get us in trouble, isn't it?—"to keep raising questions, to be persistent in objecting to abuses within the internal Church, such as pedophile scandal and the lack of accountability that is evident in the model of leadership that we have today through some of the bishops."

Another nurturing experience that I had was with another Sister of Charity, when we attended an ordination, the one in Canada. And she wrote an article about our experience and she asked me to reflect with her. And it was the first time I was at a women's ordination. She said, "How did you feel?" and I said, "For me, an overwhelming peace occurred in the midst of that ordination ritual, because the centuries-old liturgy which has adapted to the times has, yet another time, morphed into a new shape, one that is more inclusive, participative, and representative of a Church that is truly Catholic."

We both felt privileged to be part of a momentous event that realized, as Louise [Leiter], [in?] the words of Yahweh, "Behold, I shall make all things new."

So I want to say a little bit about my personal experience. The day the story broke in the Cincinnati Inquirer—it had already been out on NCR online and other papers—my brother called me and he said, "Louise, I went out to pick up my paper this morning and I sat down with my cup of coffee, and I saw this headline that said, 'Bishop bans nun from teaching.' And I thought, "Oh, I wonder if Louise knows who this is." [Laughter.] And he said, "It was you!"

His was my favorite response. And I have received hundreds of responses from individuals, groups, sisters in my own religious community, friends, congregational leaderships, and sisters from numerous congregations, priest friends, former high school and university students, parish social justice groups, coworkers from present and past, persons from around the U.S., and as Laura said, from around the world. I even got an email from a priest in Kenya. Isn't that amazing? And heard from someone in Bulgaria. Just amazing.

8

So the response has been overwhelmingly positive and very consuming. It's been a process, but I'm basically open, I believe and I hope, to what is transpiring, because I do believe, as has also been said in different words, that this is a teachable moment in our Church. And emerging from this is the sensus fidelium, the sense of the people. And I'd like to share, first, a brief reflection of my own about my experience with Archbishop Pilarczyk, and then a sampling of so many wonderful messages I've received.

I wrote the reflection later in the day when I had left Archbishop Pilarczyk's office. And when I walked out, I was just numb, to tell you the truth; I was stunned. Because as Laura also said, I taught in the Archdiocese for about forty years in a lot of different venues. And at the same time that I was stunned, I remember thinking to myself two of my favorite quotes. And it's what really propelled me into the public eye.

One is from Katherine of Sienna, 14th century woman who talk to the Pope. But in her writings, one of the things she says is, "Cry out as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world." [Applause.] And I think, and I am convinced, that it is silence that really perpetuates injustice, no matter what the topic is. And that's part of being an advocate for justice and an educator for justice, and being out there on the front lines; in some ways, being in people's faces and saying, "This is wrong. This has to change."

Another people I thought was a hero of mine, Martin Luther King, Jr., who says, "Our lives begin to end when we keep silent about those things that matter to us."

So when I talked with Archbishop Pilarczyk, and as Laura, again, said, i did ask for the meeting because I needed some clarification. There was a mediator and I wasn't sure—and neither was the mediator—what was specifically being asked or expected of me. And so I thought, well, there's one way, it seems to me, to clear this up, and I asked to see Archbishop Pilarczyk, whom I have known for over 25 years and have great respect for.

And so he clarified. He said, "If you don't take your name and picture off the Women's Ordination Conference website, you can no longer teach for credit in the diocese. Now, initially, it was that I couldn't teach for credit, but I could teach. Well, the final thing got shifted.

And so, in the midst of our conversation, I brought up three points. I brought up the whole polarization of the Church. And this was August tenth, so in August, remember, all these health care tea bag parties were going on. And I said, "You know, Archbishop, we've got the same polarization in our own Church, don't we? And wouldn't it be great if we could be a model that would demonstrate how to dialogue with difference? To be able to raise questions?" [Laughter.]

And basically, he said, "Well, that's not what you're supposed to be doing." And I said, "Well, what am I supposed to be doing?" He said, "You're supposed to be teaching doctrine." I said, "I do teach doctrine." I said, "I don't think you'll find a student I've ever taught in forty years who doesn't say, 'Sister Louise teaches us Church teaching.'

On whatever the issue is, I make sure my students or parish participants, whoever it is, understand Church teaching on a particular issue. But then, if it's a contemporary issue, I raise questions—such as women's ordination or women's role in the Church." I said, "Isn't that the role of theology? That's part of the role of theology to be in dialogue with the magisterium of the Church. And sometimes as a result of that dialogue, doctrine evolves; it changes." And he said, "Well, you're not supposed to be raising questions." And he was real clear about that.

9 So my final question to him was, why is it, at this time in the Church—and I wasn't trying to be smart; I really wanted to know, because it was this people who have caused a lot of misery in many of our lives— why is it that these right-wing, pre-Vatican II Catholics have so much influence on the hierarchy? [Applause.] Well, he agreed that there was polarization in the Church, but there was no response to that question.

So, within these forty years in the Archdiocese, I have been an educator and advocate for justice. And ironically, central to my advocacy have been those who are been marginalized. My academic background includes an MA in [dee-men] and Theology and my ministry has always been grounded in Catholic social teaching. I've worked collaboratively with lots of groups, locally, nationally, and internationally.

And with regard to this issue—the end of my reflection—I just kind of said to myself, women's ordination is a justice issue. Its basis, the value, the dignity and equality of woman person. I believe this to my very core. To publicly state otherwise would be a lie and against my conscience. And I thought, too, of centuries earlier, when Martin Luther said, "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise." Since then, many, many voices of women and men have had to take a similar stand, and I know, and many people in this room know, that these words are full of pain and conviction.

And I ended my reflection by saying, I love, support, and cherish the part of Church that upholds the gospel mission and vision of Jesus. I reject the power over patriarchal structure of those within the hierarchical, institutional way of being Church. And finally, I believe in the Vatican II church that celebrates the people of God and seeks to be the Church in the modern world. [Applause.] Thank you.

So I'd like to read just a few samples of some of the messages I've received.

This is from a psychiatrist in Seattle, Washington, who was one of the founding members of the Women's Ordination Conference. She says, in a letter to Archbishop Pilarczyk, of which I received a copy,

Something very frightening is happening in our Church today, as male leaders turn away from dialogue and the acceptance of diversity of opinion, and use tactics to silence women that are characteristic of oppressive government regimes around the world. Adults do not need to be protected from diversity and paternalism, and your actions smack of clericalism and paternalism and are an injustice and an embarrassment. You may be doing what is expected or required of you, and if so, I feel badly for you. You have my prayer.

[Laughter.] And I believe she was sincere, because I know the person.

And this from a former student I taught in the 1970s:

Dear Sister Louise, I don't know if you'll remember me, but I'm a former student of yours from St. Joseph Commercial High School in Dayton. I came home tonight from work and sat down to read the Dayton Daily News and came across a headline that caught my attention: "Archdiocese bans nun from teaching." My first thought was, what could a nun have done to be banned from teaching? [Laughter.]

As I read the article, I was astonished to find out that it was over your belief in support of women priests. I can't believe that the Church would ban you over this position. It would behoove the Church to take steps in this direction in order to preserve the Church as we know it. Maybe it's time they get into the 21st century. [Applause.]

And then she goes on to say,

10 I spoke with my daughter this evening, who is attending St. Mary's College in South Bend, and is an elementary education major. She was just as shocked as I was about this decision. She's planning on taking the article to one of her professors for discussion.

And then she concluded by saying—and I loved this: “I fondly remember your classes, but more than that, the trips you made to our volleyball games.” [Laughter.] You never know what makes an impression. “We know you are helping the paradigm shift come in and come down. Thanks so much for your efforts on all our behalves. The arc of history is bending in our favor.”

This from a former seminarian in Minnesota. I don't know him.

A few years ago, I read a paper for Theology class on the same topic after doing some research, and coming to the same conclusion that you stated on the radio. The monsignor who taught the class gave me a zero for a grade for that paper. [Shock and laughter.]

He says, “That grade gave me much satisfaction.” [Laughter; applause.]

He says, “The zero made me realize how Galileo must have felt when he was trying to inform the Church about the position of this planet in relationship to the rest of the universe.”

He says, “Because there are people like you who remain in the Church, I continue to have hope that perhaps, eventually, the Church will see the light and it won't take them as long as it did to realize Galileo was correct.”

See, this is the sensus fidelium. Isn't it wonderful? It's wonderful! It's great! [Applause.]

And this one is from a mother with a teenaged daughter:

I have never sent an email to someone I don't know, but after reading the article in the Cincinnati Inquirer, I was so appalled by my Church, I had to write to tell you. I am praying for you. I am a mother of a fifteen-year-old daughter who can become president of the United States but cannot become a Catholic priest.

And this is from a 22-year-old student who graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati:

While I was at Xavier, I stopped going to Mass, because I could not understand why women could not be priests. Every time I went to Mass, I felt betrayed by the Church merely because I am a woman. Hearing your story gives me hope for the Catholic Church and for my personal faith. I hope to return to Mass one day knowing that I am an equal to men.

This is from a male theologian, and I'm just reading excerpts: “What a sad and scary time in our Church. I think Jesus is weeping at our hierarchy.”

And this one is written to Pilarczyk and I got a copy:

Are you going to seek out and refuse to let the other sixty percent of Catholics in our parishes and institutions teach because their conscience holds that ordination of women is a matter of justice? How about those whose conscience varies from the Church's teaching on birth control, homosexuality, capital punishment? Will there be enough Catholics left to staff our institutions?

11 [Laughter.]

You see why I keep reading these over and over.

Isn't the basis of all morality following the conviction of one's conscience?

And she goes on and talks about me, and then at the end she says:

As a scholar, you know that the reasons given for the ordination of men only are intellectually bankrupt. So, do you displace Jesus? The way of justice for a contrived Church rule is meant to maintain the power of men?

And this talks about how Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk's actions are actually a necessary catalyst for change in the Church: “Though he doesn't realize it, Pilarczyk's actions will act as a catalyst,” and then quotes, [with] statistics, [that] 63% of Catholics support women's ordination. And she says,

It's important that the hierarchy understand that they, as leaders of the Catholic Church, are actually just caretakers. Many people seem to forget [and certainly we, here, have not] that the Church is not a collection of men in Rome, but is the body of Christ, the people of God.

The leadership of the Church can continue the tide of change that faces them and be swept under the waves, or they can open their minds and their hearts and listen in prayer medita- tion to the people of God and act as the caretakers they are supposed to be. Wake up, caretakers.

There are others, but I realize that time is fleeing. But you might remember, too, that a volunteer teacher in Cincinnati wrote a letter to the editor in support of me. And her pastor did the same thing to her as the bishop did to me. Now, this woman is a physician, married, has adult children. And so she was also interviewed. And I gave her Catherine of Siena's quote, and that helped, I think, a lot. But this is a quote from Carole's letter to the Cincinnati Inquirer:

The letter [to the editor] wasn't as much about women being priests as Sister Louise being silenced. Would I like to see women have an equal role in the Church? I would. But now I think the issue is about being able to discuss it.

[Applause.]

One of my major learnings in studying and living feminist liberation theology has been how important it is that we name what's going on. So I'm going to offer a list, incomplete thought it is, of some of the violence toward women and dismissal by the current institutional Roman Catholic Church, at the same time recognizing the deep historical roots of these attitudes, policies, and behavior.

§ Unjust firing or letting go of women on parish staffs, diocesan offices, school faculties, and, as with Carole, volunteer teachers. How do you fire a volunteer? [Laughter.]

§ A bishop in Atlanta saying women's feet couldn't be washed on Holy Thursday.

§ A bishop in Boston identifying feminism as a major evil in our society.

§ The questioning of altar girls, leaving decisions up to local pastors.

§ A bishop in Colorado forbidding women on the altar as lectors, Eucharistic ministers.

12 § Sexist Scripture passages continue to be read as part of the sacred canon.

§ Exclusive language denied and diminishes women's lived experience, forbidding even the discussion of an expanded priesthood which would or could include women.

§ Acting as a haven for ordained males by welcoming those from other traditions who oppose the inclusion of women priests. [Applause.]

§ A church which condemns artificial contraception as unnatural and has been mute on the creation and sale of male-enhancing drugs. [Laughter, applause.] And it's usually women who note that.

Thirty years ago, a wonderful sister—I'm sure many people know of her or have read her—Sister Maria [Gastanio], Sister of Notre Dame, who was a renowned sociologist and who is now deceased, said this with regard to sexuality: "So concentrated is the question of sexuality on the issues of birth control, abortion, and divorce, as well as on the issues of premarital sex and the possibility of married clergy, that men are not yet aware of the general problem of a male-dominated theological language, liturgy, and the religious education that is denying to women a place to celebrate life in the Church."

She goes on: "My discipline of sociology, in theory and research, confirms"—and this is at the heart of what she's trying to say here—"confirms that the major sexual problem for consideration by the Church is the human rights of women and the consciousness of men."

The human rights of women and the consciousness of men.

So all these examples that demonstrate the power over with regard to the institutional Church and women, I believe, illustrate the reactionary institution that is certainly about retrenchment and resistance. Because I believe, as we all here do, I think, that the vision of Vatican II continues to call us from passivity to active participation, from a parent-child relationship to mature adulthood, from clericalism to a living community, from a hierarchical structure to being the people of God.

So how can we develop a different future for our Church? And I just want to name a few of them, and then quote briefly four examples of official Church documents and just let them stand on their own, and then conclude with a song.

If we're going to create a different future, I believe it requires a creative response, taking new paths, participating in diverse coalitions, relinquishing traditional institutions, and building new structures which will bring growth and reverence all of life. Specifically, I suggest the following:

§ Deliberately seeking to become more knowledgeable about theology and Church history. This enables us to more effectively discern what is essential to our faith.

§ Asking ourselves what truth claims by the institutional Church need to be questioned as assertions of power.

§ Challenging the continued usage of sexist scriptures

§ Being persistent in our insistence of inclusive language and public prayer, song, and speech

13 § Continuing to raise questions when women and people of color, both women and men, are not at the decision-making tables of the Church

§ Searching and/or creating alternative places of worship where a woman person is honored

§ And repeatedly calling attention to the human construct of the operative image of a male monotheistic god.

[Applause.]

I am convinced that this god image is the lynchpin which holds it all together. The male monotheistic image of God grounds patriarchy in all its subsequent institutions. We need to proclaim alternatives and truly acknowledge that God is not made to the image and likeness of those who currently rule our world and Church. [Applause.]

God is beyond what we, as women and men of faith, can imagine. And isn't this a core teaching of what is part of our most ancient tradition?

I realize all of this assumes dialogue, openness, and ongoing conversion, and that none of that is an easy task, but it's a necessary one, because women's lives and that of the human community, along with the very survival of our planet, are at stake, because it's all connected. It's all connected.

So in light of these reflections, I'd like to offer a few quotes from Church documents and let them stand on their own. The first is from the Vatican II document on religious freedom:

The Vatican Council declares the human person has a right to religious freedom. Freedom of this kind means that all people should be immune from coercion on the part of individuals, social groups, and every human power, so that within due limits, nobody is forced to act against their convictions in religious matters in private or in public, alone, or in association with others. [Applause.]

Because when Pilarczyk asked me to make a public statement that I change my mind and now support the teaching against women's ordination, I just—what?? I said that a lot during that half-hour. What?? And I said, "Oh, I can't do that. It would be a lie and it's against my conscience." And that's when he said, "Well, then, you accept the consequences."

In 1971, at the International Senate of Bishops, they read a document called, Justice in the World, and I'll just read a short part of it: "While the Church is bound to give witness to justice, she recognizes that anyone who ventures to speak to people about justice must first be just in their own eyes." [Applause.] Nineteen seventy-one.

Quote from Canon 212: "In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, the Christian faithful have the right, and even at times a duty, to manifest to their sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church." [Applause.] "They also have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian other faithful with due regard for the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors."

So, I'm going to cut it short, but the Pontifical Biblical Commission and Catholic Theological Society, as you know, have both come out with substantial objections to the Church's teaching against women's ordination. These are scholars in both theology and scriptures.

14 So I'd like to go now to our last slide, because, as we know, the struggle continues, the beat goes on, but we have deep roots and a beautiful tradition, and this woman began it all, and she was the apostle to the apostles.

[Slide shown; music.]

Amen.

[End.]

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