Wisdom Quarterly; Catherine Hornby (Reuters.com)
(EuroNews.com) The smoke billowing into Rome's sky was neither white, nor black, but
pink -- to back the argument in favor of women being able to be
ordained as Catholic priests.
A group of
Catholic women from Britain, America, and Australia gathered
to protest the continued exclusion of women. The
smoke they let off from small flares mimicked the puffs that will
emerge from the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating whether cardinals have
decided on a new CEO for their corporation.
"The Catholic church should be a healthy and vibrant place with equality, with both men and women called to the priesthood. Jesus did not exclude women. Jesus encouraged women and actively sought to include them," said Miriam Duignan, Communications Coordinator of the association Women Can Be Priests. "So why do the cardinals, who are supposed to represent Jesus, make a point of actively excluding women, of telling them to be quiet? And of criminalizing anybody [who] speaks out in favor of women priests?"
The Women's Ordination Conference has campaigned for female Catholic priests for over 30 years. But there is little sign among the frontrunners for pope that the issue will become a priority.
"The Catholic church should be a healthy and vibrant place with equality, with both men and women called to the priesthood. Jesus did not exclude women. Jesus encouraged women and actively sought to include them," said Miriam Duignan, Communications Coordinator of the association Women Can Be Priests. "So why do the cardinals, who are supposed to represent Jesus, make a point of actively excluding women, of telling them to be quiet? And of criminalizing anybody [who] speaks out in favor of women priests?"
The Women's Ordination Conference has campaigned for female Catholic priests for over 30 years. But there is little sign among the frontrunners for pope that the issue will become a priority.
- Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (Facebook)
- Women in the Vatican's shadow
- Roman Catholic Women Priests
- Women's Ordination Conference
- Ordain Women Now (Facebook)
- Shocking Pink Protest (Jane Dough)
- LDS Mormons need female priests
- L.A. Catholics to pay record amount for molestations
Pink Protest Smoke over Rome
Catherine Hornby (Reuters, March 12, 2013)
Mass in St. Peter's (Romano Observatore) |
Protesters demanding a greater role for women in the [Holy] Roman [Empire's] Catholic
Church set off a pink smoke flare on a hill above the Vatican on Tuesday
[March 12, 2013] as the men-only conclave that will choose the next pope began.
Mimicking traditional smoke
signals from the Sistine Chapel -- white for a new pontiff and black for
an inconclusive vote -- the women also wore pink clothes and "Ordain
Women" badges.
Some women argue
that they already play an important role in the Church, teaching and
caring for young Catholics and doing much of its missionary work [like helping the poor], while
others say exclusion from senior roles and the ban on women's ordination
is out dated.
"The current old
boys' club has left our Church reeling from scandal, abuse, [homosexual hypocrisy,] sexism, and
oppression," said director of the Women's Ordination Conference, Erin
Saiz Hanna, one of a small group assembled on the Janiculum hill
overlooking St. Peter's.
"The
people of the Church are desperate for a leader who will be open to
dialogue and embrace the gifts of women's wisdom in every level of
Church governance," she said.
(April Nevin) Freedom of religion in American? Catholic, Christian, or kind of a Buddhist
(April Nevin) Freedom of religion in American? Catholic, Christian, or kind of a Buddhist
The
Vatican says women cannot be ordained priests because Jesus Christ
willingly chose only men as his apostles [with the exception of Mary Magdalene, his special apostle, who was later excised from canonical history]. Advocates of a female
priesthood say Jesus was merely conforming to the customs of his times.
Tuesday's
protest in Rome followed a pink smoke rally in New Orleans over the
weekend, with similar events planned in cities across the United States
in coming days.
Last year, [possibly gay and definitely sexist Patriarch] Pope Benedict
restated the Church's ban on women priests and said he would not
tolerate disobedience by clerics on fundamental teachings.
Under his
leadership, the Vatican cracked down on advocates of female ordination.
But
some cardinals attending the conclave this week have spoken out about
the need to review the role of women in the Church and the leadership
positions open to them.
Argentine
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 69, told Reuters this month that women must
have a much more important role in the life of the Church and be able to
contribute in areas which are now only open to men. More
COMMENTARY
Goodbye, cruel world! (usatoday.com) |
Meanwhile, the bishop who runs the Vatican's department for religious orders, Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, a potential compromise candidate for pope whom Wisdom Quarterly predicted would become pontiff failed to secure the position. But strangely it seems that Saint Malaky's prophesy/prediction that the next-to-last-pope would be followed by Petrus Romanus ("Peter the Roman") came true in that the bishop who officially held the position prior to Pope Francis I but after Pope Benedict XVI was a Roman named Peter: The interim period, known as the Sede Vacante (Vacant Holy See), is filled by the chamberlain cardinal Tarcisio [Peter the Roman] Bertone, who oversees all Church
affairs until a new pontiff is chosen by the world's oldest corporation.
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