Dr. Douglas Pratt, An Episcopalian Priest who refers to himself as a "Franciscan" because he teaches and partially lives for periods of a time in a Franciscan monastery setting in New Zealand (Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand) gave a talk today at the Rumi Forum for Inter-Faith Dialogue and Intercultural Understanding. (http://www.rumiforum.org/) . He has that particular Franciscan peacemaking charism in which he seeks through dialogue and cross-faith engagement to bring peace to fields and hearts alike. While waiting on his talk I glanced at Sunday's Washington Post that was lying on the coffee table and noted that the singer famous for ripping a picture of the Pope up Sinead O'Connor had a full length article published in the Post titled "Time to hear Pope Benedict's confession."
Sitting next to me was a rather intellectual looking fashionable woman who advised that she is teaching Theology at Georgetown and getting her PHD at Catholic University after getting some other degree or licence from some Pontifical University in Rome. Thinking that rather special and unique for a woman, I asked how she got to go there and she readily offered that it must have been in her blood. Her father, she explained, is a Priest. What? Was she adopted by some kind-hearted priest who found her in the woods behind the priory? In the reeds in a basket floating down the river? No, her real father was and is really a Roman Catholic Priest-who served in that function for 30 years-then was foisted into a situation where a woman he believed God called him to be with found the love of her life and it was mutual. Once a priest always a priest- no one defrocked him, she exclaimed. They just ran him out of the parish. Some parishes don't let the family take communion, she said rather shyly- this PHD Candidate from Catholic University who teaches at the finest Jesuit school in the area.
We talked briefly about the inherent sexism and what her poor mother probably went through- the notion that she stole him from the priesthood, or seduced him somehow and the automatic snarky debunking of the notion that God actually might have ordained the union in spite of the priestly celibacy vows-because what one pledges in a 'discipline' to a human authority is trumped by what God wills. God doesn't like people breaking vows, but in some cases it is permitted which is why divorce is legal in some biblical cases and marriages subject to annulment by the church itself. I discussed what I viewed as the inherent persecution of women and inherently insulting demeaning of women in these situations and she said "Don't get me started." This lovely woman would not even exist on planet earth had her parents not heard correctly the call of God on their lives.
The sort of persecution against women in this context can only be viewed as abusive, as much as that word is despised these days in ecclesiastical circles. The more the church refuses to hear this argument or even speak to these women, the more the world is going to expose, publicize and dramatize all the recent abuse scandals- because the church needs to cleanse itself- this is something that God is allowing for purification purposes-and to protect innocent hearts.
After the talk the lovely Anglican Priest Professor spoke of a time when he was in Northern Italy and he not only got to con-celebrate a Mass, but he was allowed to partake of the Eucharist under the little known doctrine of "Eucharistic Hospitality." There wasn't any Anglican Church anywhere in the region, so he had no alternative and was given holy communion.
I wondered why the term "Eucharistic Hospitality" has never made its way into our common lexicon in America when instead we practice Eucharistic Political Weaponization with threats of withholding from politicians with public policy views we don't understand after hearing crazy talking heads talk about bills we never read in full. We kick out of parishes and churches people who have a different reading of scripture. It is not hard to see that all the insane persecution that this Georgetown faculty member's family likely faced while she grew up propelled her to understand under what theological theory God forced this suffering on her and her family. I am sure it was great comfort when she finally realized it wasn't God, it was just really stupid people covering themselves under his authority.
This lovely Anglican Priest Professor "Franciscan" noted that he believes that the Catholic church has survived as long as it has, in spite of schisms and defections and protestant revolts because of its adaptation occasioned by the Spirit inspired creation of various orders with various charisms and apostolates. Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines, etc. He noted it would be an easy solution in keeping with its tradition in effect if it had an "order" of married priests. This would do light years to calm the fears inspired by the perception that because Priests don't have their own children and families they are oblivious to the damage done to children by robbing them of innocence, and further ignorant of the basic emotional construction of women.
Not everyone is comfortable in the Dominican House of Studies. Not everyone is comfortable with the institutional arrogance demonstrated in some corners by an ecclesiastic body that is intrinsically opposed to equality of women on many levels and dimensions- especially women. This Pontifically educated female theology professor at Georgetown affirmed that there is absolutely nothing Theologically validly supporting a universal all-time celibate clergy. It is not a theologically sound proposition and many things argue strongly against it. It could be viewed as a historic aberration in fact, a deviation of Rome from Orthodoxy and from its own roots, both Judaic and early Christian. Priests were freely married men for the first millenia of Catholicism.
The institutional demeaning of women was something that Sinead O'Connor railed against in her Washington Post article- which is not on the "Op Ed" page but in the Washington Outlook section (B). Women are good for more and deserve better. The same sort of sentiment that has people like Sinead ripping up the Pope's picture is what is surfacing in all the publicity of these scandals. The Pope, rather than risk the litigation liability by taking any responsibility is cornered into the wall just stating his mutual disgust of the whole filthy mess and trying to right it going forward.
Here is a suggestion for righting in the future: Permit an order of Married Clergy. Surely, we need more clergy to do things like give eucharist to people in hospitals, visit the sick, visit prisoners, heal the sick, raise the dead and feed, clothe and house the multitudes. Or are we all done and overstaffed there.
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