|
For Immediate Release March 16, 2006
Contact: Sr. Christine Schenk, FutureChurch
216-228-0869 (office)
216-513-3647 (U.S. cell until March 29, 2006)
011-39-06-339-564-1658 (Rome cell, March 30-April 8)
Rome Pilgrimage Honors Women Officeholders in Early Church
Catholic Women View Archaeologic Evidence For Women Deacons, Priests, Bishops
Postcard Campaign Requests Women Preachers, Deacons, Discussion of Priesthood
From March 31 to April 8, thirty one Catholic women from the US and Canada will visit Rome with the express purpose of honoring women leaders in the early church and tracing archaeologic evidence that, official statements to the contrary, the Catholic Church does have a tradition of ordaining women to church ministries.
"Church officials can tell us that they have no authority to ordain women but it is incorrect to say, as they have since 1976, that there is no tradition of women's ordination in the Catholic Church," said pilgrimage co-leader Sr. Christine Schenk. "The archaeological, epigraphical and literary data plainly show that we have had many women officeholders, including priests, deacons and bishops, as those roles were understood at the time. We are grateful for the opportunity to honor these wonderful women and learn about their leadership."
The pilgrimage is sponsored by the Cleveland-based FutureChurch and will be co-led by archaeologist and theologian, Dr. Dorothy Irvin. Irvin holds holds a pontifical doctorate in Catholic Theology from the University of Tubingen and for the last eighteen years has been an active field archaeologist.
The group will visit catacomb sites to view ancient frescos of women being clothed in priestly vestments and celebrating the Eucharist. Visits to Rome churches to view mosaics of early women leaders, including a woman bishop, as well as day trips to Ostia and Assisi are on the schedule. Prayer and lecture activities are planned for each site.
Concurrently, a six month postcard campaign has been launched asking U.S. bishops to allow women to preach and proclaim the Gospel and to petition Rome to open the conversation about women deacons and priests.
The pilgrimage and postcard campaign are special activities derived from FutureChurch's Women in Church Leadership and Mary of Magdala projects which they developed in partnership with Call To Action and its 41 regional affiliates.
For more information see attached pdfs of Itinerary, Women Officeholders in the Early Church Monograph and sample postcard.
FutureChurch is a coalition of parish centered Catholics who seek the full participation of all Catholics in the life of the Church. FutureChurch strives to educate fellow Catholics about the seriousness of the priest shortage, the centrality of the Eucharist (the Mass), and the systemic inequality of women in the Catholic Church. It seeks to participate in formulating and expressing the Sensus Fidelium (the Spirit inspired beliefs of the faithful) through open, prayerful and enlightened dialogue with other Catholics locally and globally.
Call to Action is a national organization of 25,000 laity, religious and clergy with its national office in Chicago and 41 local chapters. It advocates for reforms in the Catholic Church such as equality for women and homosexuals in the Church, optional celibacy for priests, more focus on the church's social teaching, and consultation with the Catholic people on church decision making.
|
