FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   

July 5,  2006

Contact:        Sr. Christine Schenk                                                           Ms. Linda Pieczynski

                       FutureChurch                                                                          Call To Action

                      216-228-0869 (w)                                                                        630-655-8783 (w)                                                  216-513-3647 (cell)                                                                      630-399-6924 (cell)

As DaVinci Movie Fades,

True Mary of Magdala Has Staying Power

Thousands Expected at July 22 Celebrations, Postcard Campaign Calls for Catholic Women Preachers, Deacons, Discussion of Priesthood

As box office charts indicate, the Da Vinci Code movie is on it way out. While the mystery thriller film is losing its intrigue for Americans, the true Mary of Magdala, the prominent women leader in the early Christian Church, continues to inspire thousands of women and men who long for a Church and a world affirming the equality of women.

Over 250 groups in the U.S. and worldwide will hold special celebrations of the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala on or around July 22 in Catholic parishes, convents, schools, retreat houses, private homes, Protestant churches, and small faith communities.

For the past nine years, FutureChurch and Call To Action spearheaded an effort to reverse mistaken idea that Mary of Magdala was a prostiture, instead celebrating her as the first witness to the Resurrection. This year, special celebrations will be held in the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia Canada, Ireland, and Malaysia and are expected to attract between 30 and 300 people at each location.

While the DaVinci Code focuses on the fiction that Mary of Magdala was married to Jesus, thousands of Catholics and other Christians have chosen instead to celebrate her in her true identity as the “Apostle to the Apostles” and the first witness to the Resurrection. They celebrate a woman leader whose faith did not allow her to deny or run away from the horrors of the crucifixion but chose to stay in loving compassionate support.

“Today, our Church overlooks women leaders. Yet statistics show that 82% of paid lay ministers serving the Church right now are women. These are the women who truly follow in the footsteps of Mary Magdala and should be celebrated and recognized as part of her feast day,” said Sr. Chris Schenk, FutureChurch executive director.

To send that message to Church leaders, this year's celebrations contain an advocacy postcard campaign called Women Proclaiming the Gospel.

“We're asking our Bishops to welcome women preachers, ordain women to the diaconate, and re-open the discussion about women's ordination to the priesthood, based on contemporary biblical and theological research,” said Linda Pieczynski of Call To Action.

Postcards addressed to local bishops and Bishop Skylstad as President of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops will be distributed at the celebrations

“Our Church should reflect Jesus' inclusive practice, and also recognize the leadership roles held by women in the early Church,” said Emily Hoag of FutureChurch, who coordinated the celebrations for both groups. “Recent archeological and literary evidence clearly shows that there were many women leaders of the Church who served as deacons, priests, and even bishops.”

The recommended format for the celebration consists of a presentation by a biblical scholar or Church historian explaining recent findings about St. Mary of Magdala's discipleship, followed by a prayer service at which a woman leader presides.

FutureChurch has a list of celebration sites and times posted on its website at www.futurechurch.org
(Click on the Mary Magdala icon on the home page. )

Local media contacts are also available from FutureChurch
(216-228-0869).

Free copies of the service and the postcards are available from the FutureChurch website: www.futurechurch.org

FutureChurch, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a national coalition of 5,000 parish-centered Catholics striving 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. FutureChurch makes presentations throughout the country, distributes educational and informational packets and encourages widespread discussion of the need to open ordination to all baptized Catholics who are called to priestly ministry by God and the people of God.

Call to Action is a national organization founded in 1977 as a follow up to the U.S. Bishops' Call to Action conference in 1976. Its members include 25,000 laity, religious and clergy with a 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.