Let's start over

...As discouraging as this draft may be, I also want to point to signs of hope and new opportunity for women in other events and experiences that have occurred since November 1983, when the decision to write a pastoral letter was first made...

...Today, I can say that I am personally in favor of the ordination of women into a renewed priestly ministry...

...that was at our June 1992 meeting...

...After almost a decade of listening to voices of women (and men), including voices from the scholarly community, can we keep insisting that those views have no meaning, express no truth...

...gave information concerning women and poverty...

...r hile this type of process would be in the nature of a personal reflection, it would also eventually be shared with the community at large so that all may benefit from the endeavor...

...One little girl promptly responded: "Six for women and seven for men...

...I admire and applaud the courage of Bishop Imesch, who refused the Vatican's request to eliminate from Drafts II and III any reference to women in the diaconate...

...They are to be "members of the colle-gial body in union with the Holy Father and to be pastors and members of living diverse local churches, whose special aspirations and perceptions we (as a national body) share and reflect...

...Suggestions It is time for the bishops to try some new things: 1. Instead of endorsing Draft IV as an authoritative pastoral letter at the bishops' November meeting—an unlikely event, since it would require a two-thirds majority vote—issue a ten-page statement outlining agreed-upon truths, spelling out a few of the substantive proposals from the conclusions of Draft III, and identifying major issues in need of further dialogue and discernment...

...We cannot adjust by skipping a button...

...Our last state is worse than the first...

...In the U.S...

...The letter lacks an adequate structural analysis, though such analysis is readily available in contemporary scholarship, to demonstrate how pervasive the ideology and system of patriarchy are in the institutional church and how harmful and destructive this system is...

...For unless the bishops can redeem the situation in November, what began as a good-willed, if ill-conceived, effort will end in disappointment and dissatisfaction on all sides...

...This raised awareness of women's concerns with the church, not only in the United States, but in a number of countries around the world...

...25 September 1992 Commonweal manity and truth, then clearly women's reality or truth must be factored into an emerging consciousness and subsequent structural change...

...On the negative side: While the committee's consultations revealed many new and helpful insights, I believe that its members did not enjoy the necessary freedom of inquiry in their search for the truth about women's equality in the church...

...This internal dissension culminated in an unprecedented move by two bishops, who disassociated themselves from the third draft by preparing a minority report...

...2. Advocate that this dialogue be continued at every level of Commonweal church life...

...What steps has he already taken, perhaps, as a result of this pastoral process...

...While the commission's study could uncover new and persuasive arguments that support the church's present teaching on the exclusion of women from the ordained priesthood, I believe it would also discover and support modern scholarly and pastoral developments that call for the opening of ordination for women...

...Any following steps would be determined by the state of the question at that time...

...I consider this to be the most serious gap in the entire text...

...Appraising the nine-year history of this effort is a little like walking through a minefield...

...In Vatican IFs Declaration on Religious Freedom, the church evidenced its ability to discern new realities and new truths...

...4. Encourage the development of support groups for women and men who need to identify workable strategies to contribute to the advancement of issues and to avoid despair...

...Insist to the Vatican that the ban on altar girls—a symbolic issue—be removed...

...How did he respond to them...

...As soon as we begin to speak about the structures of the church, we come face to face with the issue of ordination, the most painful issue the committee had to address and which is taken up most directly in Draft IV...

...They were uncomfortable with the "feminist agenda" and believe women's rights are seen in isolation from children's and husbands' rights...

...No such effort was made for the women's pastoral...

...The call for conversion in Draft III was presented in terms of personal relationships...

...For example, in Draft II's references to ordination it is said that all the bishops affirm and identify with the unbroken tradition...

...We believe that such a study would illuminate and develop the church's teaching from Scripture and tradition relative to the ordination of women...

...It is important to view the pastoral as a continuum rather than as a definitive document...

...promoted fair remuneration for women working for the church...

...There was a good attempt in Draft III to characterize the mutuality shared by men and women, but there is a failure to follow through consistently with the new insight in recommending changes in the institutional church, which continues to operate out of the old dual-nature model...

...Sexism...

...14: 25 September 1992 ~^^~~~~~^~~~ The Role ol the Bishops Here, let me call attention to the twofold role of bishops as described by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin in his 1977 presidential address to the NCCB...

...These issues are still under intense discussion among scholars...

...bishops representing various continents and cultures of the world...

...The Commiliee Bishop Joseph Imesch's committee has rendered an important service...

...The fourth draft of the letter, which was sent to all of the bishops at the end of August, further distances us from the women who have spoken to us during the past decade...

...As a result of the many exchanges between Vatican officials and the U.S...

...The patriarchal family continues to serve as model and legitimating structure in our church today...

...After all, if the religious community cannot show the world a spirit of reconciliation, then where else shall we look for hope and vision...

...Sexism—"understood as an erroneous conviction that one sex, male or female, is superior to the other in the very order of creation and by the very nature of things"—was called a sin in Draft III...

...What a new moment it would be for the American bishops to engage our hearts and help renew the church's institutional life in a profound reconsideration of soul in addressing the concerns of women in the church...

...On the other hand, many bishops, through their pastoral experience of listening to women, have been persuaded to restudy the ordination issue...

...tee listened to a diversity of women who are members of the church's body...

...The pastoral needs of the church require it...

...It seems to absolutize the image of Christ as bridegroom, while ignoring the Christ who challenged the status quo and who called himself "the way, the truth, and the life...

...They urged the Committee on Women, Church, and Society to "widen the dialogue" to include other voices and groups...

...As presently constituted, church structures do not allow women access to the fullness of sacramental life...

...to men, who are stunted in their potential for full growth...

...This is significant but there was no treatment of the causes of sexism in our society and church, no discussion as to how sexism permeates the history of the church and its attitude and actions concerning women, no explanation about how sexism and patriarchy support and reinforce one another, no attempt to see how women's present experience of sexism could help shape the fundamental changes needed...

...Women are more angry than ever...

...Bishops need to be supported in their stand...

...5. Seize the moment of the November meeting for public dialogue and education...

...On the basis of such reflections, the Women's Committee of the NCCB could then develop a report for the bishops, outlining new insights and questions...

...The full impact of these exchanges with the Vatican can now be seen in Draft IV...

...In our failure to come to grips with the question of patriarchy, we bishops seem to be buttoning up a coat that has the top button in the wrong button hole...

...Let us continue our journey with honesty, respect, and faith in the overwhelming significance of what we are undertaking— the building of a sacred bridge on which together we walk to heal ourselves of conflict...

...I was very impressed by his honesty and that of Bishop Matthew Clark who shared their convictions and knowledge about the women's issue with participants at the Vatican consultation in Rome in May 1991...

...bishops' response (May 1977) to the "Call To Action" Conference (Detroit 1975), we affirmed the conclusions of Inter insigniores (The Vatican Declaration on the 25 September 1992: 13 Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood...

...7. Press for initiation of dialogue with Rome on liturgical ministries other than ordination for women...

...It consulted the experience of many whose talents and aspirations are unjustly overlooked, especially in the church...

...They made a number of proposals, such as formation of women's commissions, promotion of sex education programs, etc...

...But, the most serious concern raised by Vatican officials was the consultation process used by the Imesch Committee...

...Sexism represents a threefold injustice: to women, who are denied their rightful place in the human community...

...That critique along with a second one should have been made public...

...The Roman Intervention I deeply regret that the U.S...

...As a result of listening, the three drafts urged the inclusion of women in liturgical ministries...

...This other path would consist of a serious reflection, an "open reflection" as it were, on the part of each bishop himself as to what he has learned as a result of this endeavor to bring into the public forum the issues that women (and men) are raising...

...They cannot participate fully because they are excluded from its decision-making mechanisms and bodies by the fact that they are excluded from ordination...

...and to the community as a whole, whose life is impoverished by the diminishment of both women and men...

...bishops' conference decided in November 1990 not to discuss Draft II because of a Vatican intervention...

...We need to keep uppermost in mind that the point of a dialogue is not to persuade or move people from their positions but rather to listen, to learn how others define themselves, and to be open, allowing oneself to be disposed to what others say...

...Revisit the issue in five years...

...We also invited theologians to join us in a serious study of various aspects of the teaching...

...It has to be claimed...

...Women's calls, as well as men's, should be tested...

...My response is: if one is loyal to Christ and to the truth as one honestly sees it, one will ultimately be loyal both to Rome and to the local church...

...n Commonweal 25 September 1992: 15...

...Neither did the process include sufficient time for debate and discussion among the bishops themselves in public assembly...

...It insists that the male head of the household has absolute control and power over his wife, children, kin, and property...

...proposed a serious study of the diaconate...

...All of the bishops have a right and a need to receive copies for our own understanding and guidance...

...Justice demands it...

...The next phase of the pastoral process could involve a distribution of these personal reflections and inviting responses to them...

...Withholding it because Rome does not appear to wish to hear, is disloyalty to Rome and the Petrine ministry...

...Can we keep using arguments from tradition to support our resistance to change, denying historical reality, when history teaches us that many Catholic traditions have changed over the centuries...

...LETS START OVER A BISHOP APPRAISES THE PASTORAL ON WOMEN P. FRANCIS MURPHY In this essay I want to look at the failure of the American bishops to address and respond to women's concerns honestly in the various drafts of our pastoral letter, "One in Christ Jesus...

...9. Support Bishop Kenneth Untcner's call for a restudy of Humanae vitae...

...I say this because what is currently offered as Christian anthropology, even in some cases by people who consider themselves "pro-women," is often not informed by the findings of contemporary archaeology, paleontology, biology, psychology, sociology, and the other human sciences, but by Augustine's interpretation of male/female roles...

...In the process, some fundamental issues that go beyond women's concerns have been raised, issues such as ecclesiolo-gy, the role of Rome, the nature of our being church together...

...Some of the material in this essay is based on an address given at the College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, May 9, 1992...

...Commonweal 25 September 1992: 11 notably, birth control and women's ordination, in a manner that a substantial number of well-disposed Catholics would find honest and credible...

...Do we bishops truly believe that our leaching will be accepted by persons of faith and good will if only we work harder to clarify Ihe teaching...

...What were his own efforts to draw together diocesan resources and groups of women to help inform himself and give shape to his responses...

...These are very important moments for further development among bishops and for new understanding and dialogue between bishops and women...

...It is a giant step backward from some of the promising insights and new directions found in the three earlier drafts...

...In writing the pastorals both on peace and on the economy, the bishops were immensely enriched and their debate focused by the spoken and written contribution of experts in those fields...

...In other words, the bishops set the norms and the rules, and women come seeking ways to enter into the "givens"— givens drawn up and established apart from any input by women...

...I believe this issue to be as important as the issue Paul raised with Peter...

...This error and the sinful attitudes it generates not only radically distorts the order of creation...

...On the one hand, Popes Paul VI and John Paul II have compelled bishops to support and uphold this normative teaching...

...At the conclusion of the NCCB-WOC (Women's Ordination Conference) Dialogue (March 1982), the bishop participants, of whom I was one, urged the Administrative Committee to "review Inter insigniores in light of the insights of Christian anthropology, sacramental theology, and the experience of women ministering in the United States...

...There is so much to treasure in Catholic tradition and social teaching that does and can benefit both our church and our society...

...whereas Draft III puts it this way: "We make reference to the Vatican Declaration's re-affirmation of the unbroken tradition...

...Significant numbers of people, women and men of good will and recognized wisdom (as well as many respected theologians and scholars), do not find the official position of excluding women from ordination convincing or persuasive...

...I believe we would then directly see the kind of harmful pressure being exerted by Rome on the legitimate process of discernment underway in the Catholic Church in the United States...

...Because, in light of all that has transpired, I am now convinced that we as bishops have to consider alternatives, I urge that our process continue along another path than issuing a pastoral letter...

...By this I mean a study of the human race encompassing its physical character as it is lived out in a historical and cultural context in the specifically Jewish and Christian traditions...

...These difficulties are fundamental...

...While these proposals were not transformative, they were genuine responses to a variety of problems...

...Even so, the work of the committee makes it clear that we are still learning, still trying to sort out the issues, still struggling with a formidable array of new anthropological, theological, ecclesiological, philosophical, and social questions...

...3. In view of the bishops' evident lack of readiness fora pastoral letter, redirect the process to parish and diocesan levels...

...It is especially urgent that a dialogue be opened between feminism and Catholic social thought with its patriarchal bias...

...We should remember that, at least initially, the bishops listened to women—some 75,000 of them in 140 diocesan consultations...

...In his "Meditation on the Dignity of Women" (1988), Pope John Paul II cites this text from Genesis [3:16] when speaking on marriage: "He [man] shall rule over you," and reflects that this is intended to represent patriarchy as a sinful situation, not normative but disruptive...

...Is this not an important reason why "official teaching on birth regulation, homosexuality, gender equality, etc., is not received, even by well-disposed, faith-filled Catholics" (Draft III...

...There is a strong emphasis on equality between women and men being understood as complementarity, not mutuality...

...It brought this listening process into the public domain and opened a dialogue that cannot be dismissed or ignored...

...Men can define their own roles and they also determine women's roles...

...I ask myself the same question...

...Such a commission should be composed of an equal number of women and men including scholars in Scripture, anthropology, and theology...

...In all 140 diocesan consultations on Drafts I and II of the pastoral letter, participants expressed serious disagreement with the present teaching of the church on the exclusion of women from ordination to the priesthood...

...Vatican II, he said, "introduced a real, almost miraculous, conversion in the attitudes of the church toward the Jewish people...

...For fifteen years I have experienced and felt the profound pain of women over their exclusion from the sacrament of Holy Orders...

...Today, in my opinion, it is right and just, urgent in fact, that the Catholic Church in the United States bring its insights and wisdom, the shared reflection of the community about the role of women, to the church universal...

...The question is raised: How does a bishop maintain both loyalties—to Rome and to the local church...

...To speak the truth in love" is the deepest loyalty to anyone or any institution...

...presented new insights for men to consider...

...I was recently reminded of this fact when I asked a group of first-graders how many sacraments there were...

...Conclusion I want to affirm the influence and enrichment brought to my own learning and to my growth as a person and as a bishop by feminist scholars and many deeply committed and gifted women...

...No matter how carefully we button the rest of the coat, it will not fit...

...My own concern about the viability of a pastoral that excluded the ordination issue was deepened with evidence of a continuing struggle within the committee itself...

...It also reminded us that the current National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) could not respond to certain issues, "Well, what's the verdict...

...6. Power is never given...

...Yet, it is imperative that sexism, in all of its institutional manifestations, must be more fully examined and determined efforts made to redress its injustices...

...Perhaps a critical first step is the need to legitimate and reaffirm the right of local bishops to engage in such dialogue without fear of being considered disloyal...

...It was not extended to conversion of church structures...

...ur church, mirroring society at large, is built on a system dating back as far as the third millennium B.C...

...The real strength of the process is that the bishops' commitBISHOP P. FRANCIS MURPHY is an auxiliary bishop in Baltimore and, from 1978-89, was a member of the NCCB Committee on Women...

...It likewise excludes women from presiding at the table where the community of faith is fed...

...Draft IV introduces a new tone—one of caution, fear, and even blame for the victims of sexism...

...Draft IV, though directly taking up the question of ordination, introduces questionable theological arguments to support the tradition that excludes women from the ministerial priesthood...

...In nine years, we have had only one significant discussion in plenary session...

...denounced violence against women...

...and outlined some problematic issues relating to single, divorced, and lesbian women in the church community...

...Questions of Christian anthropology are fundamental to an understanding of equality of persons in the church and in society...

...It showed us how diverse the responses are in different places in the United States...

...Repeatedly, in all of the drafts, useful insights are put forth with no follow-through because they are not consistent with the "Catholic heritage...

...I recognize the bishops' duty to be loyal and accountable to the College of Bishops and the Vicar of Christ, and the responsibility of the American bishops to be open to differing points of view from other cultures and countries...

...bishops' conference over the pastoral drafts, we bishops can draw some conclusions...

...Despite disappointment, anger, and frustration, can we find any light and hope from church history...

...Still, I believe it is helpful to review what the pastoral letter has achieved, what it has failed to achieve, and the challenges it presents for the future...

...Perhaps the greatest methodological problem of the process was the failure to set in motion an initiative parallel to the committee's listening process that would have engaged the scholarly community in preparing papers on the central issues of the debate for study by the bishops...

...Anthropology...

...Dialogue will help us grow in clarity about the guidance of the Spirit in the face of the serious disagreements which do, in fact, remain among us...

...examined and condemned the sin of sexism and its oppressive effects...

...Draft IV waters down the condemnation of sexism as "sin" and refers to it instead as "a moral and social evil...

...They asserted that bishops are teachers, not learners...

...This commission would begin an open, scholarly, and thorough investigation of the issue of women's ordination...

...Our credibility is on the line...

...I believe the answer is yes...

...Ordination...

...Only then can modern feminist thought, which, after all, comes in various forms, begin to assist the mag-isterium in its reflections on the central and underlying issue— patriarchy—that supports the evil of sexism in the church and has a pervasive influence in our culture...

...As a regional church in dialogue with the world within which it is embedded and reflecting the consciousness of its own faith community, the Catholic Church in the United States has a critical role to play in shaping the emerging theological consciousness of the full body...

...There is great resistance to formally opening up liturgical ministries like altar servers or acolytes to girls or women, though, in time, there may be a favorable decision on altar girls...

...I also express profound sorrow for my own failures in communication, language, and relationships with women co-workers and friends...

...Patriarchy is the social myth that has been the root metaphor for church and society for the past 5,000 years...

...It also gratuitously contends that men are called to priesthood for service rather than power, implying that women are interested in priesthood for the power it represents...

...truth cannot emerge through consultation...

...8. Issue a call for an international commission to review the ordination issue...

...As several bishops have noted, Drafts III and IV bear marks of the strong influence of these Vatican critiques...

...Content There are four specific issues—anthropology, patriarchy, sexism, and ordination—that I find most unsatisfactory in the text...

...The present teaching on ordination, said to rest on an unbroken tradition, is considered to be of divine revelation...

...Although the Code of Canon Law eliminates some elements of this system, it keeps others...

...In Nosira aelate, the council fathers achieved what Cardinal Bea called a "reconsideration of soul...

...The statement continues to define sexism in a narrow way whereby women are seen and circumscribed by their sexuality...

...Patriarchy...

...In fact, however, dominance pervades our church, a dominance that excludes the presence, insights, and experience of women from the "table" where the formulation of the church's doctrine takes place and the exercise of its power is discerned...

...We further stated: "We respect the conclusions of Inter insigniores, and we invite theologians to a serious study of the issues it addresses...

...This patriarchy continues to permeate the church and supports a climate that not only robs women of their full personhood, but also encourages men to be domineering, aggressive, and selfish...

...It seems to me that the pastoral is built around the basic assumption, present in our culture as well, "that males should legitimately act as the controlling cultural fathers, while females should appropriately act as dependent minors" (Catherine Spretnak, States of Grace, Harper, 1991...

...Rule by man over woman, the pope states, is not part of God's plan...

...It does not profess to speak for all but it cannot turn its back on the lived experience and wisdom of its own local members...

...I am also well aware of the widespread disagreement among members of the church over this issue...

...The committee made it clear how genuinely important the issues—lumped under the rubric of women's concerns—are, from our perspective as men with special "oversight" responsibilities in the church...

...How can women accept this interpretation when an all-male group (bishops) claims to have all the truth and to be able to determine the roles of women...

...It would add an extremely important component to the pastoral process since each bishop holds a unique position in the church structure and plays a key role in bringing about many of the changes women and men are seeking...

...Presumably the perspective of this minority report along with Vatican critiques is what now has been incorporated into the letter and appears in Draft IV...

...We can't pretend it fits—no matter how nice the coat...

...If men and women have differing perspectives on hu12...

...Let each bishop reflect on his reactions to the four drafts...

...To be in dialogue is to expose oneself to the revision of one's previous views...

...In its discussion on the regulation of birth, the pastoral letter does not fully grapple with the important issue of the nonreception of the teaching of the magistcrium...

...The members of the Administrative Committee were not persuaded, saying we were hearing only from women on the fringe...

...and members of the Orthodox and other major Christian communities...

...This understanding of women's inferiority goes back to and in turn is based on the traditional interpretation of Genesis...

...In the words of Draft II: "They (women] ask how the church can proclaim that women and men are equal and, at the same time, deny ordination to women on the basis of sex...

...namely, the admission of Gentiles into Christianity...

...it also violates the nature of things by disrupting interpersonal relations and affecting adversely the social patterns and modes of comCommonweal munication that influence our day-to-day life in the world...

...If one listens attentively to the faith and experience of the local church, genuine loyalty to Rome requires that one communicate that faith and experience to Rome...

...The bishops are caught in a dilemma...