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With much interest I read your cover story “When Theodora was a bishop” (NCR, June 22). As I frequently write about church ministry, especially ministry of women, it gave me a lot of new information. You nowhere mentioned John Wijngaards in London. He has an excellent Web site (www.womenpriests.org) and is the author of two scientific studies, “The Ordination of Women in the Catholic Church” and recently “Women Deacons in the Roman Catholic Church” (see www.womenpriests.org/deacons). He discovered that in the Latin church there have been ordinations of women deacons until the 10th century and that the ritual for the ordination ceremony still exists in the church’s ritual books but no longer is used. When the authorities allow the ordination of women, the ritual is already there.
LAMBERT VAN GELDER
Nijmegen, Holland
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The assessment you received from professor Philip Rousseau on the kind of evidence cited in “When Theodora was a bishop” represents the consensus of scholarly caution on early Christian inscriptions. I hope that readers will take note. NCR has probably heard from other readers that presbyterissa or diaconissa most often means the wife of a priest or deacon, though there were, of course, women charged with diaconal responsibilities, whatever that might have meant in the fourth century.
I was distressed by the title of the article, “When Theodora was a bishop,” reinforced by the front page photo showing a portion of the St. Zeno Chapel at the Roman church of Santa Prassede, with a female figure surmounted by the inscription “episcopa.” In fact, the lady in question was Pope Paschal’s mother and not a member of the clergy at all! On their visit to the church, your feminist scholars probably walked right by the Latin inscription that says so. This mosaic was a touching way for Paschal to memorialize his mother at her burial site, one of the jewels of Christian art.
I recall that a similar notion about “bishop” Theodora popped up in NCR a few years ago -- an anomaly that has now become front-page news. Truth might be, as your editorial opines, “in the eye of the beholder” but you do have to know where to look.
JOSEPH DYER
Newton Highlands, Mass.
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The June 22 issue reflected the generally accepted notion that the state of women in the church is all bad news. With all the moaning that goes on about the failure of the Vatican to recognize the contribution that women can make to our beloved church, I thought I would pass on some good news from San Diego. In November 2005 we founded the Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community here. The community’s priest is Dr. Jane Via, who was ordained a year ago under the Roman Catholic Women’s Priest Movement. Our inclusive community is not a schism but an effort to reform the church from the bottom rather than waiting for change from above.
The community has been a huge success. We have over 100 registered members who come to joyously celebrate a weekly Eucharist and fully share the Gospel message with all comers. We are growing into a fully functioning parish.
We did not wait for the Vatican to recognize the need for women priests and an inclusive Catholic community. We initiated change on our own. It has been a liberating and wonderful experience for all of us. All are welcome to our inclusive table. See our Web site (www.mmacc.org) for details.
DAN DINAN
San Diego
Just to set the record straight concerning the diocese of Phoenix stating that it had “heard” that I “had a reputation for giving statements that are antithetical to Catholic teaching,” I would like to clarify what exactly that might mean (NCR, June 22). The only issues I can come up with that I espouse and that might be remotely considered antithetical to Catholic teaching are: my support for women’s ordination, my inclusion of the gay community, my belief that there is a feminine dimension of God and, finally, that the Holy Spirit (Ruha) is of the feminine gender. If these are heretical teachings or beliefs, then I would suggest that around 60 percent of Catholics are in serious error and should not participate in any public gatherings.
Had the diocese chosen to ask me about my beliefs, instead of demanding that my talks be taped, a great deal of unnecessary publicity and distress would have been avoided all round (not to mention the number of trees destroyed in the gathering of 2,000 signatures in my support).
EDWINA GATELEY
Erie, Pa.
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I was one of the 2,000 or more who signed the petition “Catholic women will not be silenced” to protest the treatment and silencing of Edwina Gateley by Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix. In retaliation, the pastor of my local parish, Fr. David Ostler of Our Lady of Lourdes in Sun City West, Ariz., immediately removed me from all leadership positions in our parish ministry. I had been leading the Sacred Heart charismatic prayer community in our parish, a space John L. Allen Jr. referred to as “a place where those of differing experiences and temperaments can meet in an atmosphere of trust.” Another woman, another ministry silenced and banned for no legitimate reason, no recourse, just follow the leader back to Vatican I. What happened to this church of ours? Don’t these men know that women in this century are allowed to speak?
LYNN NORTON
Sun City West, Ariz.
I have followed the story on Norman Finkelstein and his tenure battle with De Paul’s president, Vincentian Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider (NCR, June 22). When all the denials are said about the decision to deny tenure to Finkelstein not having been influenced by outsiders, the truth will reveal otherwise. This is another clear-cut case of “the lobby” doing its work against those who would dare suggest that Israel is anything but a virtuous and morally righteous nation.
If Fr. Holtschneider would dare to read Mr. Finkelstein’s recent book Beyond Chutzpah, he would see that two of the authors that Finkelstein excoriates are Nathan and Ruth Ann Perlmutter, who have come to redefine anti-Semitism. They are much more at ease with the anti-Semitism of Bailey Smith, who once said, “God does not hear the prayer of the Jews,” than they are with the World Council of Churches, which is highly critical of Israeli policies. Anti-Semitism is no longer defined as the irrational hatred of Jews but any attitude or voice that would undermine or criticize Israel.
Much of the book uncovers the shoddy “scholarship” of Alan Dershowitz, who is the main force behind Finkelstein’s being denied tenure. Ultimately, Mr. Finkelstein gives a voice to the voiceless, the Palestinians who have been dispossessed of their land by the Zionist state. The Anti-Defamation League called Mr. Finkelstein bigoted on its Web site the day the decision passed. The league praised DePaul for its commitment to educating Jewish students and for its wonderful relationship with the league.
Well, if the cost for Catholic universities to create amiable relationships with the Jewish community is to seal our lips about the political affairs of Israel, I would say it is not worth it.
MICHAEL HUGO
Mundelein, Ill.
Having done street preaching in the 1960s as a Glenmary home missioner, I read with interest “The church and the land” (NCR, July 6), the story of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference of which I was formerly a member.
Sadly, the original Catholic settlers in south Georgia where we street preached had been forced to attend Protestant churches for lack of one of their own; they married in them, had children and died without benefit of their own religion, the faith of their Irish fathers. I recall vividly a casual walk through a cemetery in Claxton, Ga. The Irish names there were innumerable, good people who had “fallen away” from their religion because they never again saw a Catholic priest after moving there from Savannah when they got off the boat from Ireland.
The requirement of celibacy for Catholic clergy, then as now, prevented their bishop from providing clergy for them whereas the Methodist and Baptist churches provided good married lay leaders in abundance for their membership. When will our church wake up to the serious slippage of members in “No Priest Parish, U.S.A.” due to the discipline of celibacy?
PAUL J. ACKERMAN
Columbus, Miss.
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Ethical concerns about rural life should, it seems to me, include concern for the living products of farming -- the animals that are slaughtered for our sustenance.
I am not a vegetarian, but it seems to me we have a serious ethical obligation to do something about the often inhumane slaughtering of animals by agribusinesses in the United States. Agribusinesses’ indifference to the animals is a disgrace, though some businesses, such as the Whole Foods Company, are becoming involved in an apparently growing animal welfare movement.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any non-vegetarian activist organization that works on behalf of farm animals. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is for vegetarians, and the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is for pets.
Tolerance of any sort of cruelty makes us indifferent to it, and such tolerance is, I think, a sin.
ANN OLIVIER
New Orleans
Regarding “Tridentine Mass authorized” (NCR, July 6). I think making the old Latin Mass more available is just asking for trouble. Nostalgically challenged priests will, if they can, feed their starving egos and the fundamentalist Catholic laity with a dose of the magical. I never tire of visiting a progressive-looking parish somewhere when vacationing, only to be shocked back in time with the return of the bells or seeing a young priest refuse to stand at the presider’s chair and instead standing at the altar for the whole liturgy because he believes that’s where he is supposed to preside.
If the old Latin Mass does make a return, it will be used as a symbol of dissent towards the Second Vatican Council, and the laity will be the victims once again of the clergy who think the church is their own personal sandbox. I predict no catechesis, no dialogue with the parishioners as to why this is a good thing. It will just be dropped in our laps.
JULIAN JANISSE
Liberty, Texas
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I grew up at St. Catherine’s in Burlingame, Calif., in the 1950s. Of course the Mass was in Latin. Our pastor “said” the weekday Mass in 15 minutes at the most; it was over almost before it began. How well I remember being in the church, kneeling with my father, mother and brother and watching the priest at the altar, far, far away from the people, his back turned to the congregation, speaking in a mysterious language. Even as an altar boy, I was told that the Mass was “Father’s prayer.” Folks “attended” Mass in those days as one might attend a symphony concert or a play. Folks “heard” Mass as one might listen to a dramatic reading, clearly not as participants or as the people of God united in prayer but as an audience enjoying a stellar performance.
I will celebrate my 25th anniversary as a priest in December. I have not the slightest idea how to celebrate the Latin Mass, and there are countless priests like me. I pray that these liturgical changes will be ultimately life-giving and perhaps bring about some reconciliation with disaffected Catholics who have opposed and rejected the Mass in vernacular for so many years. I pray that these new changes will not amount to, in computer terms, a “fatal error.”
(Fr.) PIERS LAHEY
San Francisco
Regarding Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican, and Kidnap Pope Pius XII (NCR, July 6): In 1975, while performing the premier of my one-man show “O Papa!” at the Vatican-owned Teatro Goldoni, I was privileged to meet several folk with inside knowledge of the German occupation of Rome, including the late Frances Riley-Persichetti, director of the theater.
Married to an Italian and from a neutral country, she entered the Vatican most days to give English lessons to the Chinese ambassador and to convey useful information pertaining to Nazi activities. Her husband, a schoolteacher, was killed shortly before the German evacuation ahead of the American and British liberators.
In the show, I utilized a section of the book The Last Three Popes and the Jews by Canadian-born Israeli diplomat Pinchas Lapide, in which Pius XII’s efforts on behalf of the Jews were highly praised. The plot to capture the pope, “Operation Pontiff,” planned by Martin Bormann, was highlighted. By the time of the Bormann plot, papal denunciation of the Nazis was impossible since all means of communication within Nazi Europe were tightly controlled, including the power switch for Vatican Radio.
Frances told me that 50 Jewish refugees were serving with the Swiss Guard, and for the first time they were armed with submachine guns. Pius’ sister, the Princess Pacelli, learning of my defense of her brother, came to the theater personally to thank me. I was born in 1939, shortly before Pius’ election and the Nazi occupation of Europe. Pius will always be my pope.
TOM LEE
Phoenix
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National Catholic Reporter, July 20, 2007