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Catholic Church and Women
For Erika Bachiochi, the Catholic Church has been able to offer a genuine pro-woman theology which not only safeguards and protects her stance as a feminist, but also enhances her ability to be strong in all aspects of her life.
Erika Bachiochi (left) and Dr. Mary Anne CaseThese two legal scholars from varied backgrounds met on the common stage of feminism at the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought’s 10th annual Great Debate in Boulder, Colo. on Feb. 23, 2017. The two women presented dissenting arguments for both sides of the spectrum on Catholic feminism and tackled the question: is the Church anti-woman?
Pros and Cons
Dr. Case, a law professor at the University of Chicago, answered in the affirmative, while Erika Bachiochi, a visiting fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, answered in the negative.“In my lifetime, the Church that had made me a feminist betrayed me,” Dr. Case said in her opening statements. “I think the Church has let us down, and I think the Church has let us down relatively recently. The early church was very much not anti-woman. The gospels are not anti-woman,” she continued, saying the Catholic Church of the past was not anti-feminist.
Pope’s Call to Action
U.S. Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements from PICO National Network on Vimeo.
You may not have heard about it, but it was a big deal – big enough to inspire Pope Francis to get involved.
Archb. José H. Gomez (2nd from left) links arms with other participants at U.S. Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements; CNS photo: Dennis Sadowski.Sponsored in part by the Vatican’s department of Integral Human Development and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the WMPM in California was the first such regional gathering to follow three previous international meetings.
A LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP
Editor: This is a recent letter from the Presidents of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) to President Donald J. Trump. Visuals added.)
President Donald J. TrumpThe gift of leadership is given to American leaders by the “Right of the People.” Leadership brings with it a great joy and a great responsibility.
We serve as Presidents of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), respectively. Together we represent the elected leaders of 38,800 Catholic Sisters and 17,000 Catholic Brothers and religious priests who live and minister throughout the United States. As elected leaders we know and share with you both the joy and the burden of this service.
We and the members of our communities seek to be instruments of the reconciliation our people urgently need. In our poverty of spirit, we rely on the help of God and the example of Jesus, the one who came to serve us all.
Since before the founding of our nation and often during its darkest hours, Catholic Sisters, Brothers and religious priests, ourselves often immigrants, have served the needs of both civic leaders and those on the outskirts of influence. We have chosen to live with those who were sick, dying or living in poverty.
Mexican Bishops to Pres. Trump
The bishops of Mexico on Thursday reacted to United States' president Donald Trump's executive order to build a wall on the nations' border by urging a more thoughtful response to legitimate security concerns.A wall will punish the poorest and most vulnerable
Mexican Bp. Alfonso G. Miranda Guardiola, with Pope FrancisTrump had Jan. 25 ordered a wall to be built on the U.S.-Mexico border. An estimated 650 miles of the 1,900 mile-long U.S.-Mexico border have a wall constructed currently.
The Mexican bishops noted that for more than 20 years, the prelates of “the northern border of Mexico and the southern border of the United States have been working” to achieve “the best care for the faithful that live in the sister countries, properly seen as a single city (from a faith perspective); communities of faith served by two dioceses (such as Matamoros and Brownsville, or Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, for example).”
“What pains us foremost is that many people who live out their family relationships, their faith, work or friendships will be shut out even more by this inhuman interference,” they lamented.
A wall destabilizes the communities living along the border
The bishops recalled the statement of Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, head of the United States bishops' committee on immigration, that “this action will put immigrant lives needlessly in harm's way. Construction of such a wall will only make migrants, especially vulnerable women and children, more susceptible to traffickers and smugglers. Additionally, the construction of such a wall destabilizes the many vibrant and beautifully interconnected communities that live peacefully along the border.”LEPROSY - STILL A CHALLENGE
The Church has a long tradition of assistance towards leprosy patients, especially in mission territories, which is expressed not only with medical care and spiritual assistance, but also offering them the possibility of reintegration into society.Damian, Apostle of the Lepers of Molokai
Countless people around the world subject to leprosy; photo: AIFOAccording to the latest "Statistical Yearbook of the Church", the Catholic Church runs 612 centers for leprosy patients in the world: 174 in Africa, 43 in America (total), 313 in Asia, 81 in Europe and one in Oceania.
Very Sad Numbers
The nations that are home to the largest number of centers for leprosy patients are in Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo (27), Madagascar (26), Kenya (21); North America: United States (2); Central America: Mexico (5), Honduras (2); Central America-Antilles: Haiti (2) and Dominican Rep. (2); in South America: Brazil (14), Ecuador (4), Peru (4); in Asia: India (234), Korea (22), Vietnam (15); Oceania: Papua New Guinea (1); in Europe: Portugal (63), Germany (16), Belgium (1), Italy (1).One person is affected by leprosy every two minutes
Cardinal Tobin talks immigration, March for Life
People We Cannot Help
Countless people from the Muslim minority of the ethnic Rohingya population flee persecution100,000 people with no place to lay their heads
Thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, neighboring state: the Burmese Government does not consider them citizens, but "illegal immigrants", depriving them of all rights. This status of institutionalized discrimination has existed for decades, but in recent years has continued to worsen: since 2012 social and religious tensions in the state of Rahkine have started, and the Rohingya have been subject to violence and persecution promoted by Buddhist nationalist groups who call for the expulsion by the state.The Gift of Mission
We have all, at one time or another, placed ourselves in the context of a Gospel scene – been present at the last supper, or pondered with Nicodemus what it meant to be “born from above”, or listened as peacemakers were proclaimed blessed and the children of God. The Mission of the Disciples
My favorite passages evolve around that first day of the week when Jesus, raised from the dead, appeared to his disciples. With them I find myself vacillating between emotions of fear, doubt, bewilderment, amazement, and joy as in celebration they acclaim: “It is true! The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34).Christians in the Holy Land
For those born in Jerusalem, birth certificates shed light on the complexities that have come to define this holiest of cities. Sami El-Yousef’s grandfather was born in the Christian Quarter of the Old City in 1890: his birth certificate reflected the Turkish Ottoman rule of the time.
Sami El-Yousef is a native of the Old City of Jerusalem.Their Christian Identity
Regardless of the tremendous changes, instability and marking the last century Holy Land, the El-Yousef emphasizes what has constant: their Christian identity. Governing authorities may come and and go – as have those who make up the Church of Jerusalem that includes modern Israel, Jordan and Palestine – but the "mother church" remains unbroken.PEACEMAKING - INSIDE AND OUT
Kim Radigan (center) with colleaguesEditor: This is an edited version of an acceptance speech given by Kim Redigan at the 2016 Peacemaker Awards Ceremony on October 7, 2016 at the WSU (Wayne State University).
I am deeply honored and humbled to be here today at Wayne State University’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies to receive this award and say a few words about peacemaking.
The Center is an inspiration for many of us who understand that the work of peace is not something abstract or sentimental or passive. Rather, it is often excruciatingly difficult work that engages head, heart, and hands. I applaud the Center for taking on the tough and often thankless work of peacemaking in a world that does not yet understand the things that make for peace and for graduating scholar-activists.
My Family Background
I come to this work as a mother, teacher, and peace educator who dreams of the day when money wasted by the Pentagon is spent on the pursuit of peace . . . when resources that are squandered on war are redirected to the work of rebuilding our communities.