FOCUS E-NewsAugust 20 - August 27, 2017 Edition

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Sr. Sandra Schneiders discusses the Gospel of John as a modelfor parish/community life today!

From the Executive Director

Who are the women that amazeyou?

I can immediately name threethis week.

Fortress Press has just postedtheir notice on the upcoming

release of Sr. Chris Schenk'sbook, Crispina and Her Sisters:Women and Authority in theEarly Church. Get a glimpse ofthe groundbreaking researchand delight in the reviews byfeminist theologians andhistorians of immense stature inthe Catholic Church.

FutureChurch will be hostingseveral book signing eventstoward the end of the year(dates TBA) and in October 2018(exact dates TBD depending onthe dates of the 2018 Synod),you can travel with Chris andFutureChurch to Rome toexplore the sites of earlyChristian women leaders whilegetting a first hand tutorial onher research discoveries. CLICKHERE if you would like to jointhe list of those interested intraveling with Chris nextOctober.

A long time friend ofFutureChurch is ending hertenure at Women's OrdinationConference and moving on to toa new career. Erin Hanna, co-director of the organization sentout her good-bye letter thisweek. She wrote, "While I amtruly proud of the manyaccomplishments during mytenure here, I am deeply awarethat it is this collectivesisterhood that has carried WOCto the powerful, prophetic andvisionary place it is today."

And while Erin transitions to anew role, we are joyful knowingthat Kate McElwee will bestepping up to be ExecutiveDirector.

As executive director ofFutureChurch, I can say thatworking with Erin and Kate,including our efforts onNunJustice and A Church for OurDaughters, has been a delight.Their creative approach toreform has created vivid imagesforever etched in our minds ofpink smoke, pink crowds,singing divas, cool dancing, andmore! FutureChurch sends allour love and prayers as Erinmoves into the next phase ofher career and as Women'sOrdination Conference continuestheir important work for thefuture of the Church under theleadership of Kate McElwee!

We owe so much to the womenwho shaped, proclaimed, andchallenged our tradition. Withoutwomen like Chris, Erin, Kate,and foremothers like Catherineof Siena who challenged Catholicleaders and even the pope ourGospel work would becompromised in important ways.

We are all called to do our part.Please continue to build thechurch for tomorrow by takingaction today!

Open the discussion with yourbishop on married priests

Write a letter to our U.S.cardinals asking them to supportCardinal Anders Arborelius' ideaof a College of Women advisorsto Pope Francis

DeaconChat: Start aConversation on WomenDeacons

Thank you for all you do!

Deborah Rose-MilavecExecutive Director

FutureChurch seeks ProgramDirector

FutureChurch is an exciting placeto work! The possibilities forcreativity are endless as wecarry out the important work ofreform in the Catholic Church.

If you are interested or knowsomeone who would make anexcellent candidate, pleaseshare this notice with yournetworks!Program Director Job Description

Saying farewell to Fr. MikeCrosby by Sr. Chris Schenk

On August 10, I attended awake service for CapuchinFather Mike Crosby at Detroit’sSt. Bonaventure Monastery.Mike had been diagnosed withesophageal cancer some monthsearlier and, after treatmentsfailed, entered hospice care atSt. Bonaventure’s where hisbrother Dan, who is also aCapuchin, could accompany himuntil his death on August 5.

Mike was a very good friend toFutureChurch and to me overthe years. He spoke at churchreform events all over the U.S.,invariably attracting crowds ofadmirers who appreciated hishigh energy and his passionatelove for scripture and of God’sbeloved anawim—the poor andmarginalized ones.

Every now and again one of uswould be under pressure from

“the powers that be” in ourchurch who didn’t alwaysappreciate our healthy challengeto the status quo. We tradednotes about our individualsituations and worked hard tojuggle conscience alongside ourlove and commitment to theinstitutional church. Mike was atrue brother to me in thesetimes of struggle and I tried tobe a good sister to him.

So it was heart-consoling toconvey the love and appreciationof FutureChurch, indeed theentire reform community, at thewell-attended service at whichFr. Dan Crosby presided. Manystories were told about Mike’sadventuresome, loving, andhighly productive life. But Dan’sstory of Mike’s decision to enterthe Capuchins stuck withme. Mike, it turns out, had arather madcap youth. So, hefirst considered entering anorder that ministered towayward boys (so to speak).Dan intuited that Mike wasresisting a call to the Capuchinswhich he had himself enteredseveral years earlier. WhenMike came to visit, the 2brothers went for a walk. Mikespoke at length about theconcrete ministries of the otherorder before challenging Dan:“So what do the Capuchins haveto offer?” Dan paused, then saidsimply: “Mike all the Capuchinsdo is the Gospel.” TheGospel. And yes, that is whatMike Crosby lived throughout hislong and loving life. TheGospel. In the end, it is assimple as that. Thanks Mike!Mike's presentation atFutureChurch's 25th Anniversary

honoring Sr. Chris Schenk

C. Vanessa White Preaches!

C. Vanessa White begins bysinging an African AmericanSpiritual this week. Shepreaches about the Canaanitewoman who changed the mind ofJesus with her bold request. Andshe tells the story of how shetoo learned to be bold in a timeof uncertainty.

I’m Gonna Do What the Spirit Say Do.. . I’m Gonna Do What the Spirit SayDo. . . When the Spirit Say Do, I’mGonna Do Oh Lord . . . I’m Gonna DoWhat the Spirit Say Do. . . (AfricanAmerican Spiritual) How many times do we talkourselves out of doingsomething because of doubt andfear or of lack of confidence ora hardening of the heart? Several years ago, as a youngadult in the Church who directeda Catholic lay volunteer serviceprogram, I discerned the needto go back to school to pursuemy degree in theology andministry. At that time, I did nothave the necessary funds forgraduate school and doubtedthat I would be able to pursuemy call. It was during this time, Iencountered someone whowould change my life. She wasAdrian Dominican Sr. JamiePhelps. I shared with her mydilemma and she told me to askmy employers for the money. Iremember feeling that I couldn’tdo it, for they had in fact beenso generous with me in the pastand even if I did ask, I feared

that they would most likely sayno.

"Do not block the blessing," she[Sr. Jamie] said.Hear more

Sr. Joan Chittister preaches

Number one reason for thedecline in the Catholic Churchin Canada -- its treatment ofwomen

Michael W. Higgins,Distinguished Professor ofCatholic Thought, Sacred HeartUniversity in Fairfield,Connecticut, and past presidentof two Canadian Catholicuniversities, remembers thehope that enveloped theCanadian Catholic Church afterVatican II. But with the papaciesof John Paul II and BenedictXVI, the church's influence andvibrancy slid. The reasons aremany, but the Church'streatment of women stands out.

Higgins writes that for manypost-conciliar Catholics thedeepest disappointment withhierarchical leadership has beenits stance on women andministry. At one time theundisputed international leaderon the empowerment of womenin the church—thanks to avowedfeminists like Remi De Roo ofthe Diocese of Victoria and tointerventions at several Romansynods on the charisms andevolving roles of women—theCanadian episcopate listenedcarefully to women of faith,appointed female theologians asconsultants, and advocatedpublicly for enhanced positions

and greater inclusivity within theclerical structure. But thisenlightened and gradualistapproach was beaten down bypapal intransigence, if nothostility, and by the reluctanceof the newer bishops to adoptpolicies or positions at variancewith pontifical perspectives. Theresult has been a silentdeparture of multitudes from theinstitution, a departure definednot by anger, animosity, orresentment but by a sadnessgrounded in a sense of theirown irrelevancy.

Deborah Pecoskie, a Catholiceducator and former chair of theboard of governors of St.Jerome’s University, hasobserved: “I believe that societyas a whole in Canada hascontributed more positively tothe lives of Canadian womenthan the Church has done. Ibelieve that the Church holds anambivalence between our civilsociety and our spiritual lives….The Catholic Church iseffectively squandering theopportunity to be a visible faithleader for today and for thefuture."More in Commonweal by Higgins

The Church Needs to Wake Upto the Power of the Laity

In a Voices of Faith interview,Sr. Terry Rickard, OP, says thatdescribing women who desireleadership as “power hungry” isan unfair characterization. Wedo not say the same aboutbishops or priests who lead ourdioceses and parishes.Leadership enables us to makean impact.” Sr. Terry Rickard,

OP is the President of RENEWInternational, a ministry of NewEvangelization that has reachedover 25 million people in 160dioceses with its innovativeformation processes for smallChristian communities.

The heart of the mission ofRENEW International is to renewthe church and to engage laity inits leadership. Sr. Terry Rickard,OP explains: “We are in a criticaltime in the Church.Organizations like RenewInternational are innovative. Weare committed to spiritualrenewal both personal andpastoral – renewing parish lifeto make it more vibrant,welcoming and create a greatersense of belonging. We do thatthrough the vehicle of formingsmall Christian communities thatmeet in people’s homes.”Parishes need resources andtraining more than ever asclergy continue to age and someparishes serve largecommunities with perhaps10,000 or 20,000 parishioners.“Maintenance is not enough,”believes Sr. Rickard, “we arelosing people who want to havea connection. The Church needsto wake up!”Read more at VOF

Catholics seek recourse inparish closure in Hartford

The merger of three RomanCatholic churches in town has hita roadblock, thanks to an appealfiled by a parishioner at one ofthe closed parishes.

The merger of the Church of theEpiphany into St. Thomas

Beckett and St. Bridget is thesubject of a canonical recourseor appeal. Church of theEpiphany, located on HuckinsRoad, closed in June as part ofa merger with St. ThomasBeckett and St. Bridget. Themerger created a single parish,St. Bridget of Sweden. Massesare no longer said at Church ofthe Epiphany.

According to Michael W. Higgins,a Distinguished Professor ofCatholic Thought at SacredHeart University in Bridgeport,such appeals “are a lengthyprocess that can wind up inRome.”Higgins said parishioners ofChurch of the Epiphany “aren’tdoing anything wrong” inappealing the ruling of theArchdiocese.

The Archdiocese is the first stepin the appeal process, eventhough the decision to closeChurch of the Epiphany camefrom that level of the church’shierarchy. If the Archdioceserefuses to overturn its decision,Higgins said the appeal will atsome point be reviewed by thePapal Nuncio, the CatholicChurch’s ambassador to theUnited States, Higgins said.

“Both sides will probably consultthe Papal Nuncio because theyhave a great deal of expertise incanonical law,” he said.Higgins said closing churches “isa very bad strategy.”

One alternative to closingchurches, Higgins said, is beingtried in Germany. ReinhardMarx, Archbishop of Munich and

a member of the church’sCollege of Cardinals, hasauthorized a broader use of laypeople in the day-to-dayoperations and ceremonies ofthe Archdiocese’s churches, hesaid.

“It’s a good way to keep theparishes open and givesmembers of the congregation agreater sense of involvement,”Higgins said.Read moreClosures in Hartford diocese

German Cardinal wantslaypeople to lead parishesinstead of closing them

Cardinal Reinhard Marx hasstrongly rejected theincreasingly common option ofcoping with the dwindlingnumber of ordained ministers bycombining or “clustering”parishes.

The 63-year-old cardinal is a topaide and advisor to PopeFrancis.He recently told the 180members of Munich’s diocesancouncil – it’s most important laybody – that it was important topreserve individual parishes as away of guaranteeing theChurch’s presence locally.

Speaking at the council’s plenaryassembly on March 18th, thecardinal said the Archdiocese ofMunich would introduce a pilotproject in the fall with newmodels of parish leadership.Specifically, he said full-time andvoluntary lay personnel wouldtake over parishes.

The move is significant giventhat Cardinal Marx is a memberof the pope’s C9 advisory groupof cardinals, as well ascoordinator of the Vatican’sCouncil for the Economy.Read more

UISG launches visionary planto develop council of womencanon lawyers

Global Sisters Report writes thatSr. Licia Puthuparambil hasjoined the five-member CanonLaw Council of the Rome-based International Union ofSuperiors General. The union,known as UISG, is theorganization of the superiorsgeneral of Catholic womencongregations based in Rome.

In January 2015, Loreto Sr.Patricia Murray, executivesecretary of the UISG, informedme about their plan to create aworld council of women religiouscanon lawyers, now known asthe Canon Law Council. Theywanted to select one memberfrom all five continents.

Puthuparambil, a member ofthe Sisters of Mary Immaculate,had cancer in 2016. Currently,the 57-year-old nun works fromher community's provincial housein Bengaluru, southern India.She conducts retreats andspeaks at meetings of hercongregation as well as others inIndia when she is not travelingoverseas to attend Canon LawCouncil meetings.Puthuparambil, who has amaster's degree in canon lawfrom St. Peter's PontificalInstitute in Bengaluru, has been

a member of the Canon LawSociety of India since 2000. Shehas also served hercongregation as a provincialsecretary, provincial councillor,formator, teacher and localsuperior.Read more

Promising development:Priests who married may beformally called back to theinstitution in Brazil

Earlier this year, Brazilianliberation theologian and ex-Franciscan friar, Leonardo Boffsuggested that married priestsin Brazil could soon be re-employed in pastoral care.

"This is an explicit request fromthe Brazilian bishops to thePope," Boff told the "CologneCity Gazette." Pope Franciswanted to meet this request,initially for an experimentalphase in Brazil.

Boff referred to the priestlydeficit worldwide saying, "Thiscountry with its 140 millionCatholics should have at least100,000 priests. But there areonly 18,000. Institutionally, thisis a disaster, "said Boff. Inaddition, such an experimentwould be "an impulse that theCatholic Church will loose thefetters of the celibacy."

According to the formerFranciscan friar, he continued toperform priestly functions evenafter his resignation in 1992 -with the explicit approval of thebishops in his home country. "Sofar, no bishop I know has evercriticized or forbidden me and

they even rejoice and say to me,"The people have a right to theEucharist."Read more

L'Osservatore reports that thebiggest obstacle to reform isclergy

Italian Fr. Guilio Cirignano,writing for L'OsservatoreRomano, writes that the biggestobstacle to conversion that PopeFrancis wants to give to theChurch is, to some extent, theattitude of a large part of theclergy, at the top and at thebase. Their attitude is closed, ifnot outright hostile. Like thedisciples in the Garden of Olives,his disciples still asleep. Read more

Diocese's bold move toinclude divorced andremarried Catholics

The diocese of Le Havre lastweekend organized a meetingfor separated, divorced andremarried divorced people in aneffort to understand what theyexpect from the Church. A yearafter Pope Francis’ "AmorisLaetitia" was published,integrating such people hasbecome a concern for Frenchdioceses.

The unprecedented meeting tookplace in Le Havre on Sunday,the day of the presidentialelection. The bishop, Jean-Luc Brunin,had sent out plenty of invitationsbut fewer people than expectedshowed up: 26 people who hadbeen through a breakup andwho were now separated or

divorced, and in some casesremarried after divorce.

They were joined by eightmembers of the pastoral care ofthe family at a newlyinaugurated mayoral center for“a day of sharing andfriendship".

The aim was to lay thegroundwork for personal andpastoral discernment with a viewto better integration into theChurch.Read more

Gender equality in the CatholicChurch: Too little too late?

Ireland: One woman whobelieves she has a vocation tothe Catholic priesthood is Dr.Ann-Marie Desmond (54)of Timoleague, Co. Cork. Ateacher of religion and history,with a PhD in education anddegrees in theology and history,she is married with two grown-up daughters.

Hers was a traditional Catholicupbringing in a devout familyand with an aunt a nun. Evenwhen her brother was an altarserver she did not question why,then, she could not become onetoo. Girls are now allowed bealtar servers, and in mostparishes these days the altarservers are girls.

It was at third level educationthat Ms. Desmond began toquestion things and later when,preparing for Masses, womenlike her “would organiseeverything, pick the readingsetc., and a man [priest] would

come in, take over, andcelebrate it”. She has herselfbeen a minister of the word andof the Eucharist.

Hers has remained “a verycommitted faith” but she hadbecome “very anti theinstitution”, she said. This wasnot just because of its exclusionof women but also “of gaypeople, and people such as thedivorced and remarried, fromCommunion. I would want amuch more inclusive church,” shecontinued.Read more

Commission tragically mayleave survivors out and assignthem to a secondary tier asadvisors to the advisors

Joshua McElwee reports thatPope Francis' commission onclergy sexual abuse isconsidering whether torestructure itself so that it nolonger includes the directparticipation of abuse survivors.It is evaluating the possibility ofcreating instead a separateadvisory panel of individuals whohave been abused by clergy.A member of the PontificalCommission for the Protection ofMinors revealed the group'sconsideration of the idea in anNCR interview Aug. 14, sayingthat one of the commission'swork groups has been taskedwith weighing the pros and consof such a change.

The commission appears likely todiscuss the possiblerestructuring at its next plenarymeeting in Rome in mid-September, when the original

three-year terms of its membersare set to expire.

"I think that may be a moreproductive [way] of ensuring thevoice of survivors in the work ofthe commission," KrystenWinter-Green, the commissionmember, said of the potentialchange. "I do not know that it'scritical that a survivor needs tobe actually on the commission."Read more

Are bishops up to the task ofleading?

Massimo Faggioli believes thebishops have not stepped up intheir role as pastoral leaders asexpected under Pope Francis.Many still operate as deferentialmiddle managers -- in theshadow of the former twopapacies.

The day after Easter markedone-and-a-half years sinceFrancis gave one of his mostimportant speeches to explainthe need for a synodal CatholicChurch.Read more

Brazilian bishops' call for aYear of the Laity

Peter Feuerherd reports thatreform groups such as CatholicChurch Reform International andCall To Action are endorsing acall by the Brazilian bishops fora Year of the Laity, expanded toinclude conferences andobservances around the worldfrom November of this year untilNovember 2018.

The meetings will focus on why

"the people of God need to betreated equally in the church"and "the people taking theGospel out into the world," ReneReid, director of Catholic ChurchReform International.Read more

Head of Council doubtfulabout real and permanentchange

The head of the CatholicChurch's Truth, Justice andHealing Council is pessimisticabout the church's reform inresponse to the sexual abusescandals it has been hit with andfears that things will go back toits usual state after the publicityover the issue dies down.Read more

Children of priests, anothersecretive and ugly legacyexplored

No one knows the number ofsons and daughters of Catholicpriests in the United States or inthe world, but what is known isthat hundreds — perhapsthousands — of these offspringhave lived in secret, hiding theirfathers' past from the world,frequently even from familymembers.

Still other children of clergy dadshave grown up not knowing whotheir real father was, oftenmistaking him for an uncle,godfather or some other malefriend or relative whom theyhave known from their youth. Inmany instances, the children ofCatholic priests have failed tohave their emotional, legal andfinancial needs met.

When they have discovered whotheir real father is — often laterin life — some of thesedaughters and sons haveundergone spiritualdisillusionment, unable toseparate themselves from thefaith they love and have beenraised in, and the man who didnot, or could not, come forwardand be a genuine dad to them.Some have experiencedpsychological trauma fromhaving to carry a secret — a lie— for life.These are among disclosurespresented in a two-part serieson the progeny of priestspublished by The Boston Globe'sSpotlight team Aug. 19 and 20and written by Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist MichaelRezendes. In interviews overmany months, the investigativenews team found that childrenof Catholic priests "form aninvisible legion of secrecy andneglect."Read more

Irish church wants to end stigma

In case you missed it: Papalnuncio endorses Boy Scouts

It seems like a no-brainer toconclude that the values of theBoy Scouts are important to oursociety, but the Scouts havebeen kicked around like areligious and political footballrecently.

Still there are voices of sanity.Papal Nuncio, ArchbishopChristophe Pierre spoke upsaying that scouting developsgenerosity, service andfraternity, which are all values

"our world sorely needs," thepapal nuncio told Catholic Scoutsgathered for Mass on July 23during the annual Boy Scouts ofAmerica National Jamboree."These values are the antidoteto the selfishness andindividualism of our society,"Archbishop Christophe Pierresaid in his homily. "Scouting alsoencourages you to worktogether as a team, to shareadventures, and to have agreater vision of life andcreation."Read more

In case you missed it: MalteseBishops lead the way tosacramental inclusion ofdivorced and remarriedCatholics

The Bishops of Malta issuednew norms on Amoris Laetitia.Pope Francis thanked them whileconservative media outletsraised alarms.

The Maltese bishops wrote thatwith "an informed andenlightened conscience," aseparated or divorced personliving in a new relationship whois able "to acknowledge andbelieve that he or she is atpeace with God," the bishopssaid, "cannot be precluded fromparticipating in the sacramentsof reconciliation and theEucharist."The Maltese "Criteria for theApplication of Chapter VIII of'Amoris Laetitia,'" Pope Francis'apostolic exhortation on thefamily, was published Jan. 13after being sent to all of thecountry's priests by ArchbishopCharles Scicluna of Malta and

Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo.Read more

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