Bucks County Herald – December 10, 2009

Alice O’Neill Catholic Women Ordination

Dear Friends,

Good morning. News is not when dog bites man, my late father used to say. News is when man bites dog.

Last week, I met a Catholic who was excommunicated by the Pope because she attended the ordination of seven women in Pittsburgh. Friends, meet Alice O’Neill, a 77-year-old resident of a nearby community. Alice O’Neill is not afraid of anything. In a fight, I’d want her on my side.

On the rear bumper of her car is this sign: “Keep the faith, change the Church.” When I asked her about that bumper sticker, she said that the Catholic Church should, “Either ordain women or stop baptizing them!”

I searched my files for stories about Papal decrees outlawing the ordination of women. According to the New York Times (Aug. 6, 2002), “The Vatican announced that it had excommunicated seven women who were illegally ordained as Catholic priests in Austria by Argentine bishop Romulu Braschi, who is not recognized by the Holy See.”

Four years later, Alice O’Neill crossed over the Vatican line when she witnessed the ordination of 12 women on a riverboat in Pittsburgh. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported (June 15, 2006), “It was the fourth such ceremony in the world since 2002, all unrecognized by the Vatican. The women are part of a growing international movement to push for women’s ordination.”

In the summer of 2008, Alice attended the ordination of several women in Roxborough, a Philadelphia neighborhood. The ceremony couldn’t take place in a Roman Catholic Church because Rome would not approve. The Women’s Ordination Conference held the celebration at the Mishkan Shalom synagogue.

Alice gave me a book titled, “Women Find A Way,” by Elsie Hainz McGrath, Bridget Mary Meehan, and Ida Raming. They make their case for women’s ordination on page 21:

“More than half of the members of the Roman Catholic Church are women; yet the public appearance of this church is that of a man’s church,” the authors begin. “Only men hold the positions and offices of decision-making within this community. They decide on the doctrines of faith, the moral principles and the laws of the church, without any participation by women.”

Alice told me that she’d attended Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s speech at the Plymouth Meeting Church on the Mall where the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy said, “My kids won’t go to [Catholic] church where they don’t see themselves.” Kathleen Kennedy explained that her daughters see only men at the alter.

Alice O’Neill has a daughter and four granddaughters.

Is the quest for Catholic women ordination gaining ground? I searched the Internet and found this website: Roman Catholic Women Priests. Org. I discovered 108 names of female bishops, priests and deacons who’ve crossed the Vatican’s line. It’s mission is “to spiritually prepare, ordain, and support women and men from all states of life, who are theologically qualified, who are committed to an inclusive model of Church, and who are called by the Holy Spirit and their communities to minister.”

Alice O’Neill talks about her long road as a rebel. She’s very much at home at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church in Germantown. “About 50 of us from St. Vincent’s attended the Pittsburgh ordination,” she continued. All of them were excommunicated. They’re out of the Vatican loop. The Vatican loop sounds like a song, doesn’t it? Some song!

Alice told me that there are 150 zip codes among the St. Vincent members. “It proves that there are many Catholics who are unhappy with their parishes,” she says.

Alice is critical of Catholic fundamentals. She believes that priests should be able to marry. “Celibacy is an eleventh century edict to protect Church property,” she said. “The Church didn’t want widows and children sharing Church assets. It’s all about property.”

And she believes that the reason why the Philadelphia Archdiocese opposes opening the window of the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases is to protect Church assets. “That’s exactly what happened in Delaware,” she said. The Wilmington Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection after the Delaware legislature followed California by relaxing the statute of limitations.

Alice’s list of grievances against the Vatican grows daily. She reminded me that the Pope’s administration is reviewing the quality of life among American nunneries. She gave me a recent copy of “Equal Writes,” a Catholic feminist newsletter for women and men in the Philadelphia area.

And Alice sent me a copy of an essay, which Sister X wrote for the “Commonweal” (Oct. 9). Sister X could not identify herself for fear of reprisals from Rome. Here’s the key paragraph:

“Why are American sisters [nuns] being singled out,” Sister X questioned? “One widely shared area of concern, of course, is the dramatic drop in vocations in recent decades. Yet the number of priests has also dropped precipitously during the same 40-year period, leaving more than 10 percent of parishes without resident pastors. Why isn’t the priest shortage the subject of a visitation?

“And during the same period U. S. bishops have presided over a sexual-abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic community more than $2 billion and the episcopacy much of its moral credibility,” Sister X continued. “So why no visitation for the bishops?”

“The so called Vatican’s Apostolic Visitation process is a Vatican witch hunt to intimidate nuns and keep them toeing the party line,” Alice said.

She is critical of the Philadelphia Archdiocese closing Catholic schools but keeping the parishes open. “Do as I say, not as I do,” Alice quipped.

Alice does not follow Vatican’s orders on sensitive topics like abortion and gay marriage. “Gay couples should have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples have,” she said. Alice wears a rainbow pin, which signifies support for gay and transgendered people. “I wear it proudly,” she says. “The Church talks out of both sides of its mouth.”

She’s a big fan of St. Vincent’s Catholic Church near Germantown. Her church prepared 200 food baskets for Thanksgiving. Last year, St. Vincent’s distributed 25,000 meals for the needy. “At St. Vincent’s we have a health clinic, a drug and alcohol clinic, and a legal clinic,” Alice said. “We have an after school program and a summer camp…even a barber shop. Volunteers run everything. The parishioners work their miracles.”

I asked Alice why Catholics stay Catholic? She gives the Reverend Andrew Greeley answer. A writer of popular novels, Greeley is a Catholic priest who constantly receives the Vatican’s wrath. Greeley says that the reason why Catholics stay Catholic is because of the stories. In it’s two thousand years the Catholic Church must have thousands of Saints, each with a compelling story.

Alice O’Neill says that she’s no saint. But she sure has spunk. Her mission is social justice for women in the Church.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith

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