Some months ago we reported on an advertisement that was in preparation by the dissident group Catholics Speak Out. The ad ran in The New York Times in August and told the Pope bluntly that he was “wrong” in holding that contraception is an intrinsic evil.
Now the Women’s Ordination Conference has followed suit. It is preparing an open letter to John Paul II, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, and Archbishop William H. Keeler of Baltimore, president of the NCCB. The letter was intended to run as an advertisement in the Baltimore Sun, timed to coincide with the Pope’s now-canceled visit to that city. The topic: women’s ordination and why it is a Good Thing.
As with the August ad, the WOC is offering Catholics a chance to sign on–25 bucks a signature, 50 for organizations–as “gospel Catholics” who “cannot in good conscience remain silent.” Another striking resemblance with the CSO letter is the smug, affected, pseudo-faithful tone. These people won’t behave like rebels, which is what they are. No, instead they strike for the moral high ground, claiming that “refusing to discuss an issue as serious as the ordination of women is a relinquishment of our responsibilities as Catholics,” when in fact persisting in “discussing” the issue after the case has been closed in official and unequivocal terms is an abandonment of their real “responsibilities as Catholics.”
The letter uses the same tired and superficial arguments to make a case for women’s ordination. First, an appeal to “history”: “Scholarly research in the Vatican archives has shown that the early church was served by women deacons, priests, and bishops. In our own time, women and married men were ordained by bona fide Roman Catholic bishops in the underground church of Czechoslovakia. We are confident that there is much more to discover in our heretofore hidden tradition.”
Actually, there is no evidence that any women ever were ordained as deacons, priests, or bishops in the early Church–no evidence at all–and no women have been ordained in modern times either. The WOC statement is nothing more than a fabrication (a polite word for “lie”).
These masters of equivocation quote Scripture (“In Christ there is neither male nor female” [Gal. 3:28]) and the Second Vatican Council (the condemnation of sexual discrimination in Gaudium et Spes) to further their purposes. All the key words and phrases are there: “discipleship,” “ministry,” “dialogue,” “spirit” (as in “the call of the spirit” and “the spirit of Pope John XXIII“).
No piece of dissent would be complete without the obligatory and meaningless poll results, which show (surprise!) that “the vast majority of Catholics support both women priests and a married clergy.” We are not impressed, perhaps because this kind of reasoning never fails to bring to mind the advice our mothers gave us about what to do when our friends start jumping off bridges.
The facade of fidelity and faithfulness is played out to the very end. “We rejoice in the call of women as well as men to feminist ministry and we look forward to the day when Roman Catholic women will be ordained.” [What part of “never” don’t you understand, ladies?]. “Sincerely yours in Christ . . .”
Catholic Answers’ Holy Land Pilgrimage has come and gone and was, everyone agreed, a fine success. Staff and supporters alike were mystified and entranced by the experience of Middle Eastern culture. For some, though, the camels and hawkers and ruins of ancient civilizations were less alien than were other, more mundane cultural details. Although the English language and the American dollar are widely understood and accepted in Israel, other facets of daily life in the Holy Land required that Yankees do a bit of adjusting.
Israel is one of the few nations in the world in which religion is still woven into everyday life. Jewish sabbath and dietary laws are followed scrupulously. Chicken for dinner? Then it’s non-dairy creamer with your coffee, since mixing meat with dairy products is forbidden. A meatless meal? Then you can have all the cream you want. It goes without saying that it was impossible to get sausage with your eggs or to find a good BLT (or even a bad one), pork not being eaten or served by observant Jews or Muslims.
On the sabbath (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) and on holy days (we were there during Rosh Hashanah) driving is forbidden to Jews, as is the operation of any mechanical devices. Hotel elevators switch automatically into “sabbath mode,” operating continuously and stopping on each floor for a few seconds, thus freeing occupants from the forbidden labor of pressing buttons. Jews aren’t even allowed to ask someone to press the buttons for them. What do you do, then, we asked one young yarmulke-topped fellow, if you find yourself on a regular elevator on the sabbath? He replied after a moment’s thought, “Find a Gentile and hint what floor I live on.”
Ultra-Orthodox Jews dressed in black coats and hats and with long locks of hair cascading down their temples (thick-rimmed eyeglasses optional but very popular) were everywhere to be seen, but they’re not all alike. According to our chief guide, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, there are divisions within Orthodox Judaism (itself one of three main branches, along with Reform and Conservative Judaism). One’s dress indicates one’s persuasion.
A knit yarmulke and long sidelocks signify one is active politically and religion is primarily a political and social statement. A plain black yarmulke and sidelocks indicate an Ultra-Orthodox Jew of the strictest kind, one who takes his religion seriously and is not so interested in politics. Subtract the sidelocks while retaining the black yarmulke and you have an Orthodox Jew who is still devout, but less ardently so than his long-haired neighbors. Finally, there is the knit-yarmulke, no-sidelocks crowd: Mostly Americans who have moved to Israel, these are dangerous folks–the radicals who want the Muslims gone (and will do anything to achieve that end) and who’ll stone your vehicle if you drive on, say, Yom Kippur.
However intriguing the culture to most of us, the highlights of the trip were, of course, the holy sights. We visited Bethlehem, Nazareth, and the chief locales in Jerusalem and Galilee. For staffers of this magazine one of the most significant places was Banias, known in ancient times as Caesarea Philippi. It was there that Jesus turned to Simon and said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matt. 16:18).
The site was not chosen haphazardly. At Caesarea Philippi was one of the sources of the Jordan. The water gushed out of a cave in a giant cliff, a massive rock edifice into which were carved niches in honor of the Roman god Pan (hence the old name “Panias” and its modern variant “Banias”). We could imagine our Lord using this imposing cliff as a backdrop. Here, at a city named after Caesar and the Tetrarch Philip, at the wellspring of the sacred river, Jesus singled out Simon for a special honor. The fisherman, who was to be the earthly head of the Church, was called “this rock.”
We wished to linger, but the bus driver was calling. A few of us gathered mementos, small rocks washed smooth by the spring which, ever since an earthquake partially collapsed the cave, no longer flows. James Akin wanted a chunk of the rock wall itself. Climbing up a path, he found a stone protruding, and he yanked on it. Off came a twenty-pound chunk, which now graces his office floor. The rest of us made do with smaller paperweights.
Of the 75 pilgrims in our group, eight were from Catholic Answers–six regular staff members, an intern, and a volunteer. (You can search for us in the photograph on the preceding page.) We were able to send so many–about half our staff–because the tour agency gave us free passage (one free for every five paid). Not only did Catholic Answers incur no expense in having us join the pilgrimage, but the apostolate even made several thousand dollars as rebates from paying guests. Such a deal!
Those who accompanied us asked whether we plan to sponsor future pilgrimages. (Note: The operative word is “pilgrimages,” not just “tours,” the key being the spiritual.aspect.) We said we’d have to think it over, and we’d like our readers to help with the thinking.
Two ideas have been floated: a pilgrimage to Rome (or maybe to Rome and other parts of Italy) and a pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey, to follow some of the journeys of Paul. Without committing yourself in any way, if you have an interest in either of these venues, please drop us a note. Send it to the attention of Christine, who will tally the results. If you have a preference for another location, please tell us that also.
Hay fever and polyester keeping you from finding the Lord? Is the smoke billowing from the thurifer mixing with the choir leader’s perfume and distracting you from receiving the Spirit? Fear not. The Boise United Methodist Church has found the solution to your problems. Since July the church has been holding “fragrance-free” services for the faithful allergic. Attendees must wear only natural fibers and must be free from perfumes, colognes, hair spray, and scented soaps. We wonder if morning breath counts? Maybe not. Worshipers at these services have been numbering about a dozen.
Tony Alamo, best known among Catholics for his widely circulated pamphlets that claim that the “Pope of Rome” controls all the major news media, will be spending at least two more years as the guest of the U.S. government. On September 16 he was sentenced to six years in federal prison and fined $210,000 for income tax evasion. He was convicted in June of understating his 1985 income and of not filing returns for 1986 through 1989 (see “Dragnet,” May 1994).
Prosecutors said that the businesses operated by the Holy Alamo Christian Church took in $9 million dollars over a four-year period. Alamo lived lavishly, while his employees were paid either minimum wage or worked for free–part of their religious duties, he said.
Before a U.S. District Court judge sentenced him, Alamo, who charged the government with a conspiracy to destroy all churches, said the government might want to prosecute God for impregnating Mary “when she was only twelve years old.” Alamo was accused by prosecutors of sexually preying on teenaged girls in his church. Since early 1993 he has married eight of his followers, including two 15-year-olds. He faces a child abuse charge in California, where he is accused of directing the beating of the young son of one of his followers.
Alamo’s church, formerly head-quartered in Alma, Arkansas, now operates out of Canyon Country, California, which is not far from the Hollywood area where Alamo, in the 1970s, gained many movie-connected friends. (He sold them expensive rhinestone jackets.)