Catholic women pray for equality

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This article was published 08/10/2023 (744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While people from around the world were gathering in Rome on October 4 for the first day of the historic Roman Catholic Synod on Synodality, a small group of Winnipeg Catholics met at St. Mary’s Cemetery at noon for a service of prayerful solidarity in support of the call for women’s equality in the church.

The gathering, which featured songs, chants, readings and prayer, was organized by Veronica Dunne, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Mission.

The 13 people in attendance met at the grave of former Canadian Cardinal George Flahiff, an outspoken advocate for greater participation of women in the Roman Catholic Church, including through ordination.

In her opening remarks, Dunne said they were gathered “in the spirit of Cardinal Flahiff,” who was also Archbishop of the Diocese of Winnipeg from 1961-82.

At a Synod in 1971, Flahiff spoke against the discrimination against women in the Catholic Church, declaring no arguments could be made to exclude them, including as priests.

Referencing Flahiff and others who promoted equality of women in the Catholic Church, Dunne said “we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses.”

Just like Indigenous people say there should be “nothing done about us, without us,” she said.

Women, she said, “need to be involved in all church decisions.”

The group went on to pray that the church could be broken out of “worn paths” and freed from “the thickets of ‘we’ve always done it this way.’”

They also prayed for those who “may be frightened” by proposed changes regarding the role of women in the church, and that church leaders might have “boldness of heart” to create a Church where everyone is “celebrated and nurtured.”

For Sandy Stewart of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Mission, the gathering was an opportunity to “share the voice of women, which has not been well enough heard before.”

Keeping women out of the full ministries of the church, including as ordained priests and deacons, is “flawed,” she said, noting that while she did not feel called herself to be a priest she wants to “support women who feel that call.”

Enabling women to serve as priests would also help the church in Canada with its shortage of candidates for the priesthood, she said, adding that shortage “is a man-made problem, it’s not of God.”

Michelle Larose of St. Alphonsus Parish also noted how opening the priesthood to women would help the church address the shortage of Canadian-born priests.

“It’s time women were recognized in the church… here we are, able and willing to serve,” she said.

Having women as priests is also important because they can bring different perspectives to the role and in sermons, she said, adding men and women “can complement each other, offering different ideas and opinions.”

Ray Timmerman came to the event because “there’s no reason I can see why women can’t be ordained,” he said.

At the very least, he maintained, the church should be open to talking about it. “We can’t keep saying we can’t discuss it,” he said.

Julien Fredette is the former director of pastoral services for the Archdiocese of St. Boniface. He came to the gathering to pray that delegates to the Synod would be “open to the movement of the Holy Spirit” when it came to the involvement of women.

“We need to be open to women’s ordination,” he said, adding the church also should consider the needs of others who feel on the “fringe” such as members of the LGBTTQ+ community.

The church needs to “show love without exception,” he said, and to state clearly that “all have a place in the church.”

Among the women in Rome calling for greater equality in the church during the Synod is Louise Dowhan, a member of Winnipeg’s St. Alphonsus Parish.

Dowhan is part of a nine-person delegation from the Canadian Catholic Network for Women’s Equality (CNWE), an organization that works for the full and equal participation of women in the Catholic Church.

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