Thursday, November 20, 2008

Woman defies church to follow conscience

Life for Linda Wilcox was, in her own words, relatively simple until she hit her late 40s.

It was then that she started down a path which she now knows may cost her friends and ultimately even the church she loves.

Earlier this month, Wilcox, an Afton resident and a devout Roman Catholic her whole life (she describes herself as a “cradle Catholic”), was ordained as a deacon in a ceremony in Chicago.

Next year, she hopes to finish the process she has begun and be ordained a priest here in the Twin Cities.

Unlike some faiths and denominations, the Roman Catholic Church does not permit or recognize women priests or deacons. Indeed, Wilcox’s actions could ultimately lead to her excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.

But Wilcox, 61, who lives on Trading Post Trail in Afton and is mother to four children, says since her interest in theology got her looking into the question of women’s ordination in more depth, she has become aware of a calling she can not ignore.

“I believe, as do the other women [who have done this], and what I was always taught in all my Catholic teaching, is that we are all born in the image and likeness of God, and that through baptism we are all equal,” she explained.

“If that’s the case, how can it be that women can’t be ordained?

“I believe that the church is in great need of reform; it’s patriarchal and hierarchical, and we are hoping to transform it into a partnership of discipleship.”

Wilcox is a member of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) organization, which has 66 members across North America, consisting of one ordained bishop, 39 priests and 10 deacons.

A 2005 Master’s of theology graduate of St. Catherine’s College, Wilcox recalls that it was at an annual Catholic Call To Action conference in Milwaukee, Wis., that her eyes first became opened to the mission of the RCWP.

“At the conference I attended a Eucharist at which Mary Rammerman, a female Catholic priest from Syracuse, New York, presided,” said Wilcox.

“I had never seen a woman at the altar who looked like me before. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I kept waking up in the morning and thinking, ‘Is this something I could do, too?’

“The idea of it gripped me and wouldn’t let go.”

Through the RCWP, Wilcox has undertaken five units of study thus far on her path to become a deacon. She must complete another five before being ordained a priest.

It was the RCWP which conducted the ordination ceremony in Chicago on Nov. 1, which saw two other women ordained as deacons alongside Wilcox, and one woman from Chicago ordained as a priest.

Wilcox, a member of the Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Oakdale, was supported at the ceremony by her husband, Russ Havir — “He’s my biggest cheerleader,” she says — one of her two sons and her daughter-in-law and a number of friends.

“It was just a wonderful, wonderful day,” she said.

Polarizing decision

Another key family member present at her ordination was Wilcox’s mother, who is supportive of her daughter’s decision to pursue the priesthood.

One comment made by her mother in response to Wilcox’s invitation to the ceremony is indicative of the polarizing effect of the question of women’s ordination within the Roman Catholic church.

“My mother is 85,” explained Wilcox. “I said, would she come to my ordination, and she said, ‘Of course; we will burn in hell together.’

“Of course, there is no hell.”

Wilcox says she has yet to check with Washington County, but believes that her ordination as a deacon entitles her to marry people, perform baptisms and funerals and anoint the sick and dying.

None of these actions, however, would be recognized by the Catholic Church, so although a marriage performed by Wilcox may be recognized by the state, it would not be accepted by the church.

Looking forward, Wilcox says she is not sure of what the future holds.

After she and another female deacon from the area are ordained as priests next year, she says it will bring to three the number of ordained Roman Catholic women priests in the Twin Cities.

Prohibited from serving in the church which she loves, Wilcox says they may explore the possibility of renting their own space and holding weekly services, but that as yet, it’s still more of a dream.

And she is fully aware of the potential consequences of her actions.

“I really, truly believe with all my heart that this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” said Wilcox.

“I would say the ordination as a deacon really left me feeling that this is right. I’m just not questioning it.

“Even though I know that in May 2008, the Vatican came out with a statement that women who participate in ordaining someone or who are ordained would excommunicate themselves, I believe this is an unjust law and I’m going to disobey them on it and follow my conscience.”

She added, “I feel like I’m just helping to make a path, maybe planting a seed and I’m never going to sit under the tree, but I’m planting for the future.

“I love the Catholic church. It’s in my bones and I could have left, but I wanted to stay and help make a difference.”

What the church has to say

The Roman Catholic Church’s stance is simple, explains Dennis McGrath, the director of communications for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: In the Roman Catholic Church, women may not be ordained as priests or deacons.

“That’s impossible,” said McGrath last week when contacted for comment.

“It was not in our faith [that they were ordained]. We don’t ordain women.”

He explained that the Roman Catholic Church’s stand on priests and deacons stemmed from the fact that Jesus appointed only men as disciples and apostles.

“It’s not changed for 2,000 years,” added McGrath. “I know to some people that sounds sexist, but that’s the way it always has been and that’s the way it always will be.”

He said the ultimate consequence for women who had been ordained could be excommunication, although he stressed this would only be a very last resort.

The authority of excommunication is held by the pope, and also by a bishop for the residents of his own diocese, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

The encyclopedia goes on to list the effects of excommunication as: a loss of the sacraments (baptism, confirmation, penance, eucharist, extreme unction), public services and prayers of the church, ecclesiastical burial, jurisdiction, benefices, canonical rights and social intercourse.

McGrath explained that although women were specifically forbidden from ordination as priests or deacons, there were many other roles for them within the Roman Catholic church.

“Women are involved in the church at all levels,” said McGrath. “I think here in the archdiocese we have more women in positions of authority running departments than we do males; that used to be the case.”
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(Source: WB)