CLONAKILTY woman Jennifer Sleeman, who made international headlines last year after calling for a one-day boycott of Sunday Mass in protest against the Catholic Church’s treatment of women, has called on people interested in reform to wear green to Mass on Sunday September 26th.
‘We have not gone away and are still hoping for change’, she said. ‘My 82nd birthday is coming up. This year other people are joining together on Sunday September 25th, urging those who hope for change to go to Mass, and to wear a green ribbon or armband’.
‘We have not gone away and are still hoping for change’, she said. ‘My 82nd birthday is coming up. This year other people are joining together on Sunday September 25th, urging those who hope for change to go to Mass, and to wear a green ribbon or armband’.
She requested that priests who share her desire for change show their support by pinning up a green ribbon in the church.
Ms Sleeman said that she received messages ‘from all over the world’ in support of her Mass boycott last year. Then, she asked that Catholic women join their ‘sisters’ and ‘stay at home and pray for change’. Women have been protesting ‘individually but unremarked’, she said at the time, but ‘together we have strength and our absence, the empty pews, will be noticed’.
Ms Sleeman asserted that the Church was a male-dominated institution and queried its positions on celibacy and female ordination. Last year’s boycott was a plea for women to be treated as equals in the Church, she said.
‘A year later, there is no sign of change’, she opined. ‘There are fewer priests, ageing, overworked and tired, and still the Church, reeling from abuse scandals, fails to acknowledge the wealth of wisdom and energy in women, especially those who feel called to the priesthood.
Ms Sleeman was raised a Presbyterian but became a Catholic 55 years ago. Her son, Simon, is a Benedictine monk in Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick.
Ms Sleeman said that she received messages ‘from all over the world’ in support of her Mass boycott last year. Then, she asked that Catholic women join their ‘sisters’ and ‘stay at home and pray for change’. Women have been protesting ‘individually but unremarked’, she said at the time, but ‘together we have strength and our absence, the empty pews, will be noticed’.
Ms Sleeman asserted that the Church was a male-dominated institution and queried its positions on celibacy and female ordination. Last year’s boycott was a plea for women to be treated as equals in the Church, she said.
‘A year later, there is no sign of change’, she opined. ‘There are fewer priests, ageing, overworked and tired, and still the Church, reeling from abuse scandals, fails to acknowledge the wealth of wisdom and energy in women, especially those who feel called to the priesthood.
Ms Sleeman was raised a Presbyterian but became a Catholic 55 years ago. Her son, Simon, is a Benedictine monk in Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick.
He told The Limerick Leader last year that while he supported his mother and had himself been ‘inundated’ with phone calls praising her stance, he was ‘staying out’ of the controversy as it was ‘my mother’s gig, not mine’.
Born in England, Ms Sleeman is a founding member of the Green Party in Ireland and was unveiled earlier this year as the party’s general election candidate for Cork South West.
Born in England, Ms Sleeman is a founding member of the Green Party in Ireland and was unveiled earlier this year as the party’s general election candidate for Cork South West.
However, she had to withdraw from the race after she discovered that Irish citizenship was required for Dáil elections.
‘I have lived here for 54 years,’ she said at the time. Applying for citizenship ‘just never crossed my mind’.
Ms Sleeman played a prominent part in Clonakilty becoming Ireland’s first Fair Trade town in 2003.
Ms Sleeman played a prominent part in Clonakilty becoming Ireland’s first Fair Trade town in 2003.
Later, she became involved in setting up an environmental group, Sustainable Clonakilty, and received an award in 2007 from the Cork Environmental Forum in recognition of her ‘outstanding contribution’ to sustainability in Cork city and county.
Ms Sleeman said last year that the shortage of priests offered a ‘compelling reason’ for the ordination of women, and this remains the case today.
Ms Sleeman said last year that the shortage of priests offered a ‘compelling reason’ for the ordination of women, and this remains the case today.
‘What is so fearful about women?’ she asked last week. ‘Why are men seen as better at spreading the original message of love?’