22 Nuns, Lay Women Stage Sexism Protest at Cathedral

Chanting prayers for freedom from sexism and serving each other bread and wine, 22 Roman Catholic lay women and nuns held an unscheduled service Sunday morning inside St. Vibiana Cathedral in Los Angeles.

No attempts were made to stop the 15-minute service, which occurred between regularly scheduled Masses, but Archbishop Roger Mahony, who lives in the cathedral rectory, issued a three-page statement saying he was “saddened” by the unsanctioned “liturgy of liberation from patriarchal hierarchy.”

Mahony has enjoyed a “honeymoon” period since he succeeded Cardinal Timothy Manning as Los Angeles archbishop last September--except, it appears, for a group of Catholic feminists dissatisfied with the Vatican’s continued rejection of women’s ordination to the priesthood and what the women consider condescending and hostile attitudes by the church’s all-male hierarchy.

The group, affiliated with the National Assn. of Religious Women, sought unsuccessfully to present their concerns during Mahony’s first meeting with priests last September. The women also held a vigil in the St. Vibiana Cathedral courtyard March 27 while priests of the archdiocese were renewing their vows inside.

Mahony said he was “deeply troubled” by the women’s plan, outlined in a news release, to “express their own call to priestly ministry by blessing and sharing bread and wine” (the elements of Holy Communion, or the Eucharist).

Mahony warned in his statement: “If there is some attempt to act in and around the altar of the church in such a way that others would conclude erroneously that the Eucharist was being celebrated, then such participants would open themselves to the penalties of Church law. As archbishop, I would not be permitted to allow our people to be led astray by such deceptive actions.”

But Margaret Arnold, the group’s spokeswoman, said, “We are not doing a take-off on the Mass.” In fact, the blessing did not identify the bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

For their service, the women formed a circle around a small table placed between the front pews and the altar area. It ended with a candlelight procession down the main aisle to the rear of the church. A banner they brought into the cathedral read, “The Coming of the Spirit--She Empowers Us All.”

‘Spirit’ in Hebrew is Feminine

The group selected Pentecost Sunday, which recalls the New Testament story of the Spirit of God emboldening the first Jesus followers in Jerusalem to form a church. In calling the Holy Spirit “she,” feminists note that the word for “spirit” is feminine in Hebrew.

Only about 25 worshipers were scattered about in the pews during the service, for which permission was not sought. No priests were in sight.

Two women present had different reactions. Consolacion Gonzales of Montebello, who happened to be in a front pew, joined in the service, and later said she thought it was “nice.”

However, longtime St. Vibiana parishioner Connie Bernal said she believes in equality for women in every area but the church. “I don’t want to tell a woman my inner secrets (in confession),” she said.

Four nuns in secular clothes took part in the service, including Sister Elizabeth Thoman, executive editor of Media&Values; magazine, and Sister Judy Vaughn, who until recently was threatened with expulsion from her order for signing a 1984 abortion-related advertisement. Vaughn’s case was resolved last March in a meeting between her and two Vatican officials without her having to retract her signature.

Spirit Is With the Women

Many of the women in the service have been involved in helping homeless or battered women, said Arnold. “Our purpose here is to bring to the attention of the hierarchy that the spirit of the church is with us also. Our call doesn’t end with our wanting to be ordained,” she said.

Mahony, in his statement, noted that within the archdiocese he has made “several public declarations of my own desire and plans to involve women in various levels of leadership and policy participation.”

He cited his previously announced plans to form an advisory council of sisters and to appoint a woman vicar for nuns. He said he would shortly appoint a woman to serve as archdiocesan personnel director, a new position.

Though he did not directly comment on the issue of women’s ordination, Mahony said women have been involved in the ministry since the beginning and that the Synod of Bishops declared last December that their participation in the church should increase.