Challenging the Stained Glass Ceiling

The Associated Press reports:

A Georgia priest facing excommunication for supporting the ordination of women said Friday he plans to visit the Vatican with a contingent of fellow priests and a bishop to appeal the decision.

Roy Bourgeois, 69, a Maryknoll priest and nationally known peace activist, ran afoul of Vatican doctrine by participating in an Aug. 9 ceremony in Lexington, Ky., to ordain Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a member of a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Recent popes have said the Roman Catholic Church cannot ordain women because Christ chose only males as apostles.

"Who are we as men to say to women that our call to the priesthood is valid, but yours is not?" Bourgeois said in a telephone interview. "As Catholics we profess that the invitation to priesthood comes from God, and I believe that we are hampering with the sacred when we say that women must be excluded from being priests. That invitation is from God."

Bourgeois makes a valid point, who decides when someone is called? I've heard this same comment from some of my gay friends who are ordained pastors.

It's too bad the Catholic Hierarchy isn't filled with men like Roy Bourgeois.

So I told you I was in Atlanta ...

Which means I just got to spend the evening with this lovely couple! How exciting is that!!

Last weekend we had a wonderful blogger meet up in DC, and this weekend I got to spend time with MathMan and DCup. It just doesn't get any better than this!

I only hope I didn't bore them with all my stories. You know how people from DC like to talk! ha

And check out those earrings! Yikes!!

SisterSong: Party Like It's 1863

I'm in Atlanta at the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Rights membership meeting. How exciting it is spending the weekend with 350 wonderful women of color -- the energy here is palpable. The SisterSong Obama Celebration is scheduled for tonight, but it's actually been going on all day!

Loretta Ross, the national director, opened the day with a stirring presentation, followed by an excellent election update from Dazon Diallo Dixon. These are two of my favorite women. It would be hard not to like their energy and their passion for justice. Dazon told the audience that tonight they would "party like it was 1863." (When the Emancipation Proclamation became law.)

The opening plenary focused on healthcare as a human right. Probably the most poignant presentation was delivered by Imani Walker, from The Rebecca Project, who talked about the challenges women who for a myriad of reasons find themselves "self medicating" -- and in her case pregnant. Giving birth in prison is difficult enough, but going through labor and giving birth while in shackles is inhuman. Walker shared her personal story with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), and together they are working to change the laws at both a federal and state level.

I know money is tight for a lot of us right now, but if you have a few extra dollars be sure to send them SisterSong's way!