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2024 Synod Working Document Overview and Analysis

Written on . Posted in Justice In the Church, Synod on Synodality.

FutureChurch director emerita, Deborah Rose, joins us to share an overview and analysis of the Instrumentum Laboris – or Working Document – that will guide conversation and discernment at the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission. Deb’s presentation provides an overview of how the document was created and a review of its contents with a particular focus on where and how the issue of women’s leadership and ministry appears in text.

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Stations of the Resurrection According to John with Laura James

Written on . Posted in Mary of Magdala, Uncategorized, Women In Church Leadership.

Laura James has expanded her “Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus” series with six new images to depict all of John’s Resurrection Narrative. Our virtual art show presents a first look at these “Stations of the Resurrection,” exploring the theological significance of each painting. We also hear from Laura James herself about her inspiration and process.

Inspired by contemporary biblical scholarship, this art series was commissioned by FutureChurch board member, Rita Houlihan.

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About Laura James: A self-taught artist of Caribbean heritage, Laura James has enjoyed a long career painting in two styles she refers to as ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’. James separates and combines the sacrosanct and the ordinary and has created a diverse body of work that is her own.

Originally captivated by the Ethiopian Christian Art form, James’ sacred work employs this ancient way of making icons and expands on the collection of stories traditionally painted in this style. James is pleased to help black people see themselves in their sacred texts, in African religions and Christianity, a place where racialized people have curiously been excluded in the west. To that end, James was delighted to illustrate The Book of the Gospels lectionary, published by Liturgy Training Publications in 2001; the book is used worldwide by numerous Christian denominations and is currently in its second edition. Her religious art is at the forefront of the movement toward a more inclusive representation of Biblical figures.

LTP book designer Anna Manhart writes, “We like Laura’s work because it is distinct, memorable, popular and timeless, telling stories in a simple, fresh, and direct way. People respond to the expressive faces, eyes, and gestures, colors, and intricately patterned clothing. Her art appeals to varied ages and cultures. The depictions carry the tradition of Ethiopian iconography to the present day, bridging centuries and continents.”

Ms. James is represented by Bridgeman Images, the world’s leading specialists in the distribution of fine art for reproduction, and James’ work can be seen in hundreds of publications from textbooks to film worldwide. James’ third children’s book, My Mother Was a Nanny was recently released, and she continues to work as a commissioned artist. Laura James lives and works in The Bronx, NY. Learn more at www.laurajamesart.com

About Rita Houlihan: Rita L. Houlihan works to restore our historical memory of Biblical women leaders with a focus on Mary Magdalene. She commissions scripture-based art to counter demeaning legends and touch the public’s imagination.

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Stations of the Resurrection

Written on . Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

Stations of the Resurrection According to John

Art by Laura James. Copyright Laura James, Rita L. Houlihan, FutureChurch. All rights reserved.

For reprint or posting licensing, please contact FutureChurch at info@futurechurch.org

  • “Mary Magdalene Discovers the Empty Tomb – John 20:1”

  • “Mary Magdalene Tells Peter and the Beloved – John 20:2”

  • “Peter and the Beloved at the Empty Tomb – John 20:3-9”

  • “Peter and the Beloved Leave, But Mary Stayed Weeping – John 20:10-11”

  • “Mary Magdalene Meets Two Angels in the Tomb – John 20:12-13”

  • “Called by Name – John 20:14-16”

  • “Jesus Commissions Mary Magdalene – John 20:17”

  • “Mary Magdalene Proclaims Resurrection – John 20:18”

  • “Pentecost – Jesus Sends Them Out – John 20:19-23”

  • “Blessed Are Those Who Believe – John 20:24-29”

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2024 Mary Magdalene Celebration

Written on . Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

FutureChurch’s 2024 celebration of Mary Magdalene uplifts the role that women play in bearing witness to the Risen One in our midst today. This year’s celebration was developed and co-led by Martha Ligas and Olivia Hastie of the FutureChurch staff. We welcomed three witnesses: Vickey McBride, Ariell Watson Simon, and Yunuen Trujillo who all shared their reflections from their own ministry and context. FutureChurch executive director, Russ Petrus, provided music.

About our witnesses:

Vickey McBride is Chair of the FutureChurch Board. She most recently served as Vice President for Mission at Saint Martin de Porres High School (Cristo Rey) in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2023, she received the Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education.

Yunuen Trujillo is a Catholic lay minister, a faith-based Community Organizer, and an Immigration Attorney. As a lay minister, she has served in Young Adult Ministry for more than 15 years and she is one of the leading figures for inclusive Catholic LGBTQ Ministry in the United States. Yunuen is a member of the FutureChurch Board.

Ariell Simon (she/her) is a healthcare chaplain living and ministering in central Missouri. Ariell has served as a healthcare chaplain in hospitals and nursing facilities in three states. Ariell also coordinates FutureChurch’s Sunday evening online Liturgy of the Word.

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A Prayer for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene by Cameron Bellm

Written on . Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

Mary Magdalene did not look away, did not flee.
She stayed and she wept
And she fixed her gaze on the cross, on the tomb.
And because she did not look away,
Jesus, who told stories, became her story, too.
And because she did not look away, she heard him
When he said that the story hadn’t ended,
That despite a terribly tragic turn,
The story was really only just beginning.

 His story was her story, and her story is our story—
A story of abiding, a story of prophetic witness,
A story of love unfathomably deep.
When we carry spices for anointing,
When we carry wine for celebration,
When we bear witness to love,
May we lift our voices, as she lifted hers—
Tell our story, tell her story, tell his story—
May we say, too, “We have seen the Lord.”

Amen.

by Cameron Bellm | https://www.cameronbellm.com

Faith, Feminism, and the Catholic Church with Natalia Lee and Julie Rubio

Written on . Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

FutureChurch welcomes Professors Julie Hanlon Rubio and Natalia Imperatori-Lee for a conversation on faith, feminism, and the Catholic Church. Both scholars have recently written critically acclaimed books on the topic.

In Women and the Church: From Devil’s Gateway to Discipleship Natalia Imperatori Lee examines the history of Christian feminism as a response to patriarchy, the ways in which women have been portrayed in scripture and women’s hermeneutical strategies, and the contributions of women to the subfields of systematic theology.

In Can You Be a Catholic and a Feminist? Julie Hanlon Rubio explores the enduring but newly urgent question, arguing that a Catholic feminist identity is only tenable if we frankly acknowledge tensions between Catholicism and feminism, bring forward shared concerns, and embrace the future with ambiguity and creativity.

Natalia Imperatori-Lee is professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in Riverdale, Bronx, New York. She teaches in the areas of Catholic ecclesiology, gender studies, and Latinx theologies. Imperatori-Lee holds degrees from Fordham University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame.

Julie Hanlon Rubio is the Shea-Heusaman Professor of Christian Social Ethics and Associate Dean at Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. She previously taught in the department of theological studies at St. Louis University for nearly two decades. Her research focuses on family, feminism, sex, and politics.

Working Document for Synod offers hope for progress but limits true synodality by curtailing conversation of ordination

Written on . Posted in Press Releases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Russ Petrus, Executive Director
russ@futurechurch.org

 

On July 9, 2024 the Vatican released the Instrumentum Laboris – or working document – which will guide conversation and discernment at the October 2024 General Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation and Mission in Rome.

While FutureChurch sees much hope for progress in the document, we also cannot ignore the fact that true synodality cannot be realized if certain topics – such as the ordination of women to the diaconate – are excluded from conversation.

Entitled “How to be a missionary synodal church,” the document reflects Pope Francis’ desire for a cultural shift toward a Church that is more dialogical, open to a diversity of perspectives and experiences, and where discernment and decision-making is the common work of all the People of God – lay and ordained alike. And in compiling the interim reports from around the globe, the writers have put forward requests for further consideration that, if realized, will enable lay people – and particularly women – to take an important role in catalyzing such a culture change.

Recommendations made in paragraphs 16 and 18 such as lay preaching at Mass, the use of more inclusive language and imagery in preaching and Church teaching, a greater role for women in seminaries, wider access for women to take up decision making roles in dioceses, and an increase in the number of women serving as judges in canonical processes are all helpful and hopeful.

However, the working document fails to fully live out its own vision of synodality and proclamation that “by virtue of Baptism, [women] enjoy full equality, receive the same outpouring of gifts from the Spirit, and are called to the service of Christ’s mission” (13) by curtailing discussion of the ordination of women. Of the dozens of concrete proposals made by delegates in the synthesis report from October 2023, continued discussion of women deacons appears to be the only one explicitly taken off the synodal table (17) and instead entrusted to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (see Group 5).

It must be said: true synodality will not be realized if certain topics remain off limits and there can be no real equality in the Church as long as women, whom “God chose…as the first witnesses and heralds of the Resurrection” (13), are denied access to the ordained ministries to which God calls them.

FutureChurch has been fully engaged in the synodal process – most recently submitting the synthesis of our own interim stage listening sessions to both the USCCB and the General Secretariat of the Synod in Rome and hosting two listening sessions with synod delegate, Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns, this month.  And we will continue to press forward toward a Church that is alive with the wisdom, gifts, and vocations of all its members.

Our “Mary Magdalene Goes to the Synod” Project to Expand the Lectionary calls on the global Church to take up the necessary work of including more biblical women in the readings for Sunday Mass and increase awareness that women were – and still should be – ministers, leaders, and proclaimers of the Gospel.

FutureChurch will hold a virtual overview and discussion of the Working Document and Study Groups on Thursday, August 1, 2024 at 7pm ET. Details and registration.

Working Document Listening Session with Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns

Written on . Posted in Justice In the Church, Synod on Synodality.

Synod Delegate, Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns, joins FutureChurch to host a listening session in preparation for the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission.

Dr. Bailey Manns joins in conversation with a number of listening session participants regarding details of the newly released working document that will guide the October 2024 Assembly. Of note, participants discuss the development that discussion of women deacons has now been “entrusted” to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith.

We apologize that, because of technical issues, the recording begins a few minutes into the conversation as Deborah Rose is sharing her thoughts about the news that discussion of women deacons was being taken up by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of faith.

Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns is one of four lay people from the United States who were appointed by Pope Francis as the first lay women and men voting delegates to participate at the first general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality this past October and again in October 2024. She is also one of the six St. Paul & Minneapolis Archdiocesan representatives in the Continental phase of the pre-Synod preparations and at Archbishop Hebda’s request, ably represented the Archdiocese on the team that worked with the World Council of Churches and the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity to draft the international materials for the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Dr. Bailey Manns is the Director of Adult Learning at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis—a community whose vision is to be a visible, progressive Catholic Community, compassionate and welcoming to all. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Florida and currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She is an experienced soul companion/spiritual director, supervisor, and retreat leader with emphasis on human development, spirituality, spiritual formation, soul care for lay and ordained leaders, and sacred activism. She lives with her family in Bloomington, Minnesota.