Accessibility Tools

Web Accessibility plugin by DJ-Extensions.com
Skip to main content

Pax Priory Imagines its Next 50 Years in the City

Written on . Posted in Emerging Models of Parish & Community Life.

Photo 1: Front view of St. Benedict Center. Pax Priory is on the third floor.

In 1972, Benedictine Sister Mary Lou Kownacki had a vision of bringing the charism of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie beyond the walls of the monastery and into the city. With the support of her monastic community , Sister Mary Lou started Pax Center– a living community in the city of Erie, Pennsylvania dedicated to nonviolence.  For twenty-five years, sisters and lay people served the needs of the city, welcoming the stranger at the door in need of food, shelter, or support. 

During that first era of Pax Center, the community responded to needs that they encountered–beginning a soup kitchen in 1974 that continues as Emmaus Ministries and includes the soup kitchen, food pantry, and other services that provide a more sustainable response to the needs of the city than a doorbell ministry ever could. Pax members created movements for peace and justice that helped shape the thinking of the larger community. As the services and witness provided by Pax became more mainstream and as the community demographic shifted, so has the Pax community itself changed. There are fewer residents now, and they now share three floors of the building with the Benedictine community’s daycare center. Instead of welcoming the stranger at the door like in the early days of the Center, each resident goes out to meet the needs of the city directly where they are. “Internally at Pax we don’t hold that ministry for the city in the way that they did in the seventies, but those ministries continue on their own,” reflects Pax resident Katie Gordon. “Now each of us individually are involved in Benedictine ministries or in local spiritual community, and each of us individually is committed in our own ways and we share the rhythm of life that sustains us to keep doing that work.”

Pax Priory community dinner. Photo courtesy of Katie Gordon.

Currently, there are four women living in the walls of the Priory, ranging in age from 33 to 88. Two of the Pax residents are professed Benedictine Sisters, one is an Oblate of the Benedictines, and one identifies as a seeker. Katie comments on the make-up of the Priory: “there’s this mix of sisters, oblates, and seekers coming through the space and I think it’s a good sign. We are not all necessarily professed sisters but still longing for a community structure to our lives. There is a hunger for this space to exist. The fact that we’re here is (I hope) a hospitality to seekers around the neighborhood or city as well– not only those of us who live here.” 

She adds, “If Pax Priory had a ministry, it would be hospitality for seekers. The gift of a place like Pax or community like this is giving people time and space to connect with Spirit. That’s all it is– time and space.” 

“If Pax Priory had a ministry, it would be hospitality for seekers.” Katie Gordon, Pax Resident

On any given day, friends will be passing through the Priory– some stay for a week, others just for a meal. But it is the hospitality of the residents and the sacred schedule that they keep that offers a moment of respite for seekers along the way. Katie reflects, “our priorities are centered in a different kind of way in the space- in a way that people find to be a gift.” From the twice daily pauses for communal prayer to the intentional meal schedule, the residents of Pax offer each other and guests an invitation to the Benedictine charism. Katie and Linda Romey, a Pax resident and Benedictine Sister, thoughtfully share that core Benedictine ministry is prayer and community. “Everything we do in the city is an outgrowth of our prayer and community. And  so it evolves as our prayer is evolving. Who are we praying for? Who are we sitting in community with? It is a fluid evolving way of understanding our charism, which is that it is going to be open to who is present to us in our prayer and in our community.” 

Given this understanding of charism, the residents live in a perpetual state of openness to the ways in which the Benedictine presence in the city can continue to evolve. From  supporting food sustainability, to new business models, from systems of accountability between neighbors to impact investing, there is no shortage of dreams of how to live into the future. The residents and the larger group of seekers in which they move are actively dreaming and visualizing the continual evolution of their presence in the city.

Residents Katie Gordon and Rosanne Lindal-Hynes, OSB before the 2020 election. Photo courtesy of Katie Gordon.

As Linda considers the role of the Pax in Erie, she reflects, “within the next five to seven years the Benedictine community of professed sisters is going to look really different. So I think it’s great that there’s potentially another way of living this life already at work in the wings. And that’s part of our work– seeing things, and getting enough of the vision out there for others to see it, too.” 

Katie adds, “Pax Center began as an experiment, and it continues as an experiment. It is an iterative process of becoming monastic community in the city of Erie. I think that’s the best way to understand Pax:  as an evolving, unfolding experiment.” And, fifty years since the experiment of Pax began, it is continuing to live into its purpose in the city of Erie. But however the need may evolve, and however the next iteration of the Pax comes to fruition, resident Priscilla expresses what all of the residents believe: 

“we will continue to know that it is holy to live here.”

Focus Questions

  1. “Instead of welcoming the stranger at the door like in the early days of the Center, each resident goes out to meet the needs of the city directly where they are.” – How does your faith community go out to meet the needs of the people in your area?
  2. Pax Priory lives in a “perpetual state of openness” about their community’s charism of prayer and community. What would you say your faith community’s charism is? How has it evolved over time? How is your community ensuring your charism lives on into the future?

Do you know of or belong to a community that you would like to see highlighted? Reach out to Martha at martha@futurechurch.org.

How Do Roman Catholic Womenpriests Contribute to Our Understanding of Church

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

FutureChurch welcomes co-authors, Sharon Henderson Callahan and Jeanette Rodriguez, to discuss their new book,  Women Called to Catholic Priesthood: From Ecclesial Challenge to Spiritual Renewal (Fortress Press, 2024).

In their compelling and carefully crafted ethnographic work, Sharon Callahan and Jeanette Rodriguez explore the contexts, calls, journeys, spirituality, and theology of women called to priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Posing the questions of how womenpriests’ stories illustrate both ecclesial challenges and spiritual renewal, the authors encourage readers to thoughtfully engage these women on their own terms.

Sharon Henderson Callahan, EdD, is professor emerita and past academic dean of the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. A scholar of ministry and leadership , Callahan has focused her research on both Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant ecclesial formation.

Jeanette Rodriguez, PhD, is a professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University. Currently she also serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at the university. She is a ‘border theologian” studying Christian faith experience among different cultural groups; her books include studies of Haudenosaunee and Mexican American cultural identity.

Both Callahan and Rodriguez have performed qualitative, ethnographic research in locations around the world.

Purchase the book in paperback or Kindle on Amazon. 

Complementarity is the Lie We’re Told

Written on . Posted in Women In Church Leadership.

Olivia Hastie Reacts to Harrison Butker’s Commencement Remarks

“We must always speak and act in charity.” These are words that Harrison Butker used in his commencement speech at Benedictine College. In the same speech, Butker commented directly to women and grossly assumed that we are the group of people who have had the most “diabolical lies told to us.” Among these lies, he believes, are career advancement, promotion, achievement, bodily autonomy, and the right to a robust education. 

Butker asserted that “the majority of [the women graduating from Benedictine] are most excited for [their] marriages and the children they will bring into this world” and not  the major accomplishment of completing a bachelor’s degree (which he notes happened during the chaos and pain of the pandemic, but we’ll save a response to that for another article). He highlights how his wife embraced “the most important title of all, homemaker,” and encouraged the students in the audience to lean into their God-given gendered vocation, even if it was something that they didn’t totally enjoy. I’m glad his wife is happy in her role as mother, but it is not for everyone. 

News flash, Harrison Butker, John Paul II is no longer the Pope! It’s 2024 and we know more and better! 

My gut reaction to the speech is anger, because in my niche field inhabited by feminist theologians and ethicists, I receive a brief reprieve from the false assertions of gender complementarity that are still so rampant in this Church. There are amazing women who’ve paved the way for me to be where I am. This reprieve is brief, but it’s there. 

“As far as I am concerned, gender complementarity perpetuates and enables violence against women.”

Most of all, I am deeply saddened that people forget that complementarity is the lie we are told – and not those messages of wholeness and liberation. All people are of equal dignity, and can be whoever  they discern God is calling them  them to be. This is the unconstrained invitation to answer the call to a myriad of vocations, not a singular identity. The harms of gender complementarity extend far beyond the limitation of women to motherhood or homemaker, and may as well be called ecclesial misogyny and inherently anti-woman. As far as I am concerned, gender complementarity perpetuates and enables violence against women.

When listening to Butker’s speech, I couldn’t help but think of my own mother, who, although retired, was and remains  a go-getter. Her vocation to motherhood was not the only vocation she lived, and through my entire childhood, I watched her accomplish nearly everything she set her mind to – big and small. She inspired me to do the same. I am writing this piece about to graduate from Harvard Divinity School and as an incoming doctoral student at Boston College where I will complete my PhD in theology. None of that would be possible without the inspiration of the countless women who answer their vocations to achievement, intelligence, front-facing careers, and/or motherhood (yes, it’s a choice, not a mandate). We need women’s voices everywhere, not just at home.

It is true, “we must always speak and act in charity.” When I looked up the dictionary definition of “charity,” I came across two applicable definitions: kindness and tolerance in judging others, and a love of humankind. There is little kindness in constraining women to one vocation, and in my opinion, a deep hatred of non-men in gender complementarity. An agapeic trinitarian God of love does not desire anyone to enter a vocation that doesn’t feel right for them or an identity that does not make them feel like their truest, holiest self.

As a woman preparing to walk across the graduation stage next week, I pray for all graduating women: That you feel celebrated for your accomplishments, who you are in this moment, and all you are becoming. The world needs your voice, and less of Harrison Butker’s. 

Journeying & Singing Together

Written on . Posted in Justice In the Church, Women In Church Leadership, Women Witnesses for Racial Justice.

Reflection by Jane Varner Malhotra

Early in May I embarked on a pilgrimage with FutureChurch to civil rights sites of the South, following in the footsteps of our Black Catholic foremothers in faith. When I signed up for the program, I wasn’t really sure what it would be, but something about it drew me in. I am one of the leaders of a home mass community in Washington, DC, and have noted the lack of diversity among us and wondered about it. I work at Georgetown University where we continue to study our racist past and vestiges of it that emerge today. I lived in the South in my teen years and have a fondness for it. And one of the pilgrimage leaders was Dr. Kim Harris, professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in LA, where my son just completed his first year.

Like many, I have a special place in my heart for Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, an ancestor who I encounter in prayer, who encourages me to keep singing and moving my white ass in mass and enjoy my faith and my church with my whole self. I have a call to priesthood and as a Catholic woman that’s complicated, but she offers us all an example of joy and boldness and creativity that I wanted to explore more as part of this journey. I was honored to meet women who knew her and shared stories about her on the trip, helping to bring her to life for me.

On the final day of our journey, we visited Professor Sheleen Jones at Xavier University in New Orleans, the only Catholic HBCU in the country. She is a sculptor and invited us into her classroom/studio, where she shared a replica of her beautiful Sister Thea Bowman relief, which she defined as “a sculpture married to a wall.” She invited us into her process by having some of the pilgrims help her peel off the soft silicone mold to reveal the cast metal underneath.

FutureChurch group poses with Sheleen Jones (standing behind the bronze relief) at her studio at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans

There in the studio Dr. Harris led us in song with “Wade in the water” and I felt the energy shift as it did every time we sang. How can I explain with words the way singing freedom songs in unison brought us together on this pilgrimage, and helped soften the sting from visiting civil rights museums and learning about lynchings, mass incarceration, family separations during slavery and today through systemic racism and white supremacy in our country. The singing was a true grace, and I thank Dr. Harris for her patience with us as we learned to listen, to become pliable but powerful like the silicone mold, and follow her lead in song.

This reflection is a bit all over the place, which is how I’ve felt since returning home. So far, the memories that keep resurfacing are the sacred stories–those in the museums, the ones we read ahead of time from M. Shawn Copeland and Bryan Massingale and others, and the ones from fellow pilgrims about their lived experiences of racism in their youth to today. One of my favorite museum stories was in Montgomery, AL, at the Rosa Parks Museum. There we learned about Jo Ann Robinson, an English professor at Alabama State College. The night after Rosa Parks’ arrest, she and another professor and two students made 35,000 mimeographed flyers to launch what was to be a one-day Montgomery bus boycott. Seeing the mimeograph machine in the museum took me back to Catholic grade school in Indiana and the intoxicating smell of the fresh ink before a quiz–how did this humble piece of equipment help dismantle a system of supremacy?! Awe-inspiring. Jo Ann kept a low public profile during the boycott so as to keep her university job, but she and so many others did a lot of work behind the scenes to support the massive movement that would last 13 months and at last bring about integrated seating for the city’s notorious bus system.

Another powerful experience that stays with me was the National Memorial to Peace and Justice in Montgomery. From their website, “The National Memorial is a sacred space for truth telling and reflection about racial terrorism and its legacy.” The unspeakable horrors of lynching are spoken so that we don’t wish them away but allow instead the deep discomfort of confronting, knowing, aching, lamenting, and opening to the divine consolation that can come from that experience.

There’s much more to share about this powerful, humbling, transformative journey and I’m deeply grateful to our leaders Myra (our tour guide), LaVaughn (our intrepid bus driver), Kim, Kayla, Russ, Deb, and others who taught us along the way–especially my fellow pilgrims who shared the experience with me. This included tears, confusion, hope and laughter, shame, inspiration, and thank God, a lot of spirit-filled singing!

Jane Varner Malhotra is a writer, artist, and community organizer. She is co-founder of Washington Home Inclusive Monthly Mass, whose mission is to make visible and known women’s call to Catholic priesthood.

Open-Hearted Journey Makers

Written on . Posted in Women In Church Leadership, Women Witnesses for Racial Justice.

Reflection by Ronnise Handy 

I just returned from the FutureChurch Civil Rights and Racial Justice Pilgrimage with a group of thirty-five like-minded and open-hearted journey-makers. Black, white, primarily middle-aged and older – from both coasts and many cities in between including Charlotte, Detroit, and Birmingham, just to name a few. Ohio was well represented, and we had one beauty from Iowa!

FutureChurch Pilgrimage participants group photo in front of a “Good Trouble” mural in Selma, Alabama

I must preface my reflections by saying I had travelled to New Orleans once and passed through Alabama and Mississippi enroute to another destination. These were my only times in the deep south. I vowed to visit those places only on a tour, with people who should know the lay of the land and in no other fashion. And I am so grateful I was on this trip. It was transformative.

I tried to prepare myself for the onslaught of information, both educational and dehumanizing -akin to the horrendous images I had seen my entire life  displaying the practices of many places in the land during that period. I was born in the winter of 1963, so I missed the movement in real time but many on the trip shared personal memories of their teenaged years, their recollection of what was occurring, and the way it made them feel. It enriched our understanding to hear these firsthand accounts of that volatile time.

“The songs were offered as the holiest of prayers and homage to the many who sacrificed it all for freedom.”

We were immensely fortunate to have members religious orders with us, journeying to better understand their congregations’ histories. Kayla August, a young dynamic preacher, inspired us with her insights. And Dr. Kim Harris, a songstress and storyteller, taught us freedom songs that we sang at various places. On the bus, in churches, at museums- whenever the mood and Spirit led us to sing – we did. And people in the area at the time were often affected and headed toward us and sometimes even joined in. The songs were offered as the holiest of prayers and homage to the many who sacrificed it all for freedom.

Dr. Kim Harris leads the group in song at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, GA

We toured museums, memorials, churches, and parks, in five cities total. Those interactions were most amazing – successfully straddling a fine line of reverence and technology, to make the information and encounters come roaring to life. And we had time to sit with and reflect on each experience presented. The brutality and demoralizing treatment to nonwhites & whites who sympathized at that time was intense and made real plain. Many tears were shed during and after the tours. And our group of journey-makers with various backgrounds, from multiple generations bonded and became family.

I conclude that all of it is a must see. And feel. Never forget. It is both a patriotic and spiritual opportunity to follow in the footsteps leading to freedom – realizing its true worth.  Hopefully, to be inspired and motivated. I am. And I think you could be too. Proud, even, for what we accomplished together. We can join hands again and work to repair the current climate of our country, leading ever closer to living up to our name: The “United” States of America.

FutureChurch Disappointed by Pope Francis’ Dismissal of Historical Evidence, Global Call for Women Deacons

Written on . Posted in Press Releases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

In an April 2024 interview with Norah O’Donnell, which aired on CBS on May 20, Pope Francis rejected the possibility of ordaining women to the diaconate. Asked if a young girl growing up Catholic today could have the opportunity to “be a deacon or participate as a clergy member,” Francis’ one word answer was simply “No.” When O’Donnell followed up specifically about his previous openness to women deacons, Francis elaborated on the topic of sacramental ordination: “If it is deacons with Holy Orders, no. But women have always had, I would say, the function of deaconesses without being deacons, right?”

The comments represent Francis’ strongest public opposition to ordaining women deacons during his papacy. Pope Francis has previously signaled openness to it in interviews and by forming two commissions to study questions pertaining to women deacons. The fruits of those commissions have not been made publicly available. It was also recently reported that Salesian Sister Linda Porcher, who has helped organize sessions for Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals to learn about women’s  leadership and ministries, said he is “very much in favor” of a “female diaconate,” though it was unclear whether she meant an ordained diaconate. Porcher also indicated that Francis was looking to grant “some rights” to all the baptized that have previously been reserved for clerics.

FutureChurch is profoundly disappointed that Pope Francis’ response is an apparent dismissal of both the historical evidence and the global calls for restoring women deacons.

“Pope Francis is either unaware of or has chosen to ignore the significant historical and textual evidence that women not only served but were in fact ordained as deacons in our history,” said FutureChurch Executive Director, Russ Petrus. “Even still, as Francis admits, women continue to serve the ‘function’ of a deacon today. Who are we to deny them the sacramental grace of Holy Orders as they respond to their call and minister to the urgent needs around them? We should celebrate and support these women, including by ordaining them,” he continued.

A Synodal Church in Mission, the final synthesis of the October 2023 Synod Assembly, indicates that significant conversation regarding women deacons took place during the assembly (I.9.j). Moreover, synod delegates specifically call for continued theological and pastoral research and discernment and making the reports of previous study commissions available (I.9.n). In light of this interview, FutureChurch reaffirms and joins those calls.

“It would be a betrayal of his own vision for a synodal church for Pope Francis to silence the global conversation this way,” said Petrus. “But the Spirit will not be silenced. And neither will women and their allies – lay and cleric alike – who, led by the Spirit of Pentecost, which we just celebrated, will continue to call for women’s full equality and access to all seven Sacraments in our Church.”

The Fireplace Community Brings the Flames of Pentecost to Life

Written on . Posted in Emerging Models of Parish & Community Life.

The Fireplace has a set of values that have been defined by its members: rest, hospitality, community, inclusion, sustainability, solidarity, creativity, spirituality, and joy.

On an unassuming residential street in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, an emerging model of intentional community is creating a place of rest, spiritual growth, and joy. According to its website, The Fireplace started in February 2021 by Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA and Sister Sharon Dillon, SSJ-TOSF, is an intentional community of artists, activists, and spiritual seekers. From its seven residential members – to the larger community that gathers at the residence for dinners, spirituality nights, events and celebrations, The Fireplace has certainly become a place of companionship for all who walk up its front steps. 

In a recent interview with residents Kalen Cobb and Abby Rampone, I learned just what a difference community makes, and why its presence is so important. “I moved to Chicago at the beginning of 2023 and I was living by myself, and that was a very lonely experience,” recalls Kalen, the newest resident of The Fireplace. “Not only in terms of physical loneliness but I think spiritual loneliness as well, so it’s really nice to have a built-in community that addresses  both of those aspects.”  Kalen, a mental health therapist by trade, does not overlook the importance of coming home to a group of people who share similar values. She explains, “we really do live into the value of community. I think from the first moment I walked into the space I felt welcomed.” Abby echoed the life-giving  nature of community-living, adding, “I struggled a lot with living by myself and feeling lonely as an adult, and I don’t think that’s how we are meant to live. I think we’re all called to community, and intentional community is one particular manifestation of that.”

The Fireplace community, explains Kalen and Abby, is comprised of both live-in residents and community members who are drawn to community life, as well as to an intentional focus on spiritual growth. Though the community was formed by two religious sisters, it is not a requirement to be a practicing Catholic. “It runs the gamut from people who attend daily Mass at a canonical Catholic parish to people who don’t go to Mass at all. While six of the seven residents identify with Catholicism in some way, it looks really different for each one of us and our practice looks different,” shares Abby. 

Residents and any interested community members participate in spirituality nights twice a week, led by a member of the community. Each prayer leader brings their own spiritual identity and interests into their sharing, resulting in “prayer that is as personalized as that person,” says Kalen. Therefore, the community is exposed to a wide range of spiritual traditions. While the community has blossomed from Catholic roots, it is a self-governed entity that is not under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Chicago, giving it freedom to engage in spiritual practices in novel ways. From women-led liturgies, to Taize prayer services, from post-Easter Vigil midnight breakfast to the wedding of a same-sex couple in the extended community– there is no shortage of creative expressions of spiritual celebration at The Fireplace. This, says Abby, is one of the things she loves most about the community:

“I love all the celebrations. Even just the way that we mark time in the liturgical year. Doing things for Advent, always doing the chalk over the doors for the Feast of the Three Kings.  I love the celebrations and the marking of the passing of time. Because when you live by yourself and you’re disconnected from community, all time can sort of start to feel the same. So I really love the sort of celebratory marking of the seasons.”

The Fireplace has a set of values that have been defined by its members: rest, hospitality, community, inclusion, sustainability, solidarity, creativity, spirituality, and joy. But as the community hits its three year mark, it is discerning the best ways to carry those values into the future. “We all have beautiful ideals and commitments,” Abby comments, “a true genuine commitment to what this place can be. But growing edges can be the nitty-gritty. How do you actually run a community? How do you do the finances, how do you make decisions? How do you establish policies and procedures in case something goes wrong?” Together with community members, residents are continuing the work of living into the future of The Fireplace. As they look to the future, they share communal hopes for The Fireplace’s thriving. “My dream is that this community can live past any of us who currently live here,” shares Abby. She adds, “And that it can be a hub for progressive Catholics to find community– an alternative catholic space where Catholics and non-Catholics alike can find a spiritual home.” 

Despite its openness to growth and the changes that come with it, Abby and Kalen add that they never want the community to lose its sense of joy. 

“Being in community does not mean hanging out with your best friends– that can be part of community– but being in community life calls you to see every person as imaging Christ and imaging the divine and showing up for them as best as you can. I find this grounding and meaningful. And important.” 

As The Fireplace continues to live into its mission as a community of compassion, creativity, and contemplation, I am inspired by its model as an inclusive and faith-forward community, and I  look forward to seeing how it continues to thrive. To learn more about The Fireplace Community, visit https://www.thefireplacecommunity.org/. 

Focus Questions:

  1. The Fireplace names their values as “rest, hospitality, community, inclusion, sustainability, solidarity, creativity, spirituality, and joy.” What are your community’s values? How are these values lived and embodied by the community as individuals and as a whole?
  2. The Fireplace takes pride in the variety of spiritual traditions and practices it celebrates. How is your community being called to explore different spiritual traditions and practices?

Do you know of or belong to a community that you would like to see highlighted? Reach out to Martha at martha@futurechurch.org.

Amid synod process, Catholics continue to call for expanded church roles for women

Written on . Posted in In the News.

Excerpt: But the listening sessions are not the only way that FutureChurch is engaging with the synod. A new project, called “Mary Magadalene Goes to the Synod,” addresses the synod’s mention of the need to widen liturgical texts to include “a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women’s experience,” as the October synthesis document said.