| Mary Hunt Visits SJA |
| Mary Hunt Visits SJA |
One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Talk: A Run Down of Friday Evening
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| Mary Hunt's Workshop coordinators from CPCSM (l to r), Michael Bayly and David McCaffrey, are pictured with Mary Hunt. |
Hunt suggests that sexism is usually paired with colonialism. The Roman Catholic Church is formed and run like a top down model, quite similar to the military. Women are excluded from making decisions. From Vatican II, progressively liberal Catholics emerged but their marks of accomplishment have resulted in loss of power from an all too controlling Vatican patriarchy.
A solution would be for parishioners to act like an ecclesia, a congress or assembly, pretty much how a community gets together as a discipleship of equals. Hunt believes that “Church is not a democracy. This Kyriarchy, or structure of lordship, is not a democracy, but an Ecclesia is.”
Hunt proposed an interesting connection between Vice President Cheney’s recent hunting accident and that of the Catholic Church sex scandals. “It’s interesting how an imperial presidency works,” professed Hunt. “[There is] the slowness to disclose” the details of Cheney’s mishap and how Bishops keep offending information from police. Three problems result:
Hunt believes what persists in today’s Catholic Church is a top down leadership at its worst. She defines this governing as a “Kyriarchal hold on congregations. Financial giving is still up, yet we don’t have a say on how it’s spent.” Hunt suggests that “We, the people, need to have our Stonewall moment”, nee, the 1969 Stonewall Riots, where we stand up, speak out and resist. “We should respond to the hierarchy bullying in the same way.”
How Will We Do It As an Ecclesia?
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| Some of the participants in Mary Hunt's workshop are pictured with her: (front row, l to r) Michael Bayly; Paul Fleege; Dorothy Olinger, SSND; Mary Cowden; (back row, l to r) Mary Hunt; David McCaffrey (holding picture of Bill Kummer, recently diseased ), Darlene White, Sue McDonald; Susan Lee; Rita O'Brien, CSJ; Linda Taylor, CSJ; and Therese O'Brien, CSJ. |
Rather than leave the Church, it’s the other way around, the Church left us. As a Catholic Feminist, Hunt is offended by the exclusive language so prevalent in masses today. She feels that progressive Jews and Muslims relate better to a congregation than do fundamentalist Catholics. “An HIV-positive black woman with her baby at her breast is far more a symbol of unity than Cardinal Ratzinger,” opined Hunt.
In defining “What is Catholic?” Hunt believes being a Catholic is simply affirming “a commitment to do justice, that’s Catholic enough.”
In defining “What is Apostolic?” She explains, “The Apostolic Spirit occurs where there are hands that touch the hands and where people want to serve and share and break bread and drink wine.”
How do we make it happen without upsetting the apple cart? Hunt prefers to question, “It’s already been done. It’s more a question of how do we share the apples and who owns the cart?” We need to do major and not cosmetic surgery on these issues.
Q & A session from the audience of some 50 people in attendance soon followed Hunt’s talk. One attendant asked how we effectively make changes in the Catholic Church. Hunt’s solution was bluntly direct. “Don’t give the Catholic Church any money,” she suggested. “If it indeed belongs to the community, take money out of the basket. Redirect that money to a good organization and not to the institution.” When it comes up to your financial contributions you should do five things: Withhold it; redirect it; restrict it; and create new Catholic options.
One parishioner implored, “How do you justify not giving the Church money?” Hunt responded, “You can be sure that some of that money [from parishioner collections] goes to sexual abuse cases. At a point, you have to say, no. You could redirect some of that money to specific organizations.”
Another attendant suggested that we all need to continue to be who we are and stand strong in supporting our own Ecclesia. Hunt feels that it’s harder to push an agenda in a liberal church than in a conservative one. “If you are only liberal to a point, you can’t count on [the Church].
“When do we separate from Rome?” was asked. Hunt responded, “How connected are we with the Church anyway? The center is no longer Rome. Our post-Einstein center has a very different meaning now. Notions of the Roman Catholic Church are really out dated. Religious experience has become much more local than with Rome.” She went on to convey that “a Papal committee that shows real unity is far more adequate than one leader in Rome.”
A member from Women Against Military Madness shared her opinion: “I’m a roaming Catholic. The Church left us so that’s why we’re roaming Catholics. Women have been spiritually raped in the Church.” Hunt drolly replied, “We’re 12 stepping out of the Church.” She then warned, “Be careful of a liberal place where there are personal solutions against systemic problems. One can be lulled away in that comfort; be concerned of that. A comfortable place should be a given.”
When asked how she felt about the Church’s support of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, Hunt responded, “I will talk about heterosexism as opposed to homosexuality. Once you change the parameters of the debate, you start to do something.”
Hunt concluded by affirming a belief that “the real signs of hope are people saying we are not going there anymore.”
Catholic Is As Catholic Does: Saturday’s Three Hour Workshop
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| Mary Hunt (center) is flanked by two of the workshop participants (l to r:) Linda Taylor, CSJ, and Darlene White. |
What followed then was a warming introduction of the scant 21 people who attended the workshop. Sister Dorothy quaintly introduced herself as “a student of the universe and a crone with growing to do.” After a moment of prayer together we were asked to write down on a yellow piece of paper and individually reveal the following four inquiries regarding new ways to pray. Note, mine our in brackets: Identify your favorite name for the Divine [Dear Lord]; List one attribute of the Divine [Listens]; Suggest one hope for the workshop [Solutions]; and include one affirmation [Light upon us always].
We were then asked what kind of issues we want to work through and discuss in a priority order. Basically, what do you want to do to be Catholic? The participants came up with a litany of suggestions:
Hunt believes one huge problem occurs “when the very place that teaches you the values of oneness of love and justice is the very place that you least experience it. The dissonance created between what the rhetoric says and what we experience is alienating and painful.”
The questions we should be asking are: How do we share the apples and who owns the cart? And how do we put all of this into strategic practice?”
After breaking into groups for ten minutes to discuss how we will put strategies into place we reconvened to discuss some options.
Regarding the issue of inclusion, we first need to start talking or modeling an idea of inclusion using language and imagery that will open the sacred all around us. This includes insisting the Church must be open to welcoming all into its home.
Addressing financial funding, a consensus suggested that we start diverting money from one’s parish by starting a non-prophet organization. We have to educate people how real estate is divided up in the Church. We want to create the Ecclesia that we, the people, desire and where we have a say in how real estate is divided and who owns what.
The power of decision making comes down to trying to work with a system and subverting that system at the same time. Another point addressed was that the Laity operates the archdiocese but the Laity is elected by them as well. We should be allowed to vote in this decision making process. By forming a parish assembly elected by the people, we will better reflect and serve the wishes of the community.
In examining the real identity of Catholic people, we are committed to living our values and our truth. Reflect how Catholics look.
With gay adoption, turn this hot button issue on its head by using the very words of the institution to make them accountable for their actions. For example, the Church should not be allowed to have heterosexist attitudes that exclude GLBT minorities from belonging to the Church.
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Hunt concluded this lively seminar of rehashing the injustices of Church issues by addressing two fundamental principles of Catholicism—Faith and Hope. How is our faith going to form what we do? And how will hope stay alive? She simply responded, “Faith should be the source for hope, not the stumbling block!”
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