Many of us had lived an experience in the Roman Catholic Institution that we couldn’t find words to articulate until society created language for the experience of abuse. Abuse was seen as doing something that would inspire fear, but it is a form of control that can be either aggressive or subtle. The church, like secular society, is in the midst of change. Since New Testament times, there has been a struggle between Gospel values and those of the world. We have to come to terms with a shift from religious authority to spiritual experience. We are now living in a culture of experience.
Many are longing for the recreation of meaningful rituals that would engage more deeply a language of the heart, imagination, and passion. Women and gay priests are uniquely able to contribute to this recreation, but both are being kept in their place and will not be able to contribute fully within the structure and limitations of the Roman Catholic Institution. Power is the ability to enforce control. Empowerment is the ability to do something for oneself.
