|
By Paula Zimmermann (A personal account)
[While this was not a VOTF event, VOTF members were encouraged to attend and participate. One correction to this report should be noted. Archbishop Niederauer did not arrive at the 1st afternoon session as Ms. Zimmermann reported. The Archbishop arrived at the very beginning of the convocation and remained with us for most of the day. Thank you Archbishop! - Editor]
Greetings everyone: The lay convocation was outstanding. We had over 300 people including lay people, priests, deacons and sisters from the dioceses of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, Monterey, Santa Rosa and a couple of people from San Diego. Mary Kate Alexander and I were the only two from SJOG.
Both Fr. Brian Joyce and Sr. Eloise Rosenblat, RSM gave outstanding talks on the roles of the laity from the time of the Acts of the Apostles though the Second Vatican Council and into our times. We had three sessions of round table discussions: 1. Our joys, 2. Our desert places/experiences, and 3. Concrete ideas for the future.
I had the pastor of OL Mt. Carmel in RWC at my table (my old friend Fr. John Belleza), along with Sr. Maureen from Church of the Visitacion, four people from St. Anselm's in Marin, a woman named Christine from St. Boniface, two folks from a parish in San Mateo County and a Jesuit priest who teaches canon law at the GTU Jesuit School.
Archbishop Niederauer came in and sat in on the first afternoon session and then had to leave for another event. He came in, found a seat at a table and joined in the conversation just like everyone else. Fr. John Talesfore, the pastor of the Cathedral also sat in after the gradutation ended upstairs (Riordan HS).
People were outspoken and fearless: they talked about ordaining married men, women and calling back priests who have left the ministry to get married. We spoke out about lay people as pastors and administrators, women as deacons, and the role of the laity in naming/calling our own pastors and bishops. One woman stood up and said, "[the woman's name], who was ordained in Europe should be brought here and made the pastor of my parish!" Most people clapped. The folks from the Santa Rosa Diocese were particularly outspoken because they've gone through the hell of having a pedophile bishop, financial crisis, church and school closures and all the horrors and go along with them.
The entire day was a very positive experience for me and I had an opportunity to network with several people who approached me after I mentioned the Catholic Women's Advocacy Group. I met up with some old friend and made some new ones.
The conveners will be consolidating all the information garnered from the round table discussions and then will email it to the participants. There will be more convocations in the future and I think we made a great beginning.
Please pass this on to other members of the parish.
Peace and all good,
Paula Zimmermann
|
