Nancy Haught has the story in The Oregonian:
In August, Jennifer Sleeman, 81, urged Catholic women to boycott this Sunday's Mass in protest of their treatment by the church. Half a world a way, a handful of Portland women responded.
"We had been talking amongst ourselves about how to be a woman and be a Catholic, dealing with that angst," says Sarah Granger, 34, who is active in St. Andrew Parish in Northeast Portland. "Her call struck a chord with us. We needed to do something, to say, 'We've had enough.'" But she and other women from St. Andrew's envisioned a "prayerful, positive public witness," not a protest or a boycott.
Sleeman -- who is from Ireland and the mother of a monk -- said at the time that her call was inspired by a Vatican statement in July that seemed to equate the ordination of women with pedophilia. "One Spirit -- One Call"will unfold at 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland. The 90-minute program calls for prayers, a gospel reflection, and a litany of women saints. Organizers say they hope participants will attend Mass on Saturday night or stay downtown for a special noon Mass at the Downtown Chapel."This is not a boycott of the Eucharist," Granger says. "It's an opportunity for women to tell their stories, for our voices to be heard."
Organizers wrote to the archbishop of Portland, the Most Rev. John G. Vlazny, and told him of their plans. He says he is resigned that "One Spirit -- One Call" would go on.
"I'm not happy about it," he says. "Whenever people are disturbed, it's a good idea to get together and pray. But my job is one that tries to promote the unity of the church, to encourage the church in our evangelization."
The Congregationalists (what became the United Church of Christ) ordained the first woman - Antoinette Brown - to ministry since New Testament times in 1853. But even in the progressive UCC we have often been slow to recognize God's call for women to be preachers and teachers of the Gospel.
My prayers this weekend will be with these Roman Catholic women as they further seek to proclaim God's extravagant welcome to all and with all those in the Roman Catholic Church during a time of discord and change.
