The Only Female Cleric at the Synod

  • Thread starter Thread starter ComplineSanFran
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

ComplineSanFran

Guest

An excellent piece about the young priest from the Czechoslovak Hussite Church who represented the World Council of Churches. She tells a bit of her experiences attending the synod, and how gradually the other attendees began speaking to her, getting to know and respect her. ‘It’s about relationships’. Kudos to her and to all the Bishops and other participants who gave respect to this young Hussite priest.
 
Interesting–her ecclesial community was founded by modernist ex-Catholic clergy in the 1920s and named themselves after Jan Hus. They’ve pretty much totally collapsed in recent decades with only about 30,000 left (having almost a million members in their heyday).

It doesn’t sound like they would have much insight into to evangelizing and retaining youth…except maybe as an example of what not to do.
 
Last edited:
But perhaps she, as an individual young person who was called to a life of service in Christ, has some insights. That may be why she was included.
 
JulianN said:
But perhaps she, as an individual young person who was called to a life of service in Christ, has some insights. That may be why she was included.
Click to expand...
The article states that she was there as a representative of the World Council of Churches, not of her denomination. It sounds as if she is an extraordinary person to be recognized and commissioned by such an auspicious global organization.
 
Nice dismissal of her. Isn’t it something we should be concerned within the Catholic Church? A lack of young people following vocations and decreasing congregations? Maybe she has something to say and something the synod can learn from.
 
Benedict XVI said ‘ She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so it will lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, it will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision. As a small society, it will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members’ - this was about the Catholic Church - let’s not disregard someone because of the size of the denomination they belong to or we may find ourselves in hot water.
 
AngelusDomini said:
Nice dismissal of her. Isn’t it something we should be concerned within the Catholic Church? A lack of young people following vocations and decreasing congregations? Maybe she has something to say and something the synod can learn from.
Click to expand...
I don’t think Genesis315 was dismissing the size of her church, but rather the origins and teachings behind it.

I read the article and it was clearly a positive piece written in the hopes of sharing the inclusiveness behind the synods decision to extend an invitation to Rev. Martina Viktorie Kopecká. I understand the gesture and the fact that we need to be cordial and respectful and courteous to other faiths. I can even see how there is a need to open a dialogue to discuss the differences between Catholicism and other faiths. However, it seems like there is no effort on our part to evangelize or even defend and stand up for our beliefs anymore. Now, it appears we do everything to foster relationships and “build bridges” at the expense of what we hold to be true.

It’s no secret that the Church does not support the ordination of women, so when you invite a female cleric to the synod for the youth in the hopes that she will have some positive insight into encouraging more vocations; what exactly are you trying to convey to the young men and women in the crowd??? It seems to me that the message is, ‘The Catholic Church isn’t as progressive as other churches, so if you’re a young female who wants to be ordained, than you’d be better off seeking another faith’. Or perhaps, the message is ‘The Catholic Church is slowly but surely continuing to make progress in the fight for the ordination of women, so lets show our support for Rev. Martina Viktorie Kopecká, by encouraging others to follow her strong example’.

Again, I’m all for showing respect to others faiths, but why is it always okay and even to be expected that other faiths will defend their beliefs at the expense of others, but here in the Catholic Church, it’s more important for us to be ecumenical than orthodox.
 
In today’s climate, 30 000 is nothing to be sneezed art.
 
I’m sure she’s a lovely person (though, I’m curious where she stands on abortion and same sex marriage)

But the selection of a young woman to be the World Council of Churches representative, and organization that the Catholic Church is not an official member of (just observing member) seems like a quick jab at the ribs.

I’m sure the selection of a young woman, by an organization that supports female ordination was very deliberate.

Personally, I fail to understand why the World Council of Churches is even there? Are their representatives from the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, the Armenian Church, the Church of the East, and Russian Orthodox too?

I would be far more understanding if other apostolic churches were in attendance.

🤷‍♂️
 
Last edited:
Considering that the world’s largest Catholic Parish has 300,000 members and that the largest Catholic Parish in the United States has 12,000 who attend mass every Sunday; 30,000 really isn’t that significant.

Though again, she’s not there to represent her denomination. However, it does make we wonder why they picked her instead of someone from a larger denomination? 🤔


 
The largest church membership globally, is a parish in South Korea. It gets thousands at each Mass with multiple masses a day. It’s truly amazing. Church pop is either a little outdated , or uninformed.

However, worshipping God is Not about numbers. I go back to the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke.

Ever been to a Mass with under 10 people in attendance?
 
phil19034 said:
Personally, I fail to understand why the World Council of Churches is even there? Are their representatives from the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, the Armenian Church, the Church of the East, and Russian Orthodox too?
Click to expand...
The World Council of Churches shouldn’t be there. The organization fundamentally does not believe in the true unity of the Church. The Orthodox Churches all do believe in that unity. They just believe everyone else has left that unity.

Seeing a woman in clerical dress is a terrible optic for the Catholic Church as it tries to maintain the male only priesthood not just against the world but against even the desires of Catholics.
 
exnihilo said:
The Orthodox Churches all do believe in that unity. They just believe everyone else has left that unity.
Click to expand...
I agree with this statement. I was simply wondering if the Eastern Churches were present too?
 
Roseeurekacross said:
The largest church membership globally, is a parish in South Korea. It gets thousands at each Mass with multiple masses a day. It’s truly amazing. Church pop is either a little outdated , or uninformed.

However, worshipping God is Not about numbers. I go back to the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke.

Ever been to a Mass with under 10 people in attendance?
Click to expand...
The Church Pop article is from 2014. But regardless, the point is that one parish has 10 times the number of that whole denomination.

No one said worshiping God is about numbers. I’m just curious why this picked her? That’s it.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
Did you enjoy that mass
Click to expand...
Did I enjoy the mass? No more or less than any other mass. I go to mass to be with Jesus and to worship. Not for a sense of “enjoyment.”

It was very similar to an outdoor mass I attended when camping in the Boy Scouts. We were under a canape and there were about 10-15 Catholics at most. I was literally a foot in front of the altar the whole time.

However, if I’m going identify which Mass I “most enjoyed” it would have been the Sunday Mass in Philadelphia when Pope Francis came. I was waiting in my spot from approx 8 or 9am until mass started at 5 or 6PM. People were sharing food, chairs, blankets, etc with total strangers. We were all true brothers and sisters in Christ while we sat there all day waiting for Mass.

Beautiful day.
 
So I guess they picked her because she’s on their 20-member executive committee, and she moderates the ECHOS commission on youth in the ecumenical movement?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top