Our Past Few Days in Rome

Thursday, Oct 3, 2024

Thursday morning and afternoon I spent almost nine hours straight at my desk in front of the laptop screen, with WhatsApp off to the side.  I sat in on the We Are Church press conference in the early afternoon, then drafted and polished the press conference report that I sent you as well as drafting the report on our Tuesday and Wednesday.  I reviewed what was coming out from church reform organizations and the media so far and caught up on correspondence, more or less.
 
At 5:30 we met to join Futurechurch at their Mary of Magdala liturgy.  It was very well done: the readings spoke of the Hebrew midwives Shipah and Puah, Phoebe the deacon and the risen Christ’s appearance and commission to Mary Magdalene.  Martha from Futurechurch gave an excellent homily, and at the end there was a poignant and personal ritual act of anointing each person present with a blessing on their name — “called by name.” 
 
The central point of this liturgy was Futurechurch’s campaign for the Synod to introduce the entire reading from John 20, including Christ’s commission to Mary Mag, as the Gospel reading for Easter Sunday.  But in fact, this is a concern specific to the U.S. and really not within the purview of the Synod.  Each national conference of Catholic bishops has leeway to apply for changes to their own Lectionary.  The Canadian Catholic Lectionary uses the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible with some Vatican-imposed alterations.  In the U.S. it’s the New American Bible, whose copyright is held by the U.S. bishops.  In Canada we do hear Christ’s commission to Mary in the Easter Sunday Gospel reading.
 
It was gushing, soaking rain, and dangerously slippery underfoot, when we left the church from the Futurechurch event to walk to the Catholic Women’s Council event.  The five of us became separated.  Pat and I holed up in a local restaurant thinking the others were behind us.  As it turned out, none of the five of us managed to get to the CWC event.  I regretted that, because CNWE has been a “partner organization” with CWC since 2020.  But it couldn’t be helped.
 
Transportation has been much more difficult this year, with the closest Metro station closed, and taxi service very spotty, even using an app.  Wednesday evening Rosemary and I walked an hour to the Vatican, and just missed the WOW  daily evening vigil prayer.  Then we walked another 3/4 hour to find the Goose where everyone gathered for dinner (but we did make it.)  I wore my knee brace which helped, but came home totally stiff from the waist down (!)
 

Friday Oct 4, 2024

Friday morning I went out with Rhiannon and Geoffrey on a mission to buy a cheap phone for Pat, whose phone was soaked and inoperative from the night before.  When we got back I stopped at Rosemary’s room, at the very instant when she received a call from Megan Williams of CBC saying that she could be there in half an hour!   As Rosemary already wrote, we had an extensive and I think very fine interview.  We really complemented each other in what we shared and our outlook on the larger issues facing the church regarding women.
 
Then we joined the WOW group gathering at the parish house at Santa Maria alle Fornaci, within spitting distance of the Vatican.  Kate carefully explained our options.  In effect there were three: to walk the entire route laid out by the Italian police, which would take us waaay far away from the Vatican;  to walk a shorter nearby route up to the Vatican boundary; and, for those willing to risk detainment by the police, to cross the boundary into the precincts of St. Peter’s.  Rosemary and I went for the second choice, then stopped for a coffee and rejoined the group reassembling at SM Fornaci.   Six of us recorded a four-part rendition of the song based on WOW’s theme, “Same baptism, same spirit, same calling.”  After our group of five made a quick cafe stop, we joined WOW at their prayer vigil under the columns of St. Peter’s.  And three of us went back to the Goose for dinner!
 
I’d estimate we had about 40 who set off on the march, dressed as ordinary tourists, but carrying purple fans with “Why Not Me? / Pourquoi pas moi?”, the theme of the French campaign for women’s ordination.  We shouted and chanted our way down the street and turned the heads of bemused cafe-goers.  We were filmed by the Bavarian Broadcasting Company and interviewed by the reporter from Der Spiegel.  I could not see if there were other reporters.  As it turned out, those few marchers who defied the police and went onto Vatican territory were simply admonished.
 

Saturday Oct 5, 2024

Today it’s cool, rainy and occasionally thundering in Rome.  Rosemary is off to walk the Spanish Steps and I’m at my desk.  The best article on the Synod I’ve read today was Massimo Faggioli’s Oct 1 article in Commonweal, “From Management to Ministry” I couldn’t take my eyes off his statement about “…the loss of entire generations of Catholic women in many countries.”
 
I’ve had no calls from media yet.  Rosemary and I are planning on an early dinner (something totally countercultural in Italy!) and we’ll have an 8 pm Zoom with John Longhurst for a joint interview.  I have personal Zoom’s at 6 pm and 10 pm.  And so it goes…