CITI-The Formative Years: Getting to know you--Chapter Seven

If you are new to this blog, you may wish to read the archived posts first since these are written chronologically with the following being the most recent. Thank you. The first two to three years of CITI's existence were spent becoming educated about church reform and connecting with the reformers themselves. I am still amazed today at the opportunities that were afforded me so that I could become fully engrossed--a crash course so to speak--in church reform. Those who are sports professionals or are in the academic or medical arena or politics will understand the subculture climate to which I am referring. It is literally like stepping onto the threshhold of another world. I was never aware of this quiet revolution among people who were dissatisfied with the way the Catholic institution was run at its highest level, with particular groups well seasoned in the issues--and had been for as much as 10 or 15 years at that point. I soon discovered that my reading material would henceforth begin with National Catholic Reporter's weekly independent newspaper, religious academic studies and the myriad nonfiction books that had been written by theologians, mystical theologians and especially resigned/retired priests and nuns. I needed to catch up on so much, beginning with the Vatican II Synod. It is amazing what Catholics in the pews don't know, even today. It took me a few years of reading plus attending "church reform" conferences of every sort in order to be brought up to date and understand the innuendos especially at the church reform round table meetings. I guess it was also important for me to know personally founders of these various organizations because the Holy Spirit seemed to put them all in my path--either via personal meetings or in witnessing their presentations. Besides the thousands of married priests I met, memorable people include Joseph Girzone, author of the Joshua series of spiritual books; Margaret Starbird who researched Mary Magdalene and Jesus as husband and wife; Edwina Gately, another saintly lay woman whose inspirations led her to open safe havens for Chicago's prostitutes; German theologian Hans Kung; Frances Kissling whose work to protect "choice" in America will go down in history...and many others. Even though CITI was just getting its feet wet, the Holy Spirit was also making sure that our own existence was being recognized around the reform movement as well. Perhaps the most phenomenal experience during the early years was attending the International Federation of Married Priests' Conference in Madrid, in August, 1993 a year and a half after CITI's founding. Backing up just a bit, in the spring of 1992, I had been given a copy of "Shattered Vows" by David Rice, an award-winning journalist and married priest now living in Ireland. The book featured several transitional stories of married priests from various countries and talked of their mistreatment by several bishops because of their new status. It was heart-wrenching to read what they and their spouses endured because of their decisions. For instance, German theologian Heinz-Jurgen Vogels was excommunicated when he married Renata and lost his Church editing job, helping edit the complete works of Albert the Great. The Pope lifted the excommunication once Heinz divorced Renata, an annuled Catholic, but Heinz never regained his job with the Church or elsewhere. He and Renata are still living together, however. One particular priest's story was profound. Paolo Camellini who lived in a remote Italian town had been approached by Carla, a woman who had previously been confirmed a mystic by several among the Catholic hierarchy. Carla had been married and had a revelation to approach Paolo, a parish priest, and relay the message that they were to be married and dedicate themselves to the cause of married priests. "Jesus had told her that he wanted married priests, but only in holiness, "holy as priests and holy as spouses." Paolo wrote to his bishop and was dispensed from his celibacy vow within weeks so they could marry. I was particularly moved by that story because I too believed I was called to the mission of married priests in the United States and like Carla, felt a special closeness to St. Teresa of Avila though I didn't know why at the time. When I read the story of the Camellinis, indeed when I finished reading "Shattered Vows," I contacted David Rice in Ireland. I wanted to talk to David and I wanted to meet the Camellinis. David discouraged me because of the language barrier and the remoteness of their home in Italy. (Note: "Shattered Vows" had been published in Ireland and became a best seller in eight languages throughout Europe. When it was first published in the U.S., however, 89 pages implicating the bishops were eliminated. An unabridged paperback version was later released and its U.S. publisher immediately purchased by the Catholic institution. The unabridged version never made it to the U.S. book shelves.) On our second day in Madrid just as the International Conference was starting, I was setting up my little exhibit table with materials on CITI when a reporter approached me to ask if I knew where Paolo Camellini was--he had an interview appointment. I said, "Camellini is here?????????????" The next hour was spent looking for him--I had no idea what he even looked like. When Paolo was finally pointed out to me, my sister and travelling companion Pauline said, "Why he was sitting right next to you at last night's general session." There were 700 people in attendance!

I located an interpreter and asked Paolo if I could meet with him privately. I needed to share my CITI vision with him. Paolo said during our discussion that the "message/vision/inspiration/revelation" we each received was the same: 1. We must pray that priests be allowed to freely choose between celibacy and marriage so that the sinfulness in the priesthood can stop. 2. Vite, vite, vite! (Hurry, hurry, hurry!) Too much time has been wasted--too much damage has been done. Over the next few days, I would sometimes sense that someone was staring at me. I remember piercing eyes, stares that would say, "Who are you?" And perhaps what others had already said, "You're not what I envisioned God would send to help us." I had been told by many that married priests prophesied that someone from the "pews" would someday come to their rescue. Of course, they probably expected a clone, not some mainstream Catholic lay woman. It was obvious that Paolo wanted to communicate directly with me; the language barrier was very frustrating. We didn't know if we would ever see one another again. (Ironically, I was scheduled to live in Rome for a year back in the 1960s. The office job, however, was cancelled the day before my trunk would be shipped. Had I gone, I would be fluent in Italian.)