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Letters

Radical feminists (letter)

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 Contents - Aug 2001AD2000 August 2001 - Buy a copy now
Editorial: The Assumption of Our Lady: 15 August - Michael Gilchrist
Melbourne's new Archbishop receives Pallium from John Paul II - AD2000 Report
News: The Church Around the World
After 14 years: why does AD2000 continue? - Michael Gilchrist
Denver Archdiocese: the future of Catholicism - David Scott
US bishops implement papal teaching on Catholic universities - Charles E. Rice
Appreciating the Mass: a successful new publication - Fr Robert Egar PP
Australian scholarship for African priest
Letters: Balanced presentation (letter) - Denis O'Leary
Letters: BEC success stories (letter) - Errol P. Duke
Letters: BECs not new (letter) - John Barich
Letters: Radical feminists (letter) - Dr T.R. White
Letters: Statement of Conclusions (letter) - Mark Power
Letters: Orthodox seminary (letter) - Paul Chigwidden
Letters: Finding more priests (letter) - Theo Silvas
Letters: Evolution/Original Sin (letter) - John Schmid
Letters: Vatican II 'ambiguities' (letter) - George F. Simpson
Letters: Choosing life (letter) - Mark Whybrow
Letters: St Thomas Aquinas (letter) - Valentine Gallagher
Letters: Generous response (letter) - Fr Stephen B. Muchemwa
Letters: Mass leaflet (letter) - Stephanie McClarty
Letters: Correct statement (letter) - Elizabeth Carr
Books: Genetic Turning Points, by James Peterson - Bill Muehlenberg (reviewer)
Books: The Cross of Anzac, by Tom Johnstone - Mark Posa (reviewer)
Books: Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God, by Scott Hahn - Catherine Sheehan (reviewer)
Books: Learning to Pray, by Julie Keleman - Anthony Cappello (reviewer)
Books: The DNA of God: Newly Discovered Secrets of the Shroud of Turin, Garza-Valdez - Anthony Cappello (reviewer)
Books: The Christian Travellers' Guides: France, Britain, Italy, Germany - F.T. Long (reviewer)
Events: Victorian Thomas More Winter School 2001 in Ballarat, 3 - 5 August 2001
Events: Cardinal Lustiger to visit Australia, 6 August 2001
Events: Second National Chesterton Conference, 30 Sept - 1 Oct 2001
Reflection: Clerical celibacy: Giving ourselves up completely to God and the people He loves - Fr Dennis W. Byrnes PP

Archbishop Faulkner, in replying to Michael Gilchrist's article in the June AD2000, has a vision for the Adelaide Archdiocese through the help of Basic Ecclesial Communities. He also quoted extensively from Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris Missio.

The reality is, however, very different from the Archbishop's vision. The main support for the BECs has come from the radical feminist lobby, which is very strong in our Archdiocese. Proof of their influence has been:

* Changes made to the liturgy through the use of "inclusive" language;

* The use of the Dominican Convent at Cabra for "Sophia" meetings by radical feminists;

* The lobby by feminists and their supporters in the Cathedral grounds at the time of the Chrism Mass.

Because of the influence of radical feminists in Adelaide - whose aim is to produce a priestless Church - the BECs are well supported. The feminists wish to have a system of lay presiders in place of the present hierarchical structure. The BECs, as Fr Marins sees them, have little need for authority and structure in a church community, as opposed to the orthodox and more authority-centred Church.

Again, the Adelaide Archdiocese has very few seminarians. This has made it easier for the feminist lobby to capitalise on the priest shortage by providing an alternative arrangement - BECs.

It was interesting to note that Peter Finlayson, in his AD2000 article on the Marins workshop in Ballarat, stated that "the program was disappointing - defeatism masquerading as realism - bordering on the mischievous."

This also seems to sum up the position of BECs in Adelaide. Let us not ignore the orthodox and traditional parish, the tried and the true, for the BEC priestless parish, which is the goal of the radical feminists.

T. R. WHITE (DR)
Concordia, SA

[Editor: We have received numerous letters on BECs, offering different viewpoints. Space does not allow the publication of all of them this month.]

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Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 14 No 7 (August 2001), p. 13

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