Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The first woman Pope?
My Kate is determined to be the first (official) woman Pope (see historical note).
I think she'd have to become a Catholic first, but for Really Big Thinkers, such matters are mere details.
At any rate, there's good news for her ambitions:
Nine 'women clerics' defy Vatican
The ceremony took place aboard a tour boat near Canada's capital, Ottawa. The women - seven Americans, a Canadian and a German - were ordained by three female bishops, who were also unofficially anointed in 2003. Seven women who were ordained in 2002 despite the Vatican's ban on female priests were later excommunicated.
But a recent story suggests that perhaps she has set her sights too low. From The Chicago Tribune via Christianity Today:
God's Phone Number
In the movie Bruce Almighty Jim Carrey plays an angry, down-on-his-luck television newsman. After tiring of the newsman's complaints, God offers him the chance to take over the Almighty's job.
Something else unusual happens in this movie. God's phone number appears on the Carrey character's pager when the deity tries to call him, and although movies and television shows usually use a phony 555 telephone exchange, this time the seven-digit number displayed in the movie is real, at least for certain area codes. As a result, all over the country people are dialing their area code and then that number, leading to some fascinating contacts between callers and those who are unwittingly acting as God's answering service.
One woman told the answering machine at Radio Colorado Network, "I'm in jail right now. Like I said to you last night, 'I love you.'" She promised to go straight and prayed to be able to return to her husband and children.
Another caller said, "Hey God, I've done some really bad things in my life, and I need to repent. So please answer my prayers."
Another caller said, "I know this isn't the number for God. But I'm calling to see if you have the other number."
In San Diego, callers who used the movie number got a business cell phone number for Cathy Romano, president of a company that manages the practices of 70 doctors. After overcoming her initial irritation at getting as many as 40 calls a day from Bruce Almighty watchers, the busy executive started playing along. "Hello, this is God," she answered one call, on a whim. Her woman caller gushed, "I can't believe it; it's God, and it's a woman!"
Judith Graham, "Phone Calls to God Are Bedeviling," Chicago Tribune (5-29-03); submitted by Lee Eclov, Lake Forest, Illinois
For all those who stand up to the current Vatican, headed now by a man who joined the Nazis in his youth and (if not officially, unofficially) Opus Dei in his maturity, for all those who demand that the Church deal compassionately with the very real problems of women and confront honestly the problems in the priesthood, may the road rise up to meet them.
More blogs about politics.
