June 2001 Call to Action News

Getting Around

Vatican clamps down on inclusive language

New guidelines released May 7 by the Vatican for translating liturgical texts will, if implemented by the world's bishops, wipe out most efforts at gender-inclusive language at Mass. The 34-page instruction, “Liturgiam Authenticam” (“The Authentic Liturgy”), insists on much more literal translations of the original Latin. When the Latin says “homo” meaning “man,” the English version must say “man,” not “human being” or “men and women,” regardless of the impact on women in the congregation. CTA swiftly issued a press release opposing the document. CTA board spokesperson, Linda Pieczynski, was quoted in a national AP wire story, and on page one of the Chicago Sun Times. “It shows an appalling ignorance about women,” she said. “And what a slap in the face to the American bishops, who have tried to use more general language.”

Gramick apologizes to gays

PrideFest America, the nation's largest symposium celebrating gay and lesbian people, gave its annual Role Model Award to Sr. Jeannine Gramick May 6 in Philadelphia. She took the opportunity to apologize to lesbian and gay people for the Catholic Church's part in their oppression. Gramick has refused to obey a Vatican order to stop talking about homosexuality and the Church. She and longtime associate, Fr. Bob Nugent, will receive CTA's leadership award at the CTA East Coast Conference Sept. 14-16 in Philadelphia.

Ludmila's story published

Sr. Miriam Therese Winter's book, “Out of the Depths: The Story of Ludmila Javorova, Ordained Roman Catholic Priest,” was released May 10. Javorova's story of ordination in the underground Church in Czechoslovakia under communism will also be the subject of Winter's talks at all three CTA National Conferences later this year. Order the book online: www.ionapressbooks.bigstep.com

Mark 500th anniversary of black slavery in America

On Sept. 16, 1501, the Spanish crown authorized its Governor of the Indies to bring the first African slave to Hispaniola. The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) has published its Statement on Racism: “A Sankofa Observance of the 500th Anniversary of the First Enslaved African to Enter the Western Hemisphere.” Sankofa is a Western African term that calls people to look back to their past for wisdom to discern their future. The paper reflects on “the horrific history of social trauma for the more than 200 million people of African slave descent in North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean.” Tom Honoré, a CTA board member and a NBCCC founder in the 1960s, is helping CTA's leadership to come to grips with the continuing reality of racism in our own lives. For a free copy of the Sankofa document, go to www.Bcimall.org/nbccc/Sankofa500

Gospel choir will tour Uganda

All Saints Gospel Choir of Milwaukee, a favorite of CTA conference audiences in 1998 through 2000, will tour Uganda this July at the invitation of Bishop Seekamanya of Kampala. Thirty members of the interracial, inner city group are raising $2,000 each to finance the trip, plus another $1,000 each to donate to a Kampala orphanage for youth whose parents have died of AIDS. To contribute, contact Arlene Skwierawski at 414 444-5610 or allsaint@execpc.com