Myra Poole SND was the third speaker at the Stand Up for Vatican II meeting on 26 January.

Myra said she wanted to see a Church in the spirit of Vatican II.   She shared her experiences of heavy handed interventions by the Vatican who are obsessed with their view that the ordination of women to the Roman Catholic ministerial priesthood should not be discussed.

The 2001 Congress of Womens Ordination Worldwide (WOW) invited Joan Chittester OSB to be a key note speaker.  The Vatican demanded that she did not attend and also recanted any supportive views she might have for the ordination of women.  Myra herself was called to account and refused to give in to intimidation.  She expressed her deep appreciation for the support her Congregation gave her.  Rome would have liked to have stopped the Dublin Congress altogether but it does not have the control over the laity that is does over Clergy and Religious.   A high ranking official of the World Council of Churches, of which the Roman Catholic Church is not a member, was also invited to speak but Rome put pressure on that (non-Catholic) organisation and the speaker withdrew.   It was an example of how the Vatican seeks to control not only the Roman Catholic Church but other Churches as well.

Myra called Catholics to do what is enshrined in Church teaching: to obey their informed consciences.   As far as she was concerned she was no longer frightened of the threats and bullying tactics.

Women in the Church have had a very rough ride, she maintained.   They were "guests in their own house".   Vatican II had made women far more conscious of their position and the dignity and meaning of their Baptismal Promises.

The overwhelming problem in the Church is the almost total lack of adult catechesis.  Although a number of our Bishops had been involved in the writing of catechetical programmes for adults such was the difficulty in implementing them that most were eventually abandoned.   Catholics in the pew receive very little practical encouragement to study their Faith and discover what is actually taught.   Many are influenced by myths about Church teaching and not inspired to find out for themselves.

Myra spoke about the composition of those who attended the Second Vatican Council.   There were 3000 Clergy and male Religious, 30 lay men and 23 women of whom 2 were widows and only one a married woman.  There was only one married couple officially present at Vatican II.  They were from Mexico.  The Vatican authorities originally planned that they would be accommodated separately and the Swiss Guard were not at all happy when they insisted on proceeding to Communion together. 

Women today are better educated than ever before and the Church is the poorer for not welcoming fully their considerable gifts and talents.   Women saw great joy and hope in the documents of Vatican II which seemed to cast clericalism aside and proclaim their equal dignity and place in the social order.  (Gaudium et Spes, Lumen Gentium, Gal 3:28)

However, by 1976, the old guard in the Church was back in the saddle.  Women were once again rendered invisable.   Fortunately there were quite a number of Bishops who gave women the opportunity to speak their truths.

Myra said that the misogyny in the Church is unbelievable.  She recalled an encounter on the steps outside Westminster Cathedral with an ex Anglican cleric who had converted to Roman Catholicism and been ordained a Catholic Priest.  On seeing her support for Catholic Womens Ordination he retorted "The Church would rather ordain a cat than ordain a woman!"   This sort of comment was born out of an ideology that ignored or trivialised women.

The National Board of Catholic Women had organised several surveys of how women saw their place in the Church and how it affected them.  A lot of women were encouraged by the publication of "Do not be Afraid" and hoped there would be change.  However many now feel the exercise was a waste of time.  

Myra concluded by saying that we would never have a whole and healthy Church until we have a community of faith where there is equality among its members. 

She had great hope that there was a courageous Pope waiting in the wings who would once again open the windows and allow the Holy Spirit to blow through the Church.

Stand Up for Vatican II