Feminist ecumenism and Catholics.

Guelph--"The work of the decade must go on," was the refrain robustly sung by 600 women and a smattering of men at the end of a three-day conference held at the University of Guelph during the last days of August. Not likely to become a top ten tune, the song was composed especially for the conference, which marked the passing of the "ecumenical decade of churches in solidarity with women in church in society." The decade was launched by the World Council of Churches, ostensibly to redress injustice against women in church and society.

While organizers of the event may want the work to continue, others might legitimately wonder why bother, and what the benefit will be. The conference itself, entitled "Daring Hope", is a case in point. It included such activities as "braiding our stories", and hanging cloths, each expressing some sentiment, on a clothesline as a finale. (The symbolism of this action is perplexing: why would women who chafe at patriarchy voluntarily engage in such domesticity?)

Included among the "braiders" or "theological reflectors" was former Catholic and now avowed lesbian Theresa Burnett of Toronto, who scolded the conference on Saturday: "Even in this place, some of our lesbian sisters experienced homophobic comments," and who prayed, on behalf of the assembly, that "your lesbian sisters can come out of the closet."

Artist-in-residence Regina Coupar regaled the gathering with her poem "The baptism of Eve" in which, after Eve savours the delectable fruit to the envy of both the man and the serpent, a raven comes down upon her and declares, "This is my daughter with whom I am well pleased. . . ." In fact, darkness descending was an image that conference organizers seemed especially enamored of; participants sang a song to Sophia (identified as the spirit of wisdom) which included the lines, "A deep dark presence liberating me." This sounds uncannily like a description of the devil.

Merely one day's attendance at the conference was sufficient to reveal a distinctly feminist bias, and to lay bare the more sinister aspects of feminist theology. It's tempting to dismiss it all as women's silliness, yet the "ecumenical decade" boasts support from a number of Catholic groups. Among those listed on conference brochure as "committed to working on the goals of the decade" are the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Women's League, and the Catholic Network for Women's Equality.

Catholic participation in Daring Hope was also implicit in the endorsement of the ecumenical decade by the Canadian Council of Churches, of which the CCCB is now a full member. The national executive of the Catholic Women's League sent five delegates to the conference, including incoming president Sheila Pellerin of Halifax, and former president Joan Chesser of Ottawa.

Mrs. Pellerin defended the presence of CWL by noting that "we are called by faith to be ecumenical." The intent, she told Catholic Insight, was to seek common ground and to "learn to get along together." Mrs. Pellerin noted that lesbian women are "entitled to express their spirituality" and she disputed that the presence of CWL members could be interpreted as an endorsement of the blatantly feminist bias of the conference. But she will send a note to the conference organizers regarding some anti-Catholic comments made.

Also attending the conference was Claire Heron, the bishops' representative on the Women's Interchurch Council. Ms. Heron declined to comment to CI, saying she was not present in an official capacity. Heron was recently quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as saying "Women are not in full partnership in the Catholic Church and our hope is for change for more participation" (Aug. 10, 1998). She is a member of the World Organization of Catholic Women's Organizations, (WUCWO) which recently met in Ottawa. The WUCWO indiscriminately embraces anything that appears to advance "women's rights."

Lianne Laurence