October 10, 2000

On page 27 of the October issue of the West Kentucky Catholic there is an advertisement for a presentation at Brescia University by Edwina Gateley, "minister, speaker, poet, writer…". The presentation, set to take place on December 8 and 9 is sponsored by the "Council of Religious in the Diocese of Western Kentucky in Owensboro". The advertisement also appears on the Diocese of Owensboro's web site. For more information the reader is invited to contact Brother Ken Grondin or Sister Rita Lechner at the phone numbers listed on the advertisement.

Well, before you rush out and mark your calendar you might want to know that:

1. Gateley was a featured speaker at 1987, 1993, 1996, and 1998 Call To Action conferences. Probably more than that but that is all we could verify. She is also billed to speak at the 2000 CTA conference.
2. She was pictured in the National Catholic Reporter wearing a priest's stole, as she "co-presided" at a CTA "Eucharistic celebration" in 1993.
3. She wrote an article for NCR that in its opening sentence conveys the attitude of women's ordination advocates: "When Call To Action asked me whether I would concelebrate the eucharistic liturgy at its conference I did not hesitate."
4. In a Bible study for college students, held at St. Louis, Missouri in December 1994 through January, Gateley, who urged students to get in touch with the "God of the belly button" also characterizes, "A big God is black and white and brown and yellow and gay and straight."
5. She is a "proud recipient" of the 1998 Call To Action "leadership award".

• Faith Matters, The Quixote Center, Hyattsville, Maryland - ...designed to provide an "alternative voice to right-wing religious broadcasting which currently dominates the airwaves".
• Young Feminist Network of Fairfax, Virginia - "supports young people's desire and ability to integrate faith and feminism, encourages their activism, and facilitates networking amongst young feminists".
• Women's Ordination Conference - "works for the ordination of women as priests and bishops into a renewed priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic church".

In a presentation featured on Call To Action's website called "Rediscovering and Claiming the Feminine Soul" there is a transcript of a talk given by Gateley. Some of it goes like this:

"…Jesus' first great miracle took place at a wedding party at Cana in Galilee. Everybody was having a good time, and there was Jesus, having a few drinks with his mates at the bar. And Mary and the women were having a good time too. But Mary also kept her eye on the food and drink. Isn't that what women do? And she noticed the wine was going down. Nobody else noticed it. The guys were all drinking and telling war stories.
She went up to her boy, tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Son, they're running out of wine.' What she did was absolutely wrong. In the customs and culture of that community, it was not simply allowed for an adult female to speak in public to an adult male. Women were to keep silent. Jesus was mortally embarrassed in front of all his friends. He turned to her in humiliation, and said, "Woman, what is that to me and to thee?" How dare you? The rest of the guys were trying not to look or to notice. But Mary knew the power of motherhood, and knew as a woman that the important thing was not the rules and regulations, but rather: "Did you celebrate? Did you have enough to drink? Are you happy?" She called the waiter and said, 'Do what he tells you.' And Jesus must have thought, 'Oooh, where did I get her from?' But Jesus made the choice. He could have told her to get lost, and he would have been fine in the eyes of his friends. But the beauty of Jesus was that he was fair. He listened to his mother, saw that she had a point. He changed the water into wine, and gave the people what they wanted so they could celebrate."

"…Peter. 'And for this I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven,' said Jesus. My question is: Where are Martha's keys? Think about it! She said the same thing. Doesn't she deserve to have, and need to claim, the keys of the kingdom? And why haven't we women asked for them? For heaven's sake, let's 's claim them - not let them be the prerogative of one man when a woman said the same thing as he, and in conjunction with the greatest miracle of Jesus, while Peter spoke in the midst of doubt, and later betrayed three times. The woman stayed faithful to Jesus of Nazareth. I'm not saying discard the man. But let's be fair."

Promoting presentations by people associated with organizations that are openly contemptuous of the teachings and authority of the Church does not bode well for the Magisterial fidelity of our diocese nor does it reflect favorably on our bishop, the Council for Religious, and Brescia.

I have written Bishop McRaith, vicar general Fr. Joe Mills, and diocesan communications director Mel Howard in the hopes that they were simply not aware of Gateley's history. Considering the web sites of some of the groups that make up the Diocesan Council of Religious - I wouldn't give them the benefit of a doubt; I'm sure the Council members know very well who they've invited into our diocese.

In the past few weeks, while sharing this news with some fellow parishioners, it became evident that there are some who do not know what the organization Call to Action is all about. Here are some links that might shed some light:

• Call to Apostasy in San Antonio.
• Here is PetersNet's review of CTA's website.
• Here's a lot more.

Update:  November 4, 2000,

I was almost hopeful that our bishop might exercise a little of his authority and stop this. No such luck. The November Western Kentucky Catholic came out a few days ago. On page 3 a new ad appears for Gateley's appearance. This ad is really a small article authored by a "Sr." Rita Lechner. It also has Gateley's last name misspelled - I wonder... perhaps to foil any internet searches using her name? Also included in the ad is a quote from, presumably, one of Gateley's books along with phrases like "renowned spiritual leader" and "This will be a day of inspiration!".

Some credentials are also given. Says here that Edwina has a masters degree in theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Here's a little homework for you. Do an internet search using this term (include the quotation marks) "catholic theological union". You can make it more interesting by including the words liberal or dissent. I would suspect that a masters degree in theology from this university is not worth much more than the paper it's printed on.

They take us for idiots, yet some of us will attend... and some will even think it inspiring. The diocesan Council of Religious is relying on the ignorance of local Catholics to make this a success and to influence as many as possible with their subversive anti-Catholic agendas. Yes, open hostility and defiance to the authority of the Church is anti-Catholic. Those in positions of authority who deliberately mislead the faithful (or allow it to happen) will be held responsible.

Update:  November 20, 2000,

Since I quickly realized that, after seeing the second advertisement in the WKC for Gateley's presentation, that Bishop McRaith was not going to do anything, we decided to "take it to the streets". On November 4th, using a "shotgun" approach by culling Catholic email addresses from the diocesan web site, local church web sites, and my own address book, I sent out an email alert that was basically identical to the article above... then I held my breath. The response has been very positive. Priests have been thankful for the information. Some have publically denounced Gateley's agenda and warned their parishioners. Others among the laity have continued to forward the warning until I have begun receiving the same message back (after having been forwarded around a few times). Some have vowed to attend and defend the Church if necessary and record the "talk" for "evidence". Many have contacted our diocesan offices to express their concern and disapproval and for that I am grateful. I have not received a single negative response from the messages. The positive responses I got from our priests are truly reassuring that some real, orthodox Catholicism still exists in the Diocese of Owensboro.

Excerpts from some of our responses so far...

"...thanks for the communications and especially with regard to Edwina Gateley. I called around to find info about her, what with my gut feeling that something was off base, but my sources (two of them) couldn't find out anything definite."

"Thank you for the presentation alert!"

"I am thinking that if this is true about what she has to say then those of us who cling to the beautiful traditions of our church, and have respect for the Magisterium and teaching authority, will become even fewer. It seems that there must be something we can do."

"*If we aren't able to prevent her from appearing at Brescia, we will attend both days and speak up for our catholic church.
*When we attend, we will tape record what she says, make a transcript, and again go to the bishop in the hope that he will renounce her after the fact.

There are many people aware of this vicious attack on our church and the news is spreading. This can only be good for the cause of defending our Faith.

Thank you so much for sending the email that started this. I feel that we will make a difference in this--together."

"Fr. ...made a pre-mass statement this morning ... denouncing MS Gately's agenda."

As a result of pressure placed on Brescia College by faithful members of our diocese the "presentation" has been officially moved out of Brescia (a Catholic Institution) and is scheduled to be for only one day, December 9, at Kentucky Wesleyan College (a Methodist college) in Owensboro.  At least she is an equal opportunity heretic.  Another ad for Gateley's presentation appeared in the December issue of the West Kentucky Catholic newspaper.  Now we urge faithful Catholics to inform the folks at Kentucky Wesleyan College just exactly who the liberal dissidents in our diocese have booked in their facility.

Bishop McRaith refuses to order the diocesan Council for Religious to cancel the talk completely because, according to people who have met with him, he thinks it would cause "scandal".  What is more scandalous... allowing the presentation to go on or stopping it before unknowing Catholics are influenced by this woman with a sinister agenda?  Could our bishop really be more concerned with appearances or could he possibly even support the viewpoints of Gateley (and those like her)?...

It seems that this may not be our bishop's first encounter with Call To Action.  Before Bishop McRaith was assigned to Owensboro, he was Vicar General in the diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, under the infamous (and just retired, thank God) Bishop Raymond Lucker who is an enthusiastic supporter and professed member of CTA as well as occasional speaker at their conferences.  I would be interested in hearing from people who have lived in that diocese (and this one) and know it's history with our present bishop.  Bishop McRaith also seems to have had prior associations with "Mary's Pence", an organization mentioned above, as late as 1993 in the form of matching donations to a benefactor of that organization.

Faithful Catholics of the Diocese of Owensboro, this is where your money is going.  Do not allow your contributions to the Catholic Church in Owensboro to support people and activities seeking to destroy the Catholic Church from within.