Rhetoric of Fear The Death of the California Dream Health Care in Perspective The Discipline Leave No Child Behind No Daddy, No! Unconditional Equal Justice under the Law Thank God I Am Not A Woman Infallible "Don't ask, don't tell" Thou Shalt Not Kill Irreconcilable Differences My Will Positive Reinforcement Changing My Name After Sixty Years Copyright © 2000-2009 Thomas E. Rosenberg. All right reserved. Essays may be reproduced with written permission. tomr@inaword.org

The elimination of negative words brings clarity to speech Infallible On the third Sunday of each month a group of Catholic women celebrates communion in Bishop Begin Plaza, a park in downtown Oakland. They call themselves A Critical Mass: Women Celebrating Eucharist. While many lay Catholics privately question the Church's teachings on abortion, birth control and the ordination of women, these women make their communion service an act of ecclesiastical disobedience. Some of the participants are nuns teachers in parochial schools, or women who work in Catholic-sponsored charities. Many attend services fearful of losing their job and possible excommunication by the Church. These women share a philosophy and theology with other groups around the country, women with strong familial and spiritual ties who are trying to change the church from within. These women believe the elimination of sexual references in Church liturgy, recognition by the Church of the equality of women, and granting women full participation in the church seem reasonable requests. They are frustrated by the Vatican that cites the Doctrine of Infallibility as its authority on gender issues. The New Testament which was accepted by the Church between 300 A.D. and 400 A.D., was written in an age of patriarchy. Many theologians regard the New Testament as subject to interpretation. While infallibility was taught by the apostles, the Doctrine of Infallibility is a relatively recent proclamation. It was adopted at the urging of Pope Leo in 1870 to counter the growing reform movement within Christianity. Infallibility establishes absolute authority over the teaching of faith and morals by the Church. When the Pope speaks in the exercise of his office and proclaims a doctrine on faith and morals, that dogma is infallible. The women who participate in A Critical Mass know that for centuries the Church accepted Adam and Eve, and that Aquinas taught that women were intrinsically less qualified (defective) than men. The Church taught that the Sun rotated around the Earth and effectively banned Galileo from society under the threat of excommunication. When a negative word such as infallible is used, even to state a positive thought, the arbitrary nature of the negative statement blocks constructive dialogue. When there are doubts among theologians or lay Catholics about Church teachings, such as the ordination of women, the Pope's word is final. To question the doctrine of infallibility is to question the authority of the Church. The real issue is the status of women. Perfection, as without the possibility of error, is a positive thought. Eliminating negative words influences the thought process because positive words require substantiation. When two parties in conflict document their positions with facts, resolution becomes possible by an objective examination of the evidence. Both sides of an issue must be willing to listen. In 1992, after 350 years, the Church formally acknowledged that Galileo was right. The women of A Critical Mass, true to their beliefs, can choose to continue confronting Church authority until the Church takes disciplinary action, or changes.