Now as then, the issue is not wholly or even primarily a matter of doctrine: the issue is power. Naked Power! In fact I believe that the apparent bones of contention are smoke screens to hide the heart of the matter which is not sexual morality or celibacy or the ordination of women but the ongoing falling away of the church from God's original prime directive, expressed by some rabbis and by Jesus--to live as a community of equals by the gentle yet demanding law of loving God and each other. In the words of Rabbi Hillel, we are not made for the Sabbath; the Sabbath is made for us! Arnold Toynbee tells us that historical challenges will reoccur until they have been successfully confronted--or until they destroy a given institution; returning to the democracy once practiced in the church and then abandoned is such a challenge.

Unfortunately, the two men at the helm of St. Peter's Barge are devout authoritarians who are determined to steer right into a hurricane complete with underwater reefs just to prove their point that Roma locuta causa finita can still be maintained with impunity. They are blind to the fact that ever since the 1968 birthcontrol encyclical the locutions of Rome are irrelevant to the majority of First World Catholics, and that loving the pope as symbol of the church does not mean respecting him as authority when his teachings violate the principles of democracy and the deep sense of most Catholics that universal access to the Eucharist, for example, is infinitely more important than human rules against divorce and remarriage, viri probati (married priests), and even the ordination of women.

It is this deep conviction of the central position of the Eucharist that precipitated the ordination of Ludmila Javorova: nuns and other Catholic women were dying in Communist prisons without access to the sacraments. The organizers of the Austrian and German petition drives were motivated by the threat of the loss of the Eucharist.

Here in the U.S. Christine Schenk, Director of FutureChurch says, "Excluding half of all possible candidates will not help us remain a Euchristic community. And the rhetoric about 'women's equality and dignity' is a slap in the face. Its like telling women they are equal but they can't have a vote or hold public office or be heard in Church decision making. What kind of equality is this? The real debate here is not about women's ordination but about that nemesis infallibility. Infallibility has no meaning if church authorities continue to ignore the voices of both bishops and people."

Yes indeed. And Rome seems incapable of recognizing that their very rigidity is poking holes into their own ship and undermining the authority of pope and magisterium beyond repair. For those who argue for the priesthood of all the faithful this may in fact be a good thing, but it will certainly alter the face of the church irrevocable.

Inspired by the Second Vatican Council, "We are Church" is the slogan that unites and arouses loyal Catholic reformers in many parts of the world, whether they belong to the U.S. based Call to Action or assorted groups in Europe. Last May a group of Austrian priests and lay people--primarily educators--from Innsbruck, the capital of the province of Tyrol, organized a petition drive calling for a spirit of democracy and compassion in the church.

While Tyrolians are known for their strong support of the Catholic Church, that support is more than simple peasant piety; it has an internationally respected academic foundation. Innsbruck is the home of a Catholic seminary and major Jesuit graduate school of theology associated with the tradition of such prominent priest-scholars as Karl and Hugo Rahner and Joseph A. Jungmann, all "fathers" of the reform spirit of the Second Vatican Council. In addition, both former bishop Paul Rusch and his successor Reinhold Stecher have refused to simply toe the Roman party line and have, for example, been outspoken in their opposition to Humanae vitae--a "cardinal sin" for a bishop who seeks to advance in the hierarchy.

At the University of Innsbruck Herlinde Pissarek-Hudelist, one of Karl Rahner's students in the 1950s, was the first woman in Austria to attain the rank of Full Professor of Theology. She was also the first woman to be appointed Dean of a School of Catholic Theology in the German-speaking realm (and I suspect in the world). Sadly, Professor Pissarek died last year, but her spirit lives on, as does the spirit of Vatican II, and it is that spirit which inspired the initiative.

The petition drive was administered throughout Austria in churches, rectories and information booths between June 3 and June 25. One million Austrians are said to attend church regularly, and they were the main target. Under the platform, "We are Church," the petition called for a generous and caring church in which laity have a voice, bishops are appointed with local consultation, women have full equal rights, the priesthood is open to both genders, celibacy is optional, artificial birthcontrol is clearly distinguished form abortion, and sexuality can be celebrated as a God's gift. The petition drive resulted in more than 500,000 signers in a church of some 6 million. Originally, the organizers had hoped for 100,000 signatures.

The movement spread. In August the Swiss conducted a poorly publicized drive which still resulted in 73,000 signatures by September 4. There are about three million Catholics in Switzerland of whom no more than 10% are practicing. Like the Austrians, the Swiss called for the ordination of women and married men. Many were troubled because Bishop Hansjo"rg Vogel of Basel, a young and very popular man, had resigned his position after announcing that he would soon become a father.

On 16 September the Germans began to collect signatures for their petition under the leadership of Christian Weisner, a city planner and member of a Hannover Base Community. Meisner's associates are Eva Maria Kiklas, an x-ray technician from Dresden, and Dieter Grohmann, one of the editors of Publik-Forum, Germany's largest independent Catholic bi-weekly magazine. Kiklas has lived in what used to be East Germany her entire life and has been deeply involved with such activities as youth groups and ecumenical dialogue in a part of Germany where fifty years of Marxism had almost eradicated Christianity.