Pink Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

The woman next to me loved the title: Pink Smoke Over the Vatican. I know, because she said, "Great title!" with a knowing laugh.

There were a lot of knowing laughs in the theater Saturday morning, when the one-hour independent documentary about women's ordination had its Cincinnati debut. Perhaps the biggest came when the narrator explained that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the modern day name for The Holy Office of the Inquisition—which, though true, does sound a bit over the top. But not as over the top as clandestine ordinations on ships by incognito bishops.

And that's what the film is about: Women who want to be priests, some of whom claim to have been ordained. Sympathetic bishops, they say, have helped them. The first "ordinations" of the infamous "Danube Seven" were done in Germany in 2002—on a boat, so that they were on no bishop's territory, and in secret, so the bishops involved would not be found out. Since then, nine "ordination" ceremonies have been held, most for "priests" but many for "deacons" and ten "bishops." Because no male bishops are now involved, assuming any really were to begin with, the ceremonies are no longer secret. They are also no longer held on boats, but take place in synagogues, non-Catholic churches, and hotels. The Association of Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) claims to have 100 women in training and plans to have several more "ordinations" in 2011.

Director Jules Hart, whose previous efforts for EyeGoddessFilms include a documentary about at-risk youth "creating a totem pole as a symbol of peace and healing," says she made the film because she was captivated by the stories of Catholic women longing for the priesthood. On Saturday, about 200 people, most of them women, crowded into the 220-seat theater to hear those stories. The manager told me that made it one of the most successful private screenings the theater has ever held.

Pink Smoke is on the independent film circuit and may be coming to a theater near you. If you go, what will you see? A lot of kindly white-haired ladies, both on screen and in person—and some angry women thrown in for balance. A lot of talk about feelings and justice, a lot of half-truths and wishful thinking, and a couple of jabs at men. But it's what you won't see that is most important.

Pink Smoke Over the Vatican begins with a lot of unsupported claims that women's ordination was once accepted and common in the Church, but that evidence of this was "all but eradicated" in a Dan Brown-type conspiracy of medieval men. For the record—in case any readers are wondering—even this author with a minor in medieval history can tell you that such a thing would be logistically impossible.

The film then goes on to profile several women RCWP claims to have ordained, including one "bishop," and their supporters. Prominent among the supporters is Fr. Roy Bourgeois, the excommunicated Maryknoll priest, who shakes his finger at the mean old Church and calls the priesthood a "boys club." He is given almost as much screen time as Patricia Fresen, a cheerful, grandmotherly South African woman who claims to have been the third woman ordained a bishop. She had to leave the Dominican order after (as the Church puts it) attempting ordination and refusing to recant. Her delighted and bemused account of her episcopal "ordination" was, for me, the highlight of a surreal film experience.

But not all of the women profiled were so engaging. One was so angry she practically set the screen on fire, and another barely managed to speak as she fought back tears of sorrow for her oppressed sisters. On the whole, "priest" or layperson, the people profiled talked about their feelings. They felt called to priesthood, they felt excluded from power, they felt overjoyed at the idea of women at the altar, they felt felt FELT.

the “begat” part is very important here in Asia, where people trace their linage for generations. It shows the Hebrews and Jesus were not isolated individuals but part of a family whose lineage goes back generations.

What an astute observation! And most valid, even in this day and age. Though raised in the Roman Catholic Church, I now practice my faith in a Maronite Catholic (Eastern) Church. This is the Church of Antioch where Peter went following our Lord's Ascension, and served as bishop before proceeding to Rome. I recall our bishop's first visit. As he shook hands with a parishioner, he would specifically ask their family name. At the time I did not understand the significance. Later, someone explained the heritage of each family's roots, dating back many generations.

The Maronite Catholic Church follows a fixed liturgical calendar. On the last sunday of "advent", the Maronite Church celebrates:

Genealogy Sunday

In this icon, the genealogy of Our Lord is represented as the tree of Jesse, out of which grows the Messianic branch (Is 11:1). At the lower part of the tree, at the top of the trunk, is depicted Adam, the first man created in the image of God; at the top of the tree is Christ, the Perfect second Adam, born to redeem and save lost mankind. Between Adam and Christ are portrayed the most significant in the human line of genealogy. The entwining branches and leaves represent the fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ. We also see, in the top of the icon, portray of the Holy Trinity. God the Father is depicted by a Divine Hand reaching down into human history. In the center, at the top of the tree, is Christ the incarnate Son of God. At the top right is represented the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove. As for the shades of blue, they stand for the divine presence of God and for eternal light. The blues also stand for heaven and the greens for earth, as heaven and earth meet in genealogy of the Son of God.

It may be interesting to note that in the Middle East, it is rare for families to adopt children from orphanages. Family heritage is intrinsic to that reasoning. Here in the western world, as an adoptee and adoptive parent, I often ponder the ramifications of growing up as the product of IVF and/or donor insemination. Consider that 2000 years ago, people were not aware of DNA but intrinsically understood the need to maintain gene pools.

Last night, I happened to catch a program on NBC entitled: "Who do you think you are?" Working with celebrities and the Ancestry.com database, the producers assist these celebs trace their family's heritage back to the time when the family immigrated to the US. Learning about the travails of their ancestors makes a significant impact on them.

But what about the heritage and inherited gene pool of IVF/sperm donor children? Don't they also have a right to know about their ancestors?

Thank you for sharing your insights on this thread!

I think you are ignoring the context.

3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Threads that insist on one’s (Jewish) heritage or one’s (noble family) line for salvation is distorting the gospel.

But when the Bible’s authors bring up Jesus as part of a family, it has many lessons for us.

Americans tend to live as isolated lonely individuals so only see themselves as important. (the “me” generation is how Tom Wolfe describes this culture).

Most other cultures see a person as part of a large loving family, and when Paul writes that Christians are part of the “household of God” he was talking about the large families of those days, where different people had different ways of belonging to the family (mother, father, kids, grandparents, spinster aunt, disabled uncle, the cook and the maid) and as part of this family we love and care for each other...

If you read the Bible, and not just take verses out of context, you will see that it is not a book dictated by God with simple answers, but often different books present the dilemmas of man from different points of view: the bible is not a magic book with pat answers, but the living word of God.

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