I was born and raised a Catholic and attended Catholic school for 12 years. While there was much that I deeply loved about the church, I left in my early twenties when I could no longer tolerate the church’s patronizing attitude toward women. To deny the voice, vocation, and leadership gifts of half of those made in God’s image went against everything I understood and loved about the ministry of Jesus. The pivotal role of Mary Magdalene in the life of Jesus and his ministry is something the leadership in the church has conveniently forgotten and tried endlessly to dismiss. The denial of artificial contraception, the obsession with sin over mercy, and the cynical use of the communion rail to punish and exclude rather than welcome and heal has kept me from the church for over 30 years. There are so many in the church I admire deeply and I read their wisdom every day of my life…Thomas Merton, Thomas Berry, Richard Rohr and Joan Chittister to name only a few. I have a Catholic heart and hope one day to find my way to an alternative Catholic community to share my spiritual gifts and assuage my deep spiritual loneliness. Until that day I remain in exile…with a legion of others.

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