{"id":5745,"date":"2011-07-31T09:24:07","date_gmt":"2011-07-31T13:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=5745"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:40:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:40:14","slug":"new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Times spotlights Call to Action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America\u2019s Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there\u2019s more to it than that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Snip:<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a long way from the Vatican<\/a> to Roscoe Village, but a group based in that North Side neighborhood is leading a high-profile protest among American priests that challenges the Roman Catholic Church\u2019s ban on ordination of women.<\/p>\n

The group, Call to Action, an organization for reform-minded Catholics, has collected signatures of more than 150 priests \u2014 including 8 in Chicago \u2014 on a petition defending a liberal priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, who is being threatened with dismissal for his public support for ordaining women. In an increasingly conservative church, the rebellion has been hailed as a remarkable moment for liberals in the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just got on the phones and started telling priests, \u2018We\u2019ve got to support Father Roy,\u2019\u00a0\u201d said Nicole Sotelo, 33, a leader of Call to Action, which bills itself as the nation\u2019s largest organization for reform-minded Catholics.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Bill Kenneally, who lives in the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side, is among the protesters. Father Kenneally, the 75-year-old retired pastor of St. Gertrude\u2019s Church and volunteer at St. Barnabas Church, said he \u201cand a majority of priests, truthfully\u201d do not agree with the church\u2019s \u201cvapid reasoning\u201d for excluding women.<\/p>\n

Father Kenneally said he is unfazed by possible reprisals. \u201cSince I\u2019m retired,\u201d he said, \u201cit\u2019s not like they can take a church away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protest orchestrated by Call to Action underscores the role that Catholic culture \u2014 orthodoxy and dissidence \u2014 has played for generations in shaping the intellectual life and politics of Chicago. Only once have voters elected a non-Catholic mayor \u2014 Harold Washington \u2014 in the more than 75 years before Rahm Emanuel, who is Jewish, won a landslide victory this year.<\/p>\n

Nuns have also held powerful positions in Chicago public life. Sister Sheila Lyne served as commissioner of public health under Mayor Richard M. Daley, while Sister Catherine Ryan headed the juvenile division at the Cook County State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s Office under Richard Devine. Writers, including the Rev. Andrew Greeley and Eugene Kennedy, a former priest, as well as John Powers, have given rich voice to Chicago cultural and Catholic issues (and in Father Greeley\u2019s case, contributed to some steamy romance novels).<\/p>\n

Catholic activists marched in the city\u2019s streets to protest the Vietnam War and racism. Social activism within the church during the 1960s prompted many priests and nuns to walk alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., even as insults \u2014 and at least one brick \u2014 rained down from angry onlookers.<\/p>\n

In the \u201980s and \u201990s, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, was a leading national voice in opposition to the death penalty.<\/p>\n

These days, the Rev. Michael Pfleger invokes the Catholic mission and obligation in pushing for social causes that serve the poor and reach out to blacks, even as his style sometimes draws the wrath of his boss, Cardinal Francis George.<\/p>\n

While the city also has many conservative Catholics, perhaps no organization in Chicago with a Catholic identity has been more direct, or far-reaching, than Call to Action in making the case for wholesale reform within the church itself. Besides the ordination of women, the group calls for equal rights for gay men and lesbians, giving priests the option to marry and accepting back into the fold divorced Catholics who have remarried.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Clergy group invokes \u201cfraternal correction\u201d on American priests<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America\u2019s Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there\u2019s more to it than that. Snip: It\u2019s a long way from the Vatican to Roscoe Village, but a group based in that North Side neighborhood is leading a high-profile protest among American priests that challenges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,45,48],"tags":[182,229],"class_list":["post-5745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journalism","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","category-the-people-in-the-pews","tag-call-to-action","tag-chicago"],"yoast_head":"\nNew York Times spotlights Call to Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America's Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there's more to it than that. Snip:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New York Times spotlights Call to Action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America's Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there's more to it than that. Snip:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-31T13:24:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T21:40:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/files\/2011\/07\/31cnc-catholics-articleLarge.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/\",\"name\":\"New York Times spotlights Call to Action\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-31T13:24:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T21:40:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America's Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there's more to it than that. Snip:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New York Times spotlights Call to Action\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New York Times spotlights Call to Action","description":"The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America's Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there's more to it than that. Snip:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New York Times spotlights Call to Action","og_description":"The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America's Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there's more to it than that. Snip:","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2011-07-31T13:24:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T21:40:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/files\/2011\/07\/31cnc-catholics-articleLarge.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/","name":"New York Times spotlights Call to Action","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-07-31T13:24:07+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T21:40:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"The peg, ostensibly, is the rich Catholic history of America's Second City.\u00a0 But, of course, this being the Times, there's more to it than that. Snip:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/07\/new-york-times-spotlights-call-to-action\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New York Times spotlights Call to Action"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}