Edwina Gateley, a Catholic laywoman and author of 10 books, got cold feet and opted out of her speaking engagement, when informed her seminar would be taped in order to review content during a retreat at a Franciscan Renewal Center. She stood to lose $4,000 from the canceled engagement, but two unidentified women who thought it best to remain anonymous covered the costs to speak at a series of alternative events during the same time frame. Since her feminist theology of a feminine god is well known, I have my suspicions about the organizers of the event and the 20 nuns who signed up to hear her.
Gateley insists that her refusal of being recorded is due to the producers of her copy written material forbidding outside tapings of her talks, but is more likely the manifestation of her fundamental rejection of authority along with the fear and insecurity that comes from being denied the total control to which she is accustomed.
 |
 Jester Hat Tip: |
CLS | ||
I guess she didn’t want to see her "retreat" turned into a DVD called "Catholic Feminists gone theologically wild." This though is a great idea if a diocese would tape all retreats for review. For one having a video of good retreats could be very useful. The other reason of course is that like in this case many would be hesitant to have what they say taped. Often they will have the name of their speeches shrouded in terms that make it just possible that they might be orthodox for plausible deniability sake.
This is of course also the reason that when a couple years back EWTN went down with a film crew to Cardinal Mahony’s Religious Education Congress that they were not allowed to film any of the speeches.
5 comments
Light is a marvellous disinfectant.
“Catholic Feminists gone theologically wild.” I admit it’s a great title, envoking nuns lifting their wimples to get green rosary beads…okay I’ll stop.
It certainly seems that dissenters avoid being recorded and avoid blogging. Under the table, under the radar seems to be their style. The clear, overwhelming majority of Catholic blogs are faithful to the teaching authority of the Church.
I like her job ‘title’: poet, theologian, artist, writer, lay minister and modern-day mystic and prophet. I think I shall go into work at the rectory tomorrow and ask for a promotion. Poet, theologian, artist, writer, lay minister and modern-day mystic and prophet rolls off the tongue in a way that secretary doesn’t. Though it must be a bitch to fill out forms where one is given half an inch to state occupation.
(When I first saw her name I had her confused with a character in some sort of British sit-com…or maybe I was thinking of Dame Edna!)
When Edwina Gately was invited by some sisters to come speak at Benedictine College against the will and desire of the majority of the (Catholic) Students and Faculty at the College, the good sisters and Ms. Gately INSISTED that she be recorded. When the student in charge of the sound refused to do it a sister verbally assaulted the student…
To be fair she is a great speaker, and sincerely trying to good. She is just sincerely wrong. But what can you expect from someone who live with the Eerrie Benedictine?
Also much on the web published about her is truly unfair and wrong. This actually hurt the effort to prevent her from speaking because when we told the sisters what we believed her to stand for they were right to correct us as she did not believe in the use of pegan rituals as many websites claim she does. Also, I asked her personally, and she says that God can be describe with feminine attributes, but will still admit God is not strictly feminine.