Trish Fresen's community answers

Catholic New Times, Dec 14, 2003 by Aloysia Zellmann, Margo Verspeek, Agnes Murphy, Maureen Venson

The weeks since the decision of Sister Trish Fresen to undergo the rite of ordination to the priesthood have been painful ones, as we searched for the right way forward.

Some sisters and associates approved of Trish's action;some condemned it outright and most sisters expressed confusion, sadness, hurt and some anger about it.

Yet almost everybody agreed that there was a need to work for women's ordination. We continued to dialogue with Trish and had given Trish permission to go to Austria for several months and we wished to know her final decision prior to her leaving South Africa at the beginning of October.

We also met with Bishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, who was very understanding. Trish has informed us that she stands firmly by her decision to be an ordained priest. It is a matter of conscience and call for her.

The inevitable consequence of her action will be that she will have to leave the Congregation because of being excommunicated by the church. We fully agree that the research and discussions about the role of women in the church, ordained priesthood as a specific ministry and the ordination of women must continue. We support dialogue and actions in this regard.

However, we cannot agree with Trish's decision to be ordained, and the manner in which she went about it. We see the ministry of ordained priest in relation to service in and to a community; as far as we know there had been no call to Trish by any particular community.

Trish called it a 'political action,' saying that "the only way of changing an unjust law is by breaking it." We are of the opinion that there are other ways of changing an unjust law. The fact that Trish did not promise obedience to a bishop seems to us to indicate that in this ordination there was little sign that she was ordained for the service of a community. Was there an adequate enquiry as to her suitability for being a priest?

The church's discipline on women's ordination is a definite "No," followed by excommunication. Both Dominic and Catherine of Siena found ways to challenge the church and to introduce something totally new for the sake of truth and life without embarking on a collision course with the official church.

We deeply regret that Trish did not involve either our sisters or leadership of the Congregation in a discernment process about the genuineness of a call to the ordained priesthood within her call to be a King William's Town Dominican, and the implications for herself and the whole Congregation. Trish made a personal, unilateral, life-changing decision, which has enormous consequences for her, and impacts the life of all of us. This is not the way we live our vow of obedience.

As a Congregation we stand for the equality and dignity of women, and we stress the need to counteract patriarchy wherever we meet it. Yet our vision also calls us to partnership, collaboration and interdependence; We did not experience these values in Trish's decision-making process.

It became clear to us, and Trish agreed with us on this point, that her energy and heart were with the group of ordained women in Europe, who promote the cause of ordination of women. Therefore it seemed to us that Trish could follow her dream with greater honesty and personal integrity if she followed her path outside our Congregation, painful as this separation is.

Trish wrote a letter informing us of her intention of leaving the Congregation. Since there seemed to be no future for her within the Congregation as she had hoped there would be, nor was there any reasonable hope that Canon Law would be changed in the near future so that women priests would be recognized in the Church. We are in the process of seeking dispensation for her from religious vows. Together with so many other religious women and men in South Africa, we will miss Trish and the theological contribution which she has made to the Church here, but we trust that she will continue to enrich theology in the Church as a whole. If anyone wishes to contact Trish, this is her email address:

fresen@forestfactory.de

We respect Trish's personal decision, and even if she is no longer a member of our Congregation we offer sisterliness and acceptance of her as a person. We also thank Trish for her contribution to the life of our Congregation for many years. May God's Spirit guide and direct Trish and all of us as we come to terms with our personal beliefs and attitudes regarding the role of women and men in the church of Jesus the Christ.

Congregational Leadership Team. Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena, King Williams Town, South Africa.