Bridget Mary Meehan entered a convent as an 18-year-old woman, inspired by a Roman Catholic faith born during her childhood in the Irish countryside. But as her faith matured, Meehan felt increasingly called to the priesthood, despite church laws forbidding women’s ordination. In 2006, she rejected Catholic law and was ordained as a priest. She is one of about 80 women worldwide who claim Catholic priesthood and lead church communities, saying that apostolic succession has been transmitted by a bishop who remains anonymous. Meehan, 61, spoke with The Washington Examiner about the beliefs that drive her to disobey the Vatican, even as she holds fast to Catholicism.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I’m a Roman Catholic. I appreciate the faith for the prayer life that it has opened up to me, and to people throughout the centuries. And I value its teachings of justice, peace and equality through the application of what Jesus taught: Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself; love your neighbor as yourself; what you do to the least of my people, you do to me.
Did anyone or any event especially influence your faith, or your path to the priesthood?
I was born in Ireland, into a home where prayer was in the air we breathed. You took it in every day — it surrounded you, and permeated your life. My mother led family prayers every evening, and we prayed the family Rosary. After that, I’d often have a special conversation with God, or Mary, or the saints. I felt like the Holy surrounded us — like the saints were extended family members. Early on, I was inspired by St. Brigid of Kildare, and by the early Celtic Catholic church. It was a very egalitarian church, and historical accounts show that St. Brigid was ordained as a bishop. The church then was more like a Christian village where community, and serving the community, was essential to who you were. That tradition is my tradition — I go straight back to the Celtic tradition.
What gives you reason to believe that the Catholic Church has an obligation to support fundamental equality? Or that God supports equal opportunities among the sexes?
First, the creation story: In Genesis, God created a male and a female in God’s image — in the divine image. From the beginning, then, you have a female image of God. And secondly, Jesus treated women and men as equal partners in the Gospel. Mary Magdalene was chosen as the apostle to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection. Paul said that in Christ, there is no Jew or Greek, male or female. That’s radical equality! We’re all one in Christ, and all are radically equal. Women priests are visible reminders that women are equals before God — all women.
How do you respond to the charge that you’re disrupting the unity of the Catholic Church, instead of using more orderly means to encourage the ordination of women priests?
There is no orderly way. The church hierarchy has rejected that — they’ve slammed the door shut. I think at this point their rejection stems simply from misogyny. They’re afraid — they don’t know how it’d work to include women priests. But they can’t rest on tradition. The apostle Paul talks about a female deacon, Phoebe, in Romans 16. And some medieval canonists — experts in church law — pointed out that baptism is the prerequisite for a valid ordination, not gender.
Is the crime to ordain women? Or is the crime to discriminate against women? I stand in the prophetic tradition of holy disobedience to an unjust law that discriminates against women.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I believe that women and men are beautiful, passionate, individual reflections of the divine, and that all of us are called to live fully God’s vision for us, and for love in this world. In all that we think and say and do, we are called to be reflections of the holy one, and to share the love that brings us into community with one another. I believe that there’s nothing in the world that can hold women back from living in the heart of God’s vision for our lives. God has empowered us to be reflections of the feminine face of God. We’re called to live that love, passion and power in everything we do.
