Wide Open Spaces Podcast

Why can’t women be priests? Will the Catholic Church, can the Catholic Church change its teaching on this topic? Join me for a discussion with Catherine Renneberg, a master’s student of theology at Newman Theological College, as she makes a case for why women will not and cannot be Catholic priests. Be sure to check out the first episode in this set of episodes, a discussion with Reverend Marie-Louise Ternier, an Anglican female priest who left the Catholic Church after 50 years over the issue of female priesthood.

Can - and should - women be priests? What is the experience of a woman who has been ordained outside of the Catholic Church?  Reverend Marie-Louise Ternier - who, as a woman, is an ordained priest within the Anglican Church of Canada. Reverend Marie-Louise was born and raised Catholic but - through an extensive journey - left Catholicism and joined the Anglican Church of Canada in 2016, due to the Catholic teaching on female ordination.  In this episode we have a dialogue between her perspective as a former Catholic and Anglican priest and my perspective as a Catholic woman who enthusiastically agrees with the Catholic teaching on female priesthood.  In November  2017, Reverend Marie-Louise was ordained as an Anglican priest at the age of 62. She currently lives in the rural Saskatchewan town of Humbodlt and serves as the priest and rector at All Saints Anglican Parish/Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, in Watrous, Saskatchewan.  This is a two-part series. Watch for Part II, a conversation in defense of the Catholic teaching on priesthood.  Note: I am a practicing Catholic and I agree with the Catholic teaching on why priesthood is a calling created solely for men and Reverend Marie-Louise is coming from a different theological perspective than myself. It is also worth mentioning that the basis of this podcast is dialogue - which is very much distinct from debate, so while we certainly go back and forth about our differing views and we do conversationally debate - I did not take a position of outright debating or arguing with Reverend Marie-Louise, although we still do nonetheless, disagree on several essential points, especially regarding the interpretation of Pope  John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and how it may connect to the women being ordained as priests.  The goal of this dialogue is to clearly hear someone’s story and to have clarity about what they believe and why they believe it and Reverend Marie-Louise is a gracious and open partner in this endeavor.  Reverend Marie-Louise’s personal blog, which includes a more in-depth narration of her story and theological perspective: https://graceatsixty.wordpress.com/ [https://graceatsixty.wordpress.com/] Pope John Paul II’s 1994 Letter Which States Why The Catholic Church Does Not Have the Authority To Ordain Women https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.htm [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html]

What are the highs and lows of our sex education experience? How can parents talk about sex with their kids in a way that doesn’t lead to awkward, irreverent associations with sex? Join my sister Hannah and I as we have an open discussion about her work in sex education, the harms of over-spiritualizing sex education between parents and kids, when and how it is helpful to bring theology into sex education, our own highs and lows of how we were educated on sex in our formative years.  We both grew up in a big, Catholic family of 8 kids and it was wonderful to compare with her our experience of sex education growing up, how it has impacted us as adults, and to share our musings on how parents could better talk about sex with their teenagers!

Was the Trucker's Convoy really about freedom? How does growing up in the Ottawa area impact your view of big government? What does it look like to host conversations between people who disagree on pandemic politics? Join myself and Rahil Khan, a longtime Ottawa resident and co-founder of the dialogue initiative Let's Talk Ottawa, as we talk about our differing views on the Convoy and practical approaches to hosting dialogue about issues that tend to tear people apart.

How can adult children and parents have a relationship that honors one another? Join my Mom (Tracy Connelly) and me as we have a discussion about building our own relationship after some years of struggle, appropriate boundaries between adult children and parents, how your parent's marriage impacts you, how to avoid helicopter parenting, and the importance of laughter! To support the Wide Open Spaces mission of healing division: www.patreon.com/jennyconnelly?fan_landing=true [https://www.patreon.com/jennyconnelly?fan_landing=true] Email me your thoughts or critiques at: contact@wideopenspacespodcast.com