Catholic author to speak at new venues

A feminist Catholic author and lecturer who has refused to let the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix tape her talks at a scheduled retreat for nuns says she has found other sponsors and plans to go forward with a series of talks at non-Catholic sites in June.

“I hope the bishop and his representatives will attend,” said Edwina Gateley, a laywoman and author of 10 books.

Gateley had been contracted to lead an eight-day retreat June 1-8 at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley.

About 30 nuns had registered by March 20, but Gateley, who speaks of “God Mother” and the “feminine dimension of God,” balked at going forward with it after the diocese informed the center’s staff that her remarks would need to be taped for review because she had a reputation of “not always being in accord with the church in a lot of different teachings.”

Diocese Bishop Thomas Olmsted circulated a letter to parishes in 2004 that calls for barring speakers from using Catholic facilities if what they say conflicts with church doctrine.

Gateley stood to lose $4,000 from the canceled engagement, but two anonymous Valley women are funding her series of talks at various venues June 5-11 in the Valley, which will include a public talk 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 10 at Crossroads United Methodist Church in Phoenix.

Sponsors for that event will include Call to Action, a Catholic reform organization, the Arizona Center for Theological Studies and a loose group of supporters called “Friends of Edwina.” Those attending will be asked to pay $10 to hear her speech, “One Woman’s Journey to God and Her Church.”

Meanwhile, the Franciscan Renewal Center, a Catholic facility, is still trying to find an acceptable replacement instructor for the Intercommunity Sisters Retreat for Catholic sisters from across the country, said its spokeswoman, Bonnie Wasniewski. Only one person has canceled registration with word of Gateley’s decision, and no one new has signed up, Wasniewski said.

“We never tried to keep her from speaking in the first place,” said diocese spokesman Jim Dwyer. “We didn’t bar her. We said we wanted to tape her conversation.”

The 63-year-old Catholic laywoman, who has founded two Catholic-based ministries, said the producers of her copyrighted materials forbid outside tapings of her talks. But Dwyer said the diocese had agreed to “sign some kind of a waiver that we would not distribute or sell it to anyone — negating her claim that would violate her copyright.”

There was wide disappointment among Gateley’s supporters, said Mary Jo McLaughlin, who has been organizing the alternative talks. She said her group is not trying to recruit nuns away from the Renewal Center’s retreat, but she hopes some will come to hear Gateley.

“We are not trying to rub this in anybody’s face, but Edwina is a friend to so many of us here in the Valley,” McLaughlin said. “We just wanted to let her know that she was supported and respected.”