By Sabina Clarke
Since she was six years old and the nun took her to see the Tabernacle in church, Judy Heffernan, a good Catholic schoolgirl, a product of Catholic education and a graduate of Presentation Blessed Virgin Mary grammar school, St. Mary’s Academy and Chestnut Hill College – proclaimed to all who would listen that she wanted to be a priest. Her comments, easily dismissed in grade school, raised some eyebrows in high school; causing her to postpone her dream until the Catholic Church changed its mind.
Judy Heffernan | photo © Katharine Gilbert
The hiatus, however, was brief and her dream was reignited in a college theology class after she discovered that there were women deacons in the first six centuries of the church. This excited her because deacons were a major order that was very involved in the sacrament of Baptism. She asked why, “If you are able to get one major order, why not another?”
Fortified with the blessings and financial backing of her parents and her cherished aunt Rose who worked at Sears Department Store for 46 years, Heffernan went off to St. Maur’s Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana to study for the priesthood. She left with a Masters of Divinity two years later.
How did she get admitted into a Catholic seminary if women were not allowed to become priests?
“There was a very brief window when women could be admitted into a Catholic seminary. This was because of Pope John XX111’s encyclical Pacem in Terris which emphasized the importance of women’s role in society and in the Church.”
Her ordination in 1980 was “a process and did not happen overnight.” Without any notice, she was asked to concelebrate a mass with a priest when another priest did not show up at the service. The theme was “brokenness.” The priest said the Church was broken because of its stand on women’s ordination and invited her to join him in the liturgy – with the urging of the members of The Community of the Christian Spirit – to which she belongs.
At that mass, the priest said to her, “This is your real ordination. Anything else will only confirm what happened today. You were just called to the ministry by the community.” And it was the community, she emphasizes, just like it was done in the early days of the Church – that decided to formally ordain her on Mother’s Day in 1980.
Did her family attend the ordination?
“My father had died but my mother was there; she was very involved in it.” Judy Heffernan calls herself a ‘working priest.’ For 29 years, she was a teacher in early childhood education for the Philadelphia School District. She retired recently and now does “corporal works of mercy” as well as celebrating mass once a week. She also hears confessions – but not in a confessional booth because “I can’t stand that box.”
Is she comfortable hearing confessions?
“It seems very normal to me because for most children, they went to their mother as their confidante. Also, I think confession is very healing.”
Is she on the radar of the Catholic Archdiocese?
“No one has ever been in touch with me even though I do celebrate the liturgy on ordination day outside the park across from the Cathedral.” She mentions the seven European women who were ordained in the Danube River and were formally excommunicated, adding “I believe that the law that prevents women from being ordained is unjust.”
Why does she think the Church takes this stand?
I believe that they are really sincere and believe that Jesus did not ordain women. In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission said there was nothing in scripture against the ordination of women but their study was not taken seriously. They backed another study that said women cannot be ordained because they do not bear a natural resemblance to Jesus.
Does she think the Church is patriarchal and wants to keep women subservient?
“I think it certainly did develop into that.”
Does Mary Magdalene, referred to as the ‘Apostle of the Apostles’ buttress the cause of women’s ordination?
“Mary Magdalene announced the good news that Jesus had risen which is one of the main callings of a priest – to proclaim the gospel.”
Can you explain St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower’s, connection to women’s ordination?
“St. Therese prayed to die at the age of twenty-five so that she could celebrate in Heaven what she could not celebrate on earth. Men at twenty-five could be ordained and she was not allowed to be ordained.”
How has being a priest changed you?
“Hopefully, it has deepened my faith and my love for all people and made me more inclusive in my heart and mind of others.”
Has she ever thought of leaving the Catholic Church and joining the Episcopal Church since they allow women to be ordained priests?
“No, because finding The Community of the Christian Spirit helped me. There are a number of Catholic women who have become Protestant ministers. Also, the Protestant and Jewish women in Philadelphia have been very supportive of women priests in the Catholic Church. Many of the women ministers wear a collar to support the women’s ordination movement in the Catholic Church when they come to a Catholic service.”
How does she feel about the pedophile scandal in the Church?
“It is a terrible tragedy. My heart is breaking for the children but I try to have some compassion for the perpetrators as well. I believe they are not given the help they need. I did know one and he was a wonderful, beautiful person. And, he did admit it and he went for help. They were supposed to be counseling him and following up on him and mentoring him – but they didn’t.”
What bothers you most about the Church’s stand on women’s ordination?
“What bothers me is that the ordination of women is in the same category as the abuse of children – it is considered a ‘grave offense.’ If ordaining anyone to serve the people in sacramental rites – how can that be a grave sin?”
How do you think the Church should be handling this issue?
“When the Church will not even allow discussion on the topic of women’s ordination, it breaks down any chance of a dialogue or understanding on either side – particularly, when statistics show that 56 percent of Catholics support women’s ordination. It seems as if the men of the Church are circling the wagons against everybody instead of opening up and reaching out.”
Do you feel you are still a Catholic?
“Absolutely.”
Please tell Judy that I said “Happy Birthday” if you see her next Wednesday.