The Mass will not survive female ordination

Charlotte Küng-Bless: "It is not enough to simply ordain women as priests".

Charlotte Küng-Bless, a pastoral assistant, would like to see "bishops not only pushing the limits of existing church law, but consciously overstepping them". She also hopes that women's pain will be noticed. The next goal of the "Junia Initiative" is international networking.  (More details of this initiative in previous Cathcon posts)

You are holding a Junia Initiative event in Therwil BL on 17 May. What can the guests expect?

Charlotte Küng-Bless*: Junia Day is a day of empowerment and networking. We meet, that means many women and also men from Switzerland and neighbouring countries, to support each other. This event is about "witnesses of faith". We should make ourselves audible and visible as women apostles, deacons and prophets. 

Have you also invited Bishops?

Küng-Bless: No, we deliberately refrained from doing so. They can participate in this event, but they are not specifically invited.

Why do you keep a low profile with church decision-makers?

Küng-Bless: Due to the structure of the event, we are not dependent on public dignitaries. We are not looking to talk to bishops at this event. The focus is on the liturgical language we use as women. It is about spiritual experience through language and music.

You are on a panel together with theologian Jacqueline Keune. What can the participants expect at this panel?

Küng-Bless: Jacqueline Keune is a complete professional when it comes to language and is known as a poet. I am the parish pastor with writing experience. We want to encourage the participants: Do the same with your own skills. My focus is on the link between music and text. I want to show how this can be done in a liturgical setting.

"The need for networking and encounter is huge."

What does it mean in a liturgical setting?

Küng-Bless: I have written nativity plays and songs myself. Martin Luther is an inspiration to me. It is very close to my heart to capture and convey theology in music.

What signals should go out from the event in Therwil to the women in the Swiss church?

Küng-Bless: We want to convey: "I am not alone. There are others!" The need for networking and meeting is huge. We experience that we are on the way together with others. That is why these Junia Days have a spiritual-nurturing aspect.  

"There is certainly still room for improvement in the international arena."

What has the Junia initiative achieved since its foundation?

Küng-Bless: We have achieved encouragement and strengthening. We also have a super-network. Internationally, there is certainly still room for improvement. But in the German-speaking countries and especially in Switzerland, the networking is strong.

What are you doing concretely to network?

Küng-Bless: We are networked with the Catholic Women's Council (CWC), which operates internationally. We keep up to date on important events and articles via chat. We hold monthly Zoom meetings to discuss and coordinate: for example, in the follow-up to the synodal process in Prague, where Helena Jeppesen and Mentari Baumann from the "Alliance Equally Catholic" were present. Incidentally, the Junia Initiative is also a member of this "Alliance Equally Catholic".

What are you doing to improve international visibility?

Küng-Bless: In September there will be a conference at the University of Leipzig on the topic of "Women in Office". Women representatives from our organisation will be there. One or two representatives of the Swiss Junia Initiative will probably go to Leipzig. We are looking forward to the theological discourse being sought in this format.

Are you going to Leipzig yourself?

Küng-Bless: As a mother of three children, I belong to the "most difficult" group. At networking meetings - in the context of women's organisations - I have always asked about care for my children. However, this is said to be too difficult and complicated. For this reason, I unfortunately cannot participate in Leipzig.

How do you deal with the issue of women's priesthood?

Küng-Bless: In the Junia Initiative we have developed a common language. It is not enough to simply ordain women priests. This solution is far too banal!

Why is it too banal?

Küng-Bless: We are concerned with differentiation. We don't just want to draw attention to ourselves with flat actions. Rather, we are working on linguistic differentiation, which is a major social issue.

Can you give me an example?

Küng-Bless: We deliberately never speak of "consecration". We are convinced that language plays an important role here. We therefore speak of "ordination", according to the Lima paper. But that is probably too much technical talk.

"There are always ways of proceeding in the universal church that play women off against each other."

What are the most important goals for the next three years?

Küng-Bless: We want to network internationally. That will be demanding. Knowing and understanding each other is important, for example between Europe and Latin America. There are always approaches in the world church that play women off against each other and want to invalidate the arguments. In the style of: "So you know, the women in Latin America have other problems". That is why it is important for us to understand their life worlds. We can support each other worldwide.

What are your goals in Switzerland?

Küng-Bless: We want to make the Junia initiative better known in Swiss parishes. But the response has been relatively low since the beginning. These are the same experiences as with the synodal process. Where this process was started, it has so far aroused little interest in the parishes. This is also the case with the Junia initiative.

With the Synodal process, we know that about two to three percent of Swiss Catholics actively participate in it. Is that of the same order of magnitude for you?

Küng-Bless: Oh God, I have no idea about the percentages. But the comparison is correct: In the parishes, both the Junia initiative and the synodal process are marginal topics.

What do you expect from the Synodal process?

Küng-Bless: The expectations are not very high. Nevertheless, I expect the bishops to start now to actively do something for the transformation of the Church. It is no longer enough to say, "I would like to, but the Vatican doesn't want me to." We are discriminated against in the Church. I want our pain to be noticed. I want to hear from the bishops: "I see the discrimination and change the situation as soon as possible."

"I would like to see the bishops consciously overstep the boundaries of existing church law."

You don't hear that at the moment?

Küng-Bless: I don't hear it that clearly. Rather, I suspect that the bishops are torn between loyalty to the church system and the willingness to respond to the needs of the people on the ground. I would like to see the bishops not only pushing the limits of existing church law, but deliberately overstepping them, because they know that the vast majority of the faithful have long been ready for innovations such as married priests or ordained women.

Does the Junia Initiative lobby, for example, the Bishops or the Vatican?

Küng-Bless: The Catholic Women's Council is on it. We as the Junia Initiative have limited resources. However, we are linked to the "Alliance Equally Catholic". Lobby work is also done there.

"I am also a Junia!"

Why has it become so quiet around the Junia Initiative in recent months?

Küng-Bless: Seen from the outside, that's true. Internally, I experience it completely differently. A lot is happening at the core of the movement dealing with the Junia Initiative: in the parishes, in the hospitals and nursing homes. Everywhere where Junia people are active. A Junia once told me: "The Junia sessions do me good. They give me strength." Keeping at it, doing the work on the ground, living the convictions of the Junias: that's what we're all about.

You call each other "Junia"?

Küng-Bless: Yes, exactly. I am also a Junia! That's a common word among us in the initiative.

(Cathcon: This is what coercive religious sects do!)

Who is Junia?

Küng-Bless: That is a woman in the early Christian movement who is mentioned in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the church of Rome. She is portrayed as outstanding among the apostles. So she is an apostle, in other words a sent one, commissioned to take the gospel out into the world. So the argument that there was no woman apostle in the tradition has long since been refuted.

*Charlotte Küng-Bless (40) is a founding member of the Junia Initiative, which was launched in 2019. In the interview, she represents the position of this initiative. She is also the pastor of the Catholic Church in the Rorschach region. She became nationally known with her courageous statements on the anointing of the sick. Together with Monika Hungerbühler, Iva Boutellier and other women, Küng-Bless invites you to the Junia Day in Therwil BL.