I would strongly encourage you to read this wise post from my friend Kate for many reasons. It is right. It speaks truth. It honors the Christian church and unveils the Celtic church. It shows you why I so dearly love my anamcara, Tom Cashman (and am slightly terrified to teach that same course in his footsteps this coming month). And it introduces you to a voice that I firmly believe you will hear more of in the future. Everything I have read from Kate has been a prophetic call to live deeply and cut through the chaotic fog of a dreary life. Add her blog to your regular reads, and prepare to be discomforted in the best way possible.
In describing the revival of Celtic spirituality within the modern Church, Tom Cashman uses the metaphor of a child with an absent parent. The child has been raised only by a father, the Catholic Church as originated in Rome, and is now “encountering the Mother we have not known.” His imagery is appropriate: the Celtic spirituality that we’ve been missing is indeed a mother, a female figure, for the Celts valued women both in society and the Church in ways that greatly differ from the mainstream tradition. The treatment of women in the Celtic Church greatly contrasts with that of the Church in America today, a difference that can be traced to the theological conflict between Pelagius and Augustine.
One of the clearest ways in which women are viewed differently in the historic Celtic and contemporary churches is the vastly different views and acceptance of women’s leadership roles. Today, many churches prohibit…
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pat loughery 
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