THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 41, NO. 20 | DECEMBER 27, 2019
WOMEN
A GIFT TO THE CHURCH THAT JUST KEEPS ON GIVING
LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER
Father Jaime Zarse, pastor of Sacred Heart in Sabetha, goes over the day’s schedule with Gina Sallman, Sacred Heart’s DRE, lead catechist, bookkeeper and administrative assistant.
Both professionally and personally, priests value women’s counsel By Olivia Martin olivia.martin@theleaven.org
K
ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Go to daily Mass anywhere in the world, and what will you find? A priest —
of course. An altar server — sometimes. A predominantly female congregation — absolutely. Since ancient times, women have been at the heart of the life of the church. More recently, women don’t just head up altar societies, outreach ministries and funeral dinners, they keep the parish running — increasingly from professional positions within the church.
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“In fact,” said Msgr. Tom Tank, pastor of Church of the Ascension in Overland Park, “the parish would be terribly, terribly hampered and inactive without all of the women who are involved.”
Learning to work together For newly ordained priests moving from an all-male seminary to working closely with women in the parish, the transition can be quite a task. “I’ve got no males I work with,” said Father Nathan Haverland, pastor of St. Gregory Parish in Marysville. “Going from that allmale environment to all-female was a major adjustment.” Father Jaime Zarse, pastor of Sacred Heart in Sabetha, St. Augustine in Fidelity and St. James in Wetmore, agreed. However, time in seminary helped prepare for exactly that: working with women. While attending Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Father Zarse took a course on women in the
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“THE PARISH WOULD BE TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY HAMPERED AND INACTIVE WITHOUT ALL OF THE WOMEN WHO ARE INVOLVED.”
Msgr. Tom Tank, pastor of Church of the Ascension, Overland Park
church. It covered St. John Paul II’s 1988 letter to women called “Mulieris Dignitatem” and the works of many great Catholic women thinkers, including St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta). “That class was huge!” said Father Zarse. And one of the reasons it was so impactful, he said, was because it was taught by a woman. “The truth is, I myself did not bond especially well with my mom growing up,” said Father Zarse. “We had a good relationship, but we were not super close by any stretch of the imagination.”
But that class helped him approach women in a new way — not as a threat, but as a blessing. Father Zarse found a class taught by a female Catholic psychologist and counselor to be of great formative value as well. “[Dr. Suzanne Harvath’s] class was basically designed to help teach us future priests how to navigate boundaries with women in a way that was not going to hurt them or make them feel like they’re nothing more than a threat to our vocation,” said Father Zarse. “Again, being taught by a female >> See “THEY” on page 4