The First Supper

  Miscellaneous
One of the Church Mouse banner images – those at the top of the page that keep changing – that seems to attracts more attention than all the others is from a photograph of a framed image hanging in the back of the church.

It is a print of a work entitled "The First Supper" by Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, who says:

I was inspired to paint The First Supper after Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, by the narrative drama and magnificent composition of Leonardo’s painting. I wanted to challenge the patriarchal concept of thirteen men on one side of a table that is accepted as a celebrated religious symbol. In place of the men, all with similar features, I painted an international group of women. (Read more at http://www.susandwhite.com.au/paintings/firstsupper.html )

While on the subject of challenging patriarchal concepts, the Mouse has received a couple of requests to help promote An Invitation to Catholic Men to apologise to the Women of the Church. It is an initiative from a small group of Australians concerned with the Church’s attitude to women, which they see as a matter of justice, of basic human rights.

They suggest it is time to correct the glaring injustice of women being confined to secondary status in the Body of Christ, especially in their exclusion from leadership roles.

In simple terms, if there is no scriptural or theological reason to exclude women from leadership and priesthood, there is only tradition – and human traditions can harbour shocking injustices.

This is not just the offer of an apology, but also a change of heart and a commitment to think clearly and speak the truth, to become intolerant of kant, obfuscation and all forms of bullshit.

For more information, and an online petition, visit www.apologytowomen.com.

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