Women to dress up for Mass

Press, 22 September 1987, Page 6

Women to dress up for Mass

Christchurch Catholic women will dress in period costume for a thanksgiving Mass this evening to celebrate women’s contribution to the diocese in the last 100 years.

There will be a special presentation in period costume to show the progress that has been made for women in the Church at the beginning of the Mass at 7.30 p.m., which will be celebrated by the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, the Most Rev. Basil Meeking.

Catholic women and representatives of other denominations, including the Anglican, Methodist and Salvation Army churches, as well as the women’s committee of the National Council of Churches, have also been invited to the thanksgiving. It has been organised by the Catholic Women’s Welfare League, as part of the centennial

celebrations. While women were not yet able to be ordained in the Catholic Church, the league was keen to show that some progress had been made by women, said the diocesan president, Mrs Teresa McCarthy. “At one stage women had little significance except to clean the church or the altar, but now they are allowed to take readings and help in the Eucharist, so I think some progress has been made,” she said.

Smaller but significant signs of progress had also been seen in the role of nuns, who now often worked in the community instead of being cloistered in their convents.

“We couldn’t even get hold of the old, heavy habits, so the sisters must have been glad to get rid of them," said Mrs McCarthy.