During the campaign, more than 22,000 signatures were collected.
The text of the petition is still available as an on-line form which you can print out, sign, and return.
Signatures were collected regularly on the street in Galway and Dublin. On Sunday 1st October 1997 a collection of signatures was held outside Catholic churches in 15 locations around the country, which added another 4,000 or so signatures to the list.
The weather was against us that weekend - it was wet and windy. Everybody wanted to get home and out of the miserable weather as quickly as possible. Our clipboards and petition papers were blown about. When the paper got wet the biros gave up. Yet despite the conditions people took the trouble to come and sign. And many, many more saw our signs as they passed by on foot, in their cars, in buses, on bicycles and motorbikes. Some smiled; others laughed and told their friends; others nodded strongly in agreement; others scowled and growled and blessed themselves. So for every one person who signed 20 others took note and hopefully mentioned to their friends. That was one of the main aims of the petition: to keep the issue of the ordination of women as a live and important issue.
Finally, in April 1999, we distributed them among the 35 Irish bishops, with a letter asking them to bring the petition to the attention of the Synod of European Bishops in Rome.
More than 65 people braved a cold wet night to come and take part in the BASIC Prayer Service in Trinity College Chapel, Dublin, on March 25th 1996. It was a moving experience, full of symbolism. The Prayer Service encapsulated in word, song and drama the current dilemma of women in the RC Church.
The service opened with the hymn "Lord Hear my Prayer" - we were blessed with a wonderful folk group which included two flautists. The same group was with BASIC in the middle of O'Connell Street on an earlier celebration of the World Day of Prayer. After an introduction, six men and six women trooped joyfully into the chapel in silent mime, carrying a basin, jug and towel, a chalice, a plate of bread, a bible and a crozier. They laid these things on a table, and exchanged greetings and hugs. One of the men symbolically washed the feet of one of the women, and then she did the same for him. The cup and plate were passed around the circle, and a symbolic meal shared.
Then a shadow fell on the joy of the group. One of the men seized the bible, and walked away towards the altar. In turn three others followed him, taking the chalice, the bread and the crozier, and pointedly leaving the basin, jug and towel behind. Three of them sat on thrones on top of the altar steps, while the fourth used the crozier to bar the way to the two women who tried to join them, and directed them to kneel at the foot of the steps. As the rest looked on in horror, one of the four then mounted the pulpit, and unrolled a banner with the legend "ON RESERVING PRIESTLY ORDINATION TO MEN ALONE". The lights dimmed and the musicians sang "Waters of Babylon", as those left at the supper table bowed their heads and walked sadly out of the chapel.
Delma Sheridan read the gospel of the Annunciation and it seemed so right to hear that particular gospel read by a woman.
Next Betty Maher spoke of the many unanswered questions she has, particulary referring to the anointing of Christ by a woman:
When Betty finished there was a minute's silence. Then the mime group, reassembled outside the door, struck three thunderous knocks on it, and entered in solemn procession, carrying a poster advertising the BASIC Petition, the 21,000 signatures to the petition, the great BASIC candle, the tapes and published book of last year's BASIC seminar, and a framed painting of a woman offering Mass. They laid these on the supper-table, joined hands, and bowed together in silence.
Next Gail Grossman Freyne shared with us a long letter she has recently written to her parish priest and also copied to Archbishop Desmond Connell of Dublin. Because of the October 1995 statement from the CDF she has decided that she can no longer remain within the church she has always been in. She spoke of the feeling of a family bereavement over this decision, over which she prayed and agonised. In the end she decided that the scandal of NOT speaking out and declaring that SHE DID NOT ASSENT to this teaching would be far greater than the scandal of speaking out in public. She owed it to her two daughters to give them a truthful image of their mother. But the pain and the hurt of this step were clear for all to see.
There was prayer, people throughout the chapel speaking out their own prayers as the spirit moved them; and the service ended with the hymn "Let Us Build a City of God". We all left feeling freshly charged and motivated. The liturgy was designed by Joan Tracy, Soline Vatinel, Annette O'Connell and Eamonn McCarthy.
Speakers included
However until now their voices have seldom been heard and their spiritual journeys have remained largely hidden.
As the Church is experiencing the labour pains of new birth, the issue of the ordination of women to the ministry of Word and Sacrament can no longer be ignored.
The presence of women priests in the other Christian traditions, such as the Church of Ireland, is a powerful witness to the Spirit's freedom to blow where She wills and "to give to each one as He so desires." (1st Cor 11)
This seminar provided a forum where this sense of vocation could be brought into the open, shared and explored freely, with open minds and open hearts.
This vigil was held as part of a World Day of Prayer, in conjunction with Catholic Women's Ordination (Britain), VROUMENS (Netherlands), Women's Ordination Conference (USA), and Women of the New Covenant (Australia).
The public were invited to join the vigil, or to pray and light a candle in their own homes in support.
The theme of the vigil was the mourning of women's lost gifts. The God-given gifts that women are unable to use to express their love of God and to serve the Church community. If not for the steadfastness of Mary the Christian Church would not have been born. We look to Mary as our guide as we seek to bring new life to our Church. As Mary was open to new life, both within and without, so too are we open through Christ to the presence of the Spirit.
God will take me at an age (24) when I will not have had the time to become a priest ... If I could have been a priest, it would have been at this ordination that I would have received Holy Orders. Well, so that I would regret nothing, God is allowing me to be ill ... and I shall die before I have exercised my ministry. (St. Thérese of Lisieux, 1897)
It is evident that women are meant to form part of the living and working structure of Christianity in so prominent a manner that perhaps not all their potentialities have yet been made clear. (PaulVI, 1976, quoted in JOHN PAUL II 'On the dignity and vocation of women', 1988, par.1)
Rejoice, so highly favoured! ... For nothing is impossible to God (Luke 1:28-37)
For a long time I kept silent. Now I cry out like a woman in labour. I will lead my blind people by roads they have not travelled. (Isaiah 42, 14-16)
The admission of women to all forms of ministry in the Roman Catholic Church is a truth that cannot finally be denied - it is something that will come. (Professor Enda McDonagh, 1995)
Who can imagine what great advantages will come to the Church's pastoral work, what new beauty will appear on the face of the Church, when Woman's genius will be poured fully into the various areas of its life? (John Paul II)