William R. Callahan (priest)
William Reed Callahan (September 5, 1931 – July 5, 2010) was an American
Callahan is also known as one of the co-founders of the Quixote Center.
Social justice work
Together with Dolly Pomerleau, he founded the Quixote Center in 1976. During the 1980s, the center raised $100 million towards humanitarian aid to the Sandanista-led government of Nicaragua. During the visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States in 1979, Callahan implored priests "to refuse to help the pope in celebrating Mass" in the hope that "more lay women would then have to be enlisted to assist at the services."[1] After the pope declared that the church's position opposing the ordination of women was not a human rights issue, Callahan wondered that "perhaps this is not a human rights issue because women are not human or they do not have rights".[1] In a 1980 article in The New York Times title "Equal Rights on the Altar of God", Callahan opined that the church's policy against the ordination of women was driven by the desire among the exclusively male clergy for power, which is "sexually satisfying [with] a certain act of love and passion all its own, and priests cherish it as one game they can play", questioning "why should they share their little playing field" with women?[2]
Conflict with the Catholic Church
These public challenges to Roman Catholic teaching led to a rebuke from the Church in 1979 and a removal from his post in
Personal life
Callahan was born in Scituate, Massachusetts on September 5, 1931. He was raised as a Catholic by his father's parents following the death of his mother when Callahan was 6 months old. He attended Boston College High School and joined the Society of Jesus in 1948. Callahan had originally intended to pursue training in agronomy, but was convinced to pursue education in physics as the Jesuits needed additional physics professors for the colleges in the Jesuit system. He attended Boston College, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in physics, and earned his Ph.D. in the subject in 1962 from Johns Hopkins University. After completing college, he taught at the Jesuit-operated Fairfield University and received his ordination as a priest in 1965.[1]
A resident of Brentwood, Maryland, Callahan died at age 78 on July 5, 2010, due to complications of Parkinson's disease. He married Dolly Pomerleau, his long-time colleague, in the days before his death.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Martin, Douglas. "Rev. William R. Callahan Dies at 78; Dissident Who Challenged Vatican", The New York Times, July 9, 2010. Accessed July 11, 2010.
- ^ Wilkes, Paul. "Equal Rights on the Altar of God", The New York Times, November 30, 1980. Accessed July 11, 2010.
- ^ Hyer, Marjorie. "Jesuit Advocate of Ordination of Women Priests Removed From Post in Washington", Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1979. Accessed July 11, 2010.
- ^ Steinfels, Peter. "Jesuit Priest Faces Dismissal", The New York Times, April 30, 1989. Accessed July 11, 2010.
- ^ Hyer, Marjorie. "Priest Resists Expulsion by Jesuits; Activist Contends Officials Won't Say Why He's Being Forced Out", The Washington Post, April 28, 1989. Accessed July 11, 2010.
- Newspapers.com.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
