Archbishop Gervais' efforts to involve religious and lay people in the Archdiocese of Ottawa more fully into the operations of parishes where there is a shortage of priests are praiseworthy and innovative. And people like Sister Jeannine Gauthier are to be admired for their willingness to assist in this regard by performing baptisms, marriages, funerals, and "worship services". 

  But their functions always fall short of saying Mass, that is, building the Christian community through the celebration of the Eucharist. Yet the Christian community is essentially a Eucharistic community, one that is built largely by celebrating Mass as a community, which Sister Jeannine and others who lead worship services cannot do.

  Many of the communities which these good people serve in the Ottawa archdiocese and elsewhere in Canada have had the number of Masses in their parishes, even on Sundays, reduced and often replaced by a worship service that is basically a Communion service without the interaction that is the Mass, which basically constitutes the Christian community. In other communities the attempt to maintain a reasonable number of Masses on Sunday has strained many aging priests to the breaking point.

  In the light of the present shortage of priests to build the Eucharistic community, would it not be also fitting for the Archbishop and others in the Catholic community to work towards making vibrant Eucharistic communities widespread through the ordination of women like Sister Jeannine, the ordination to the priesthood of the married deacons and other men and women who assist in parishes, and the reconciliation of priests who have married and are willing to work again as priests? 

  Many of the efforts of this new "model of church" described in the article are largely band aid solutions to the real problem of a shortage of priests, which continues to grow in Canada and throughout the world. Isn't it time to address the problem of compulsory celibacy of Roman Catholic priests, and replace it by a priesthood which is inclusive of men and women, and of married and celibate priests in sufficient numbers to meet the needs of the Eucharistic community that is the Catholic Church?