Talking about the Catholic Church without talking about the place of women is like talking about the history of South Africa while ignoring apartheid. It completely denies the realities of the Catholic Church today, which include:
* The exclusion of women from the ranks of cardinals, bishops, priests and deacons -- an exclusion that contributes to an attitude of condescension toward women and children, which surely influenced the hierarchy's condescending response to decades of complaints about clergy child sexual abuse.
* The ban on women presiding at Mass, celebrating Eucharist, hearing confessions, baptizing, and anointing the dying, even as hundreds of thousands of Catholics worldwide go without priests.
* The prohibition on women at Mass proclaiming the Gospel or preaching a sermon, in direct contradiction to Christ's clear instruction to Mary Magdalene to "go and tell my brothers' that I am risen."
* The obfuscation of the true place of women in Christian history -- such as the deacon Phoebe, the bishop Theodora, the apostle Junia -- by the hierarchy's insisting that when applied to women, "deacon" doesn't mean "deacon," "bishop" doesn't mean "bishop" and "apostle" doesn't mean "apostle."
* The rejection of any language for a female face of God, despite Her existence in the Bible and reminders by esteemed female Catholic theologians like Elizabeth Johnson that "God created humankind in his image...male and female he created them."
* The minimization of the impact of the clergy child sexual abuse scandal on girls, who made up nearly 20% of the victims; were in fact more likely than boys to be sexually abused up to the age of seven; and after the age of puberty, were held accountable themselves for the abuse, or seen as "normal" targets for priest experimentation.
* The perpetuation of the myth of a celibate priesthood, despite estimates that at any one time nearly half of all Catholic priests are involved in some kind of sexual activity, most of it with adults, and worldwide reports of priests sexually abusing and exploiting women. Pregnancies have been met by priests' insisting the women have abortions, or by their abandoning the women and their own children.
* The denial of the relationship between forced childbearing -- as promoted by Church teachings against birth control and abortion -- and poverty for women, children and families in the developing world.
* The belief that "natural law" -- on which the Church bases its opposition to birth control, condoms, emergency contraception, sterilization, infertility treatments, and pregnancy termination -- should apply not just to Catholics, but to everyone. This is a position that the Catholic Church alone among the world's religions can promote from its seat as a Non-Member State Permanent Observer at the United Nations.
* The silencing and excommunication of women who dare to challenge the status quo.
The invisible, indeed maligned, women I interviewed for Good Catholic Girls who are struggling to change the Catholic Church are part of a vibrant global movement of women -- Muslim, Jewish, Christian. They know that we cannot ignore the place of women in the world's major religions and still change women's second-class status in so much of the world.
For Pope Benedict's visit, the question to ponder is this: In the face of the Church's blatant discrimination against women and its consequences, to which Benedict has mightily contributed, what exactly is the basis for the Catholic Church hierarchy's moral authority?
Follow Angela Bonavoglia on Twitter: www.twitter.com/angiebona
It’s clear from your article that you reject totally the Catholic Church’s belief on Papal authority, as is your right. But having done that, why do you care how the Church organizes itself? Nobody is compelled to belong to the Catholic Church. As such I would encourage all Catholics to read the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”. If they reject what the Church teaches then leave. If they accept what the Church teaches than embrace those teachings and try to live them, with the help of God’s grace, to the fullest.
I guess that’s why you’re so angry Ms Bonavoglia. Like most “Progressives” you can’t tolerate people who have a different view of the world than yours.
I sat next to one of young women who had "starred" in Deliver Us From Evil at a film festival screening of Amy Berg's amazing and disturbing documentary. You could literally feel her vibrate - the pain and scars of what Oliver O'Grady did to her as a child were rolling off her in waves.
Shame on the Pope, the Church, and everyone who was more invested in the Glory of the Catholic Church than the welfare of its children.
communion, they provide counseling on religious and chruch
doctrine. In regards to officiating the mass, no. Men were
predominate in following Christ, women were often benefactors.
Having said that, it's time for married and women clergy,
Catholics use birth control, and there is a shortage
of men becoming Priests. And infallibility to be disbanded.
Regarding the relationship between man and woman, the founder of the Baha'i faith's statement that "Man and Woman are the wings of humanity," says it all. No bird can soar to the highest heights unless its wings are equal in all respects.
As serious is the concept of "infallibility" that automatically engulfs human beings in a spiritual straightjacket and that is in total contradiction to God's greatest gift to humanity, part of Its own omnipotence which is one's "freedom of choice."
In this respect, no one's decision within the Catholic Church's hierarchy should be binding but rather a matter of choice for those affected by such decisions.
Seems like ex-Catholics are the most vocal about
what is wrong. If you disagreed, why didn't you change
things? Those of us who stay are.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/14/bill-mahers-new-rule-abou_n_96538.html
I was raised a catholic - catholic schools, mass every day, the whole enchilada. I became an atheist, married and had children. But you'd better believe - I made sure my daughters understood the egregious position of the religions in general -- and the catholic church in particular - and their crimes against women for hundreds and thousands of years.
The pope doesn't have a chance in hell of getting his filthy paws on my daughter's "souls."
*.
His panels on his show consists of mainly men.
He ridicules Hillary continuosly and elevates Obama as much as possible and that's par for the course on most all the MEDIA. Obama has done nothing special in this country and yet you would think he was the second coming.
So instead of attacking the Catholic Church of Rome and the religion itself -- we might just start HERE in the USA when we have a woman running for President and gets a kick in the butt wherever she turns ---- even women never mind supporting her---are also giving her a kick in the butt for it.
I am still looking for the right person to vote for.
http://ourgreatestweapon.cf.huffingtonpost.com/Religion.html