Rome may have spoken but the matter is certainly not finished – and that is why Mary has given us hope
ALITTLE holiday kicked up its heels in my heart when Mary McAleese spoke truth to power this week, outing the male controllers of the Catholic Church for presiding over an “empire of misogyny”.
Her words chimed with many who feel excluded by this cold house for women, LGBT people, clerical abuse victims and anyone in disagreement with elements of its teachings. When you study the list of so-called undesirables, it’s a wonder churches have any congregations left.
Meanwhile, senior Vatican clerics are barricaded into an ivory tower with their absolutist positions for company – not so much locking others out as bolting themselves in.
Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. Ms McAleese let rip with the kind of righteous anger Christ used in driving the moneylenders from the temple.
She had hoped for support from Pope Francis, but was disappointed, after a reactionary Irish cardinal presumed to remove her name and two others from the speakers’ list at an event usually held in the Vatican.
The hierarchy, including a succession of popes, has repeatedly blanked her polite calls for reform. Enough was enough – Ms McAleese channelled her inner John Wayne in his Chicago police lieutenant Brannigan incarnation. Remember when he kicks down a door, looms among the debris, and says: “Knock, knock”? That’s the gist of what she did.
Francis did not intervene to overturn the ban. Nor did he attend the conference, or celebrate Mass for delegates. It’s clear where he stands: on the side of misogyny and marginalisation.
Catholic leaders reference the inclusivity word freely, but it’s waffle, because the position they occupy promotes exclusion. Their actions show a fundamental failure to recognise the equal dignity of women and men, gays and straights.
Our former head of State is a person of substance. For decades, she has been tapping on the Vatican’s door – as a committed Catholic, she wants to make a contribution.
Ms McAleese took the trouble to inform herself on canon law by studying for a doctorate, and now calls the theology which disbars women from the priesthood “codology”. It has no basis in scripture, it is a man-made law.
So, ‘cui bono’, or who benefits by female exclusion from the decisionmaking process? Why, the current powerbrokers, of course – elderly, male celibates who cite papal infallibility (another man-made law) to tell the faithful they can’t even discuss admission of women to the priesthood.
What the Catholic Church is doing in discounting 50pc of the population on gender grounds runs contrary to every other sector in Western society. It is applying ancient values to the present day. Incidentally, it is not the only religion which refuses to recognise women as men’s equals – particularly across the Middle East, where Islam is practised, women are denied the same status as men.
The Catholic Church is composed of women and men, yet only men are allowed a meaningful leadership role. I appreciate that large numbers of conscientious women do parish work, which has value within their local communities. But where is space made for the female role in Catholic policy formulation?
Some women who support an exclusively male priesthood appear to have a we-are-not-worthy strain, saying Jesus chose 12 apostles, 2,000 years ago, to demonstrate his blueprint for male leadership (the apostolic succession). At least, small mercies and so on, the women-are-inherently-sinful reason is no longer advanced. There were no women doctors two millennia ago. Would that be accepted as sufficient reason to prevent them from practising today?
It’s important to acknowledge that the Jesuits hosted the ‘Voices of Faith’ conference, where Ms McAleese spoke, in their headquarters opposite the Vatican City; they should be saluted for their openness. There are international organisations lobbying for a female priesthood which number priests, nuns and monks among their membership – the hierarchy’s stance is not necessarily representative.
It was somewhat heartening, too, to hear Archbishop Diarmuid Martin offer support to Ms McAleese in Dublin, when he referenced women’s “alienation” and said her challenge to the internal culture was “brutally stark”. He does his best, but senior churchmen like him are also enablers to the hierarchy because they accept equality is not on the cards.
FUNDAMENTALLY, the Church that preaches about human rights but does nothing to demonstrate equality within its own structures loses moral authority. And on the subject of morality, Ms McAleese said there was a strong onus on Pope Francis to visit Newry in August if he cares about Ireland’s pastoral needs. Some two decades after clerical guidelines for child protection were introduced, a bishop was forced recently to resign because he presided at the funeral of “one of the worst serial physical and sexual sadists in the history of the Church”. That’s her speaking truth to power again, but will power listen?
Senior Church officials care nothing for inclusivity. Francis, for all his charm, is no exception. The Pope is said to be serious about reform. Not so. He could show leadership by advancing the case for women to become deacons, allowed to preach, teach and lead prayers, but he doesn’t want to risk it.
His focus is on avoiding schism, which requires him to keep the hardliners on-side even if women are disrespected and diminished. The Catholic Church is also in dialogue with orthodox breakaways in the hope of welcoming them back into the fold, and augmented female participation would be a deterrent.
Nothing in the ‘Bible’ forbids women from being ordained. Jesus spoke up for women, and they witnessed his death and resurrection. Archaeological evidence suggests they served as priests, deaconesses and even bishops in the early years of ‘Mother Church’ (a misnomer today).
Our own ‘Leabhar Breac’, a medieval manuscript containing St Bridget’s story, refers to her being ordained as a priest. However, protectionist male clerics gradually forced women out.
If you doubt the resistance to sharing power, consider the reaction to Ms McAleese’s criticisms in certain quarters. She knew the rules, why is she complaining? Why try to reinvent the Catholic Church? So say some.
Here’s why: the conference poster read ‘Why Women Matter’ – imagine having to remind people that one half of humanity actually counts. And let’s not overlook the irony of a conference on International Women’s Day where a man, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, had the right to decide which women would and wouldn’t speak.
There’s a Latin saying which translates as ‘Rome has spoken, the matter is finished’. Once, it might have been the case – not any more. Cue that little holiday in my heart, celebrating again.
There were no women doctors 2,000 years ago. Would that be sufficient reason to stop them today?