Video
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Empowering Women, the Catholic Experience
Being a male cleric in a male-dominated church, I decided to ask my colleague, Dolores Leckey, also a Senior Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center, what she thought. Her response follows:
Does religion empower women? The short answer is: some religions do, sometimes. A brief elaboration is in order.My main focus is on Catholicism where 'I live and move and have my being,' which is often regarded as misogynist, and not without reason. However, history brings a bit of balance to the discussion.
Does religion empower women? The short answer is: some religions do, sometimes. A brief elaboration is in order.My main focus is on Catholicism where 'I live and move and have my being,' which is often regarded as misogynist, and not without reason. However, history brings a bit of balance to the discussion.
During the late Middle Ages, Catholic convents were often sites of "empowerment " for women--Hilda of Whitby and Sor Juana of Mexico come to mind--women of remarkable intellectual and creative gifts. The convent/monastery provided the environment for their personal flourishing, and for the development of leadership skills in their communities. Catholic women today are grateful for these pioneers in the ways of mind and spirit.
What else? The feminist scholar Gerda Lerner (Emerita, University of Wisconsin) posits that the roots of modern feminism can be found in the experience of authentically religious women who understood that true power came from their inner authority, their own agency. She links this to the growth of mytic consciousness which the Catholic Church (perhaps unintentionally) has fostered through the ages.
Today there is a tendency to separate spirituality from religion. Personally, I think that is futile. While religion has often distorted the inner journey of women and has tried to rein in the liberty granted by the Spirit, it has also been the conduit whereby women of all generations have learned from the past. They have learned that the gifts of the Spirit are available to all, regardless of gender. And they have learned this experientially, in the depths of their being. Women's religious history is a means of empowerment.
Lest this look like a brief for Catholicism let me mention the Society of Friends--the Quakers. From the beginning the Friends have valued women's experience of the Inner Light and some Quaker women suffered martyrdom at the hands of Puritans for daring to speak publicly about their beliefs and knowledge. A "pilgrimage" to Boston Commons is instructive. There one can see statues of these brave women who spoke their truth. The statues are a reminder that some religions empower women, and some do not.By Thomas J. Reese, S.J. | October 20, 2008; 4:16 AM ET Save & Share:
Previous: Don't Panic, But Do Mind Your Own Business! | Next: Pack the Bags and Fold the Tent of Fear
Posted by: sojajohnthaikattil | October 29, 2008 4:38 AM
Report Offensive CommentAbortion, which is about taking the life of an innocent, defenseless child growing in its mother's womb, is an evil way to "tweak" female biology in order to gain sexual equality with men, to attain the so called "reproductive freedom."
Posted by: ProLifeActivistBorn59 | October 29, 2008 2:34 AM
Report Offensive CommentAbortion-as-a right is not about empowering women. It is about turning the clock of evolution backwards, to the barbaric days when human life had little value and might was right.
Posted by: ProLifeActivistBorn59 | October 28, 2008 10:13 PM
Report Offensive CommentSPARROW4:
I do not belong to any political party.
Read the essays posted on the websites I listed and try to make more informed comments about the pro-life stance.
Posted by: ProLifeActivistBorn59 | October 28, 2008 10:10 PM
Report Offensive CommentAhh, and Sparrow4's empowerment comes from where??? The mythical Eve or the historic Eve?? Or maybe from her Mom and Dad???
Posted by: CCNL | October 28, 2008 4:18 PM
Report Offensive CommentProLifeActivistBorn59:
Ooooohh, i just can't wait to have the McCain/Palin pro-life in your bedroom, in your medical records, lets send all the young people to die in wars, and kill all the Jews to bring on the End Times administration. Of course I can watch all this unfold as I lay in my non-insured hospital bed hoping the doctors will decide to give me my life sustaining but uninsured prescription which I can't afford because my job went overseas.the pro-life movement has a good premise, but its run by self-serving, busybody morons who have nothing better to do in life than advocate the creation of a gyno-police state. why don't you people go have babies of your own and let the rest of us alone?
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 28, 2008 11:07 AM
Report Offensive CommentCanadian Physicians for Life
... affirming the Hippocratic tradition in medicine of "Do No Harm"
Statement of Principle
1. Reverence for every human life, regardless of age or infirmity, lies at the root of all medical tradition and is basic to accepted standards of human conduct and our tradition of justice.
2. The long and honourable ethical tradition of medical sciences through the ages has been expressed and protected by the oath of Hippocrates. This tradition, rephrased in modern terms in the Declaration of Geneva (1948) must be our guide. The Declaration of Geneva says, in part: "I will maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of conception; even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity." We reaffirm this Declaration.
3. The International Medical Declaration (Lejeune, 1973) addresses itself more specifically to the abuse of abortion, eugenics and euthanasia. Conscious that human life begins at conception, we hold that to directly cause the death of a human being, at any stage in life, because of physical or mental disabilities, or for social, economic, ecological or eugenic reasons, is a gross injustice to the person, degrading to humanity, and contradictory to the role of the physician.
4. A physician must recognize that there are two patients in every pregnancy and that he/she bears the medical responsibility for the lives of both the mother and her unborn child.
5. It must be the goal of medical science and its practitioners to preserve and protect human life, to relieve suffering and to promote healing
Posted by: ProLifeActivistBorn59 | October 28, 2008 12:17 AM
Report Offensive CommentInformation from Physicians for Life:
Posted by: ProLifeActivistBorn59 | October 28, 2008 12:13 AM
Report Offensive CommentConcern about Obama's stand on abortion stem from the following:
1. His unconditional support for abortion rights and the goals of Planned Parenthood, the abortion provider,
2. His announcement to enact Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) as his first duty as president, which overturns all state measures put in place to reduce abortions,
3. The impending appointment of pro-abortion judges to the Supreme Court during his term as president,
4. His claim that abortion is not an issue that should be open for public referendum.
Abortion statistics from European countries have shown that social benefits alone does not reduce the number of abortions. The legal restrictions play an important role. Ninety eight percent of abortions in the US is done for convenience by women who can afford the children. Eight eight percent of abortions are chosen by women who are UNmarried, the vast majority of them below the age of 24. While social benefits are important, social benefits alone will not make such a great impact when abortion is treated as a right and freely available without restrictions.
For abortion statistics around the world:
Abortion statistics and other data
by William. Robert Johnston
last updated 26 October 2008http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/index.html
Compare the statistics with abortion laws and social benefits available in each country
Information on Princeton Pro-Life:
Posted by: ProLifeActivistBorn59 | October 27, 2008 11:58 PM
Report Offensive CommentConsidering the status of RCC priests these days, women should consider themselves quite fortunate.
Posted by: CCNL | October 27, 2008 2:53 PM
Report Offensive CommentHow can any church that refuses to ordain women precisely BECAUSE they are women, claim to empower women?
Posted by: lepidopteryx | October 27, 2008 1:08 PM
Report Offensive CommentAhh, and Sparrow4's empowerment still comes from where??? The mythical Eve or the historic Eve??
Posted by: CCNL | October 27, 2008 1:01 AM
Report Offensive Commentf
Posted by: observer12 | October 26, 2008 7:47 PM
Report Offensive CommentAs long as you're strolling down memory lane, CC,
here's a passage from July, 10, 1933 Concordat.There are tons of concordats of course, since they continue up until the present. This one, however, clearly shows the input of your relatives.
More names to follow, more texts, etc., lest you should imagine that we do not read your bigoted junk.
_____
___________________________________
Article 16Before bishops take possession of their dioceses they are to take an oath of loyalty either to the Reich governor of the state (Land) concerned or to the President of the Reich respectively, according to the following formula:
"Before God and on the Holy Gospels I swear and promise, as becomes a bishop, loyalty to the German Reich and to the State (Land) of . . . I swear and promise to honour the legally constituted government and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honour it. With dutiful concern for the welfare and the interests of the German state, in the performance of the ecclesiastical office entrusted to me, I will endeavor to prevent everything injurious which might threaten it."
Posted by: observer12 | October 26, 2008 7:47 PM
Report Offensive CommentStill posting from mom's basement, ccnl? Spidey is kicking up on the election/judgment day blog. Perhaps the two of you could have a conversation. we could all use a good laugh.
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 26, 2008 11:39 AM
Report Offensive CommentAs with Jesus, my visit to Hell was brief.
And once again about the topic:
Empowerment in various places of worship!!!
We go into the Muslim mosque and find a call to violence and oppression to women. We go into the Jewish synagogue and find myths and more calls to violence via the trumpets of Jericho. We go into the Catholic/Christian church and find blood and bodies and pretty, wingie thingies but no Virgin Mary. We go into Hindu temples and find cows and the lower class cleaning up the dung. We go into a Buddhist temple and find tributes to an obese male figurine. We go to Pagan rituals and find the paranormal there spouting amoral voodoo and hoodoo coated in a cloak of nature and moonshine.
Posted by: CCNL | October 26, 2008 11:03 AM
Report Offensive Comment"The feminist scholar Gerda Lerner (Emerita, University of Wisconsin) posits that the roots of modern feminism can be found in the experience of authentically religious women who understood that true power came from their inner authority, their own agency."
I really have to disagree with this because there are several aspects this view ignores. feminism is not just personal empowerment. It is organizational empowerment. it is only when women realized without equality in social, community or religious organization, that true feminism was born. It's wonderful to be able to discover who you are and how far you can go in a personal milieu, but unless you can use that personal enlightenment with the same freedom as a man, it's like being the smartest person in a padded room. No matter how fulfilling women may have found in life in a nunnery, the fact that they were not willing to advocate for equality within the Church or for women in general society, still rendered them powerless and non-feminist.
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 26, 2008 10:32 AM
Report Offensive CommentCCNL opines:
And we go into Hell and find the following permanent residents:
Caggiano
Dragonovic
Bishop Hudal
Adolf Eichmann
Franz Stangl
Gustav Wagner
Erich Priebke
Klaus Barbie
Edward Roschmann
Aribert Heim
Andrija Artuković
Ante Pavelić
Walter Rauff
Alois Brunner
Josef MengeleWell, these are your christian (catholic) confreres, among millions of others with similar creds. I thought you lived with their remains in a cave, but no, you say you live with them in hell.
Hell, is it? With ugly wingy burning things? Okay by me. Believe what you'd like, deluded Cucumber.
Posted by: Farnaz2 | October 25, 2008 3:01 PM
Report Offensive CommentAs with Jesus, my visit to Hell was brief.
And once again about the topic:
Empowerment in various places of worship!!!
We go into the Muslim mosque and find a call to violence and oppression to women. We go into the Jewish synagogue and find myths and more calls to violence via the trumpets of Jericho. We go into the Catholic/Christian church and find blood and bodies and pretty, wingie thingies but no Virgin Mary. We go into Hindu temples and find cows and the lower class cleaning up the dung. We go into a Buddhist temple and find tributes to an obese male figurine. We go to Pagan rituals and find the paranormal there spouting amoral voodoo and hoodoo coated in a cloak of nature and moonshine.
Posted by: CCNL | October 25, 2008 2:59 PM
Report Offensive CommentCCNL opines:
And we go into Hell and find the following permanent residents:
Caggiano
Dragonovic
Bishop Hudal
Adolf Eichmann
Franz Stangl
Gustav Wagner
Erich Priebke
Klaus Barbie
Edward Roschmann
Aribert Heim
Andrija Artuković
Ante Pavelić
Walter Rauff
Alois Brunner
Josef MengeleWell, these are your christian (catholic) confreres, among millions of others with similar creds. I thought you lived with their remains in a cave, but no, you say you live with them in hell.
Hell, is it? With ugly wingy burning things? Okay by me. Believe what you'd like, deluded Cucumber.
Posted by: Farnaz2 | October 25, 2008 2:31 PM
Report Offensive Commentwrong again, ccnl. I'm hardly the most religious person around. Probably more agnostic than not. But your immature, and useless rants do nothing to make your point (did you have one?) or convince anyone of the validity of what you're saying (in fact, what are you saying?).
there are plenty of legitimate reasons to be angry with religion, and plenty of reasons to respect them. but until you can pen a rational, intelligent argument for your point of view, instead of a shrieking mass of childish insults, no one will take you seriously. Think you could do that?
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 25, 2008 12:55 PM
Report Offensive CommentHmmm, Sparrow4 ,as many of us have, apparently suffers from the Three B Syndrome, he/she was Bred, Born and Brainwashed in some form of religion, probably mythical Judaism which does have strong pagan roots.
He/she might want to revisit some of the previously mentioned empowerment houses of worship for added enlightening.
Posted by: CCNL | October 25, 2008 12:01 PM
Report Offensive CommentYou didn't grow up, ccnl. I just had a flash of you strutting around your mother's basement in green tights and singing, "I won't grow Up! I don't wanna be a man," as la the much more delightful Peter Pan. Congrats! You haven't and you won't!
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 25, 2008 10:40 AM
Report Offensive CommentOops, forgot about two visits:
Empowerment in various places of worship!!!
We go into the Muslim mosque and find a call to violence and oppression to women. We go into the Jewish synagogue and find myths and more calls to violence via the trumpets of Jericho. We go into the Catholic/Christian church and find blood and bodies and pretty, wingie thingies but no Virgin Mary. We go into Hindu temples and find cows and the lower class cleaning up the dung. We go into a Buddhist temple and find tributes to an obese male figurine. We go to Pagan rituals and find the paranormal there spouting amoral voodoo and hoodoo coated in a cloak of nature and moonshine.
And we go into Hell and find the following permanent residents:Caggiano
Dragonovic
Bishop Hudal
Adolf Eichmann
Franz Stangl
Gustav Wagner
Erich Priebke
Klaus Barbie
Edward Roschmann
Aribert Heim
Andrija Artuković
Ante Pavelić
Walter Rauff
Alois Brunner
Josef Mengele
Posted by: CCNL | October 25, 2008 8:22 AM
Report Offensive CommentConfusedCucumberNoticeablyLimp
And, if you go into CCNL's cave you find the remains of his ancestors. Just to name a few:
Caggiano
Dragonovic
Bishop Hudal
Adolf Eichmann
Franz Stangl
Gustav Wagner
Erich Priebke
Klaus Barbie
Edward Roschmann
Aribert Heim
Andrija Artuković
Ante Pavelić
Walter Rauff
Alois Brunner
Josef MengelePosted by: Farnaz2 | October 25, 2008 1:48 AM
Report Offensive CommentOh honestly, CCNL- you don't go into any of those places so you can't say anything about them. Your sole purpose here is to get a rise out of people, not to have a discussion. Can't you grow up?
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 25, 2008 1:23 AM
Report Offensive CommentEmpowerment in various places of worship!!!
We go into the Muslim mosque and find a call to violence and oppression to women. We go into the Jewish synagogue and find myths and more calls to violence via the trumpets of Jericho. We go into the Catholic/Christian church and find blood and bodies and pretty, wingie thingies but no Virgin Mary. We go into Hindu temples and find cows and the lower class cleaning up the dung. We go into a Buddhist temple and find tributes to an obese male figurine.
Posted by: CCNL | October 25, 2008 12:25 AM
Report Offensive CommentI've always thought that Judaism - meaning hereconservative and reform Judaism- seemed to have both men and women equally involved. The make up of temples is less organizationally structured- for instance to have services you need a minyan, and they come from the congregation. There is no highly structured organization of cardinals and bishops and priests. We have women rabbis and cantors, women in the highest positions and I think that makes a difference as the congregation must be more actively involved in services.
But although ultra-orthodox men seem more actively involved, and here I am kind of comparing to Mary's post, which I found to be quite lovely, the situation is perhaps more of a reversal of the men being more active than the women. Judaism is very patriarchal, and although there are many strong examples of Jewish women we can admire, none have the importance in Judaism as Mary and Mary Magdalene have in Christianity.
The role of ultra-orthodox women is profound, but it is still a secondary place to men who spend as much time as possible studying the torah. I venture to say that ultra-orthodox life really revolves around giving the men the time to do this so the women are the ones who run every other aspect of life and home.
I agree with Mary (I know- shock!). It can be fulfilling and richly rewarding, but not necessarily empowering.
Posted by: sparrow4 | October 24, 2008 10:24 AM
Report Offensive CommentIn follow up to Mary Cunningham,
I think there are always more women in church than men, not just the Catholic Church, but any church. And even more, there are more "old ladies" than any other group in attendance at church services of all kinds. It has always been that way as long as I can remember, and all the old ladies of the many Christian sects seem sort of interchangealbe. I mentioned this on another thread, and think that it was taken as a criticism, but I only meant it as an observations. It seems that all the political aspects of church organization are controlled by men, but women are the ones who believe.
Posted by: DanielintheLionsDen | October 23, 2008 2:16 PM
Report Offensive CommentActs 17:28: For in him we live and move and have our being.
The women of my family in Ireland were devout, the men much less so. Oh, there were always one or two priests (to the joy of their mothers—how times have changed!) but the men who remained were good Catholics but not particularly devout. That was for the women.
One of my earliest, most bittersweet memories is of sitting in the warm kitchen of my grandmother’s cottage with my gran, mother and the aunts. My dying grandfather was in the next room and the priest was there with him, giving him the last rites, and we women were sitting, praying the rosary together.
Is that empowering? Was that empowered? Was God with us, in that room? Did our prayers for the intercession of the Virgin help? The Catholicism of our women was as natural to us as breathing and when given half a chance we achieved as many kudos and riches as the next, but going back to the question about ‘empowerment’, I guess you could say ‘yes but’. How is breathing and living ‘empowering’? It is natural, it is necessary, but does that mean particularly empowering? So too for me is Catholicism: necessary for survival. Part of me, where like Ms. Leckey I live and move and have my being. Not necessarily empowering though.
Still I liked this piece, Fr. Hopefully there won’t be too much nastiness following it.
Posted by: Mary_Cunningham | October 22, 2008 4:35 AM
Report Offensive CommentWell it is obvious from the Worst Book Ever Written aka the koran, that Islam does not empower women, nor did "Prude St. Paul!!!!
Posted by: CCNL | October 21, 2008 5:55 PM
Report Offensive CommentWell it is obvious from the Worst Book Ever Written aka the koran, the Islam does not empower women, nor did "Prude St. Paul!!!!
Posted by: CCNL | October 21, 2008 5:55 PM
Report Offensive CommentSee Susan Shaw's new book God Speaks to us Too
Posted by: AlabamaInformed | October 21, 2008 5:43 PM
Report Offensive CommentFather Reese,
I applaud your efforts here, and I'd like to apologize in advance for the "fresh hell" you're about to suffer from the legions of Catholic-haters on these boards.
You forgot to mention the role of the Virgin Mary in Western spirituality. It is instructive that the greatest of intercessors, the one person who truly understands Christ in Scripture, is a woman.
I like to joke with my students that Mary is the greatest intercessor because even God is going to listen to his mom... :)
Posted by: Robert_B1 | October 21, 2008 5:14 PM
Report Offensive CommentThe comments to this entry are closed.
Inviting anyone who might be concerned to speak out on behalf of suffering Christians in India:
http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=node/2365