Catholic women urged to strike over ‘betrayal’ on ordination
Pope Francis and cardinals accused of ignoring calls to give women greater leadership roles.
Catholic Women Strike: Global Witness for Equality was launched this month and is calling on women who are regular churchgoers, who work for the church on a voluntary basis or who have paid jobs with Catholic organisations to withhold their labour through Lent next year (5 March to 20 April). “We believe the time is ripe to demand what is right … Instead of waiting for a papal ‘yes’, we issue forth our ‘no’ to the systems of misogyny, sexism and patriarchy,” says the campaign’s website.
Pope Francis has twice, in 2016 and 2020, commissioned reports to study the history of women deacons. The findings were not publicised, but it is widely acknowledged that women have performed this role. Many believe that, once women are ordained as deacons, it will only be a question of time before they are also ordained as priests.
The issue is urgent because fewer men, in Europe especially, are coming forward for ordination.
For the first time in its history, the Women’s Ordination Conference was mentioned by name on the Vatican website. McElwee said: “That seemed to signal change, and that there was room for more.” But over time, hopes of reform have been dashed by a pope and cardinals who turned out to be unwilling to make it central, she said. “It’s felt like a betrayal … it has been heartbreaking. The final document [of the Synod] was disappointing and insufficient and deeply theological, which may not resonate with people in the parishes. It felt hollow. It has all been extremely frustrating … we want to make visible the huge contribution women make to the church,” she said. “If enough women join us, this will make an enormous difference – and we’re working with many organisations across the world.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...ordination
Pope Francis and cardinals accused of ignoring calls to give women greater leadership roles.
Catholic Women Strike: Global Witness for Equality was launched this month and is calling on women who are regular churchgoers, who work for the church on a voluntary basis or who have paid jobs with Catholic organisations to withhold their labour through Lent next year (5 March to 20 April). “We believe the time is ripe to demand what is right … Instead of waiting for a papal ‘yes’, we issue forth our ‘no’ to the systems of misogyny, sexism and patriarchy,” says the campaign’s website.
Pope Francis has twice, in 2016 and 2020, commissioned reports to study the history of women deacons. The findings were not publicised, but it is widely acknowledged that women have performed this role. Many believe that, once women are ordained as deacons, it will only be a question of time before they are also ordained as priests.
The issue is urgent because fewer men, in Europe especially, are coming forward for ordination.
For the first time in its history, the Women’s Ordination Conference was mentioned by name on the Vatican website. McElwee said: “That seemed to signal change, and that there was room for more.” But over time, hopes of reform have been dashed by a pope and cardinals who turned out to be unwilling to make it central, she said. “It’s felt like a betrayal … it has been heartbreaking. The final document [of the Synod] was disappointing and insufficient and deeply theological, which may not resonate with people in the parishes. It felt hollow. It has all been extremely frustrating … we want to make visible the huge contribution women make to the church,” she said. “If enough women join us, this will make an enormous difference – and we’re working with many organisations across the world.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...ordination
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
