I was reading the Washington Post this morning, and this article caught my eye: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/15/AR2010071501453.html. It discusses the new policy issued by the Vatican relating to priests accused of child abuse or molestation. The new rules put priests who use child pornography and those who abuse the mentally ill in the same category of pedophiles. Good! However, the new regulations also state that any attempt to ordain women is a grave crime which is the same word to describe sex abuse. So, the Vatican basically equated ordaining women with molesting children. Also, the Vatican failed to accept a zero-tolerance policy for priests accused of sex abuse meaning that priests will not be forced out of ministry after one case of abuse.
The article quotes Erin Saiz Hanna of the Women's Ordination Conference saying this in response: "The Vatican's decision to list women's ordination in the same category as pedophiles and rapists is appalling, offensive, and a wake-up call for all Catholics around the world.. The idea that a woman seeking to spread the message of God somehow 'defiles' the Eucharist reveals an antiquated, backwards Church that still views women as 'unclean' and unholy."
About a month ago, I read an opinion piece in the New York Times about a nun who was excommunicated in Arizona (possibly New Mexico). She sat on the ethics board of a Catholic hospital. Under her direction, the board approved an abortion for a woman who would have died if she carried the baby to term due to a heart condition. The bishop of Arizona excommunicated the nun saying that the life of the baby is more important that the life of the mother. WTF!!! The woman who wrote the opinion piece said that the case points out how out of touch the leaders of the Catholic Church are with the their followers. Personally, I think that both of these issues point out that the patriarchy is alive and well (especially since neither of issues were national news). Why is it o.k. that a nun can be excommunicated for approving an abortion to save a woman's life, but very few of the priests are excommunicated for molesting children??? (In fact, most of them are just transferred to a new parish and allowed to continue preaching) Why is a woman preaching in the church the same crime as a priest molesting a child??
I am a practicing Christian, and I believe that God created men and women equal. (The patriarchy however thwarted this plan.) The Catholic Church (and a ton of other Christians) argues that women should not be allowed to preach because Paul said that women should not be allowed to speak in a church. Personally, I believe that the Bible was written by men and reflects the social norms of the day. Jesus was killed because he claimed to be the son of God. He tried to advocate for women's rights, and if he had said women are totally equal, he would have been killed a hell of lot faster. (In my opinion) The status of women aside, what's more important? Should the Catholic Church be worried about women becoming ordained or its priests molesting children? Clearly, It needs to get its priorities straight and start protecting children.
Lots of Love,
Lady Lola
I find this utterly sickening. The Vatican has attempted to justify the new document by saying that pedophilia is classified as a "crime against morality" while ordaining women is a "crime against the sacrament". Sorry, people, but putting the two together and using the same language ("grave crime") to describe them is simply unacceptable, no matter what semantic distinctions you may make. It belittles the suffering of molested individuals and implies that women are not only less worthy than men (I think we already knew that was the church line as far as ordination goes), but unclean and immoral. Here's an article about the Church's response: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E2C620100716
ReplyDelete