Dissertation on Women in the Catholic Church
The media continually changes the way that people think about important issues. Mass media reaches us in the car, in our homes, on our computers and in most other areas within our lives. Without the gift of media we would not know what was going on in the world around us. Newspapers accompany people at the breakfast table, the internet is often the first thing people turn on in the morning, and television is frequently what people watch as they fall asleep. On political issues media is generally what informs us about important topics and how they present these issues can greatly affect the way that we feel about those matters. The "gatekeepers" or editors of TV stations, newspapers and magazines play the role of God as they decide what will be reported on and how that news will be broadcasted.
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As important information arises the media is constantly changing and with that change, attitudes change. Within the past few years there have been numerous "hot topics" discussed daily by Americans, some of these events include; environmental issues, the war on Iraq, global warming, the downfall of the economy, and so on. One issue that has been debated over the years and continues to come up in the news is the decision of whether or not women should be considered to be ordained into the priesthood in the Catholic Church. Over the years various events surrounding the Catholic Church on the basis of women in the priesthood have been addressed, and questions as to what roles women should play in the church have been asked. To date there has been no definite decisions made and undoubtedly there are two major points of view; those who believe women should be ordained and those who believe they should not.
Women in great numbers have expressed that they feel their role is to be the supporter of others and the backbone to their husbands within the church. It has been said that when women do feel called to leadership roles and the priesthood often their husbands, clergy and even women friends may think they are foolish, acting out of the traditional roles of the church. Through examining the ideals of a few feminist groups as well as the Catholic Church and members of it we shall see the difficult strain that this issue has put on everyone involved for years. Should women be allowed to enter the priesthood? The answer to this question is different for each individual; however, how you chose to answer it can affect many other areas of decision making. If one says, "no women should not take on these roles," that would lead to believe that all men are not one in the sight of God, as God has said. However on the other hand if the answer is, "yes women should be equal and take on roles in the priesthood," other questions arise within the value of tradition, and also the many scriptures that can be found to back up ideas that wives are to serve their husbands and be the home makers, not home builders. It is an interesting debate that has affected the way that women view their lives for centuries, can women join the priesthood?
The mere consideration of accepting women into the priesthood has caused many people to feel confused about their own role in the church. Many members of the Church of England have even considered leaving the church after the decision was made to consider women for ordination. Some members said that they would split and create their own church and others said that they may go to other branches of the church which are upholding what they believe to be the true tradition of the Catholic Church, an all male priesthood (Steinfel). Many members of the church have voiced that they are appalled by the notion of women in leadership roles however there are also plenty of people inside and outside the Church that believe women and men should be treated completely equal in their roles within the church. They have stated that by denying women this opportunity to join the priesthood they are denying women of their human rights. One woman has even sued the Church for "refusal to consider women for the priesthood" stating that it "violates her right to free expression and religion (United)." Her suit requires that the church's tax-exempt status be withdrawn and not reissued until the church agrees to ordain women (United). She feels that until the church is hit hard in the pocketbook that there will be no change. This tactic has gotten attention, but many ask if change will really occur. It is apparent that she means business, however many people feel this approach is unethical under the laws of their religion. This contradiction makes it a very touchy problem with the power to upset a great number of people rather effortlessly.
An example of a group that believes women should at least be considered for the opportunity of join the priesthood is The Catholic Theological Society of America. This group has voted 216 to 22 (with 10 abstentions) in favor of a resolution urging to continue discussing the possibility of ordaining women in the priesthood (Steinfels). This is a very controversial vote because although the Pope has never vetoed the ordination of female priests, which would close the entire discussion, the Congregation has stated that women should not be ordained based on scripture, Catholic tradition, and century old education (Steinfels). By this group believing that women should be considered for ordination it will certainly spread and make other members question what they believe and quite possible vote for the side of the women.
However, due to the firm and steadfast opinions against women based on tradition it can be hard for women to speak up when they feel they have been called to the priesthood. Frances O'Connor uses a very powerful analogy in her book The Female Face in Patriarchy: Oppression as Culture, she says that the patriarchal society that women in the Catholic Church are forced to endure is like carbon monoxide poisoning. Often women do not know that they are being poisoned by this male dominated society yet it seeps into their lungs and takes over them as does carbon monoxide. O'Connor continues to discuss many ideals that the Catholic Church has conditioned women to believe, such as; "to relate to a male God only, trust in an external superior male authority, believe that only males have been called to the alter, believe decision making should be done by men only and believe that the term "men" is the norm and thus that the term men includes women also."
O'Connor goes on to discuss messages that women have absorbed throughout the years. These messages include; the thinking that women belong in the home, volunteering in the church is a privilege, the more humble women are the holier they are and that a woman's role is to be secondary and supportive. All of these ideals plague women each day as they attempt to be "good" women and wives while still accomplishing their own goals. This patriarchal conditioning has so debilitated women that they continually look to clergy for approval. In this self-doubting state women are constantly trying to make everyone happy while worrying about what others are thinking of them.
James Kenneally brings up an interesting conversation about how women are forced to live in a world where they often feel they cannot complete their purpose in his book; American Catholic Women: A Historical Exploration. Kenneally discusses the protest of 1870 when the first national women's antisuffrage society was formed. When this occurred people were appalled saying that it would bring nothing but the downfall of families and increased divorce. At this time, as early as the eighteenth century, young women were taught that the ideal women was pure, pious, submissive, and domestic and should be confined to her own sphere of activity, a standard quite in keeping with the church. Women were told that they should keep with these virtues to become perfect in the eyes of God and their husbands. It is in these beginnings that women today are still basing many of their roles within the church. Some of these ideas are not completely overdrawn; women can be pure and domestic without losing who they are in the seeking of these attributes. It is only a problem when women feel that they are nothing unless they can be everything that history has described women to be. For example the women who feel they should not be aloud to work because they are to take care of the house and the children. These women can often feel dissatisfied even if their homes are pleasant and their family is well taken care of because they are denying themselves the right to go out and accomplish their own personal goals. This is not to say that taking care of children and a home are not amazing accomplishments, but for the women who feel they only meant for that it is unfortunate when they feel called to other jobs that they feel they are not deserving of. In this instance the church can be a hiding place for many women; they may use it to feel as though they are being the perfect member of the church even if they are not fulfilling their other goals.
The church has continually ignored advances from feminist groups that attempt to get a rise out of the church by the use of strong accusations and extreme demands. Under the current Pope it seems apparent that there will not be a vote to consider women for ordination as those groups would request. He has said, "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitely held by all the Church's faithful (Francisco)." It seems that the church has evaded this issue continuously in an attempt to keep the members of the church happy and possibly ignore the fact that there is an increasing amount of women who feel that their gifts are being stifled under the strict patriarchal society that has been in place for centuries. Although there are different views that can be taken within the church it is apparent that change is always hard, especially when it comes to a tradition that has been in place for centuries and is founded on what people have structured their lives on, their religion.
This is an issue that can be viewed differently by varied groups. The media has given us the means to develop our own belief surrounding this matter; however it still hinders us because we are never given an unbiased viewpoint. To truly understand this issue and be able to take a stance on it we much look beyond what is presented at face value and seek to find the truth. Whether women are allowed equal rights in the church or not shall come into view in the future, and the media stories surrounding this with continue to unfold as new decisions are made and opinions are realized.
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