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The feminization of the church
John Allen’s article on the feminization of the church left more questions than answers (NCR, Aug. 17). By feminization, does he mean simply that women are assuming more and more roles and work in the church? If so, that is only because men do not choose to do this work. If he is speaking of women being able to have some power and control in the church, I would say that manifestly that is not true. The church is still run completely by the “old boys’ club.”
I doubt very much if he meant that the values that have always been associated with women such as compassion, kindness, emphasis on relationships, and gentleness are being made dominant in the church. He quotes someone saying that “the target audience of the modern church is middle-aged to elderly women,” because these women have time and money. I find it hard to imagine that the church, which endlessly preaches about abortion and seems more concerned with sexual behavior than about social justice, is talking mostly to a group of old ladies for whom abortion is an impossibility and sometimes sexual activity as well. Allen admits that women have always been predominant in any Christian church congregation. There are good reasons for this. Jesus accepted the marginalized, the neglected, the despised. From the beginning, women have responded to this appeal. Men are welcome too, especially those who emulate Jesus’ virtues: compassion, kindness, gentleness and love.
LUCY FUCHS
Brandon, Fla.
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Am I missing something regarding the feminization of the church? You must be kidding. I am the wife of an ordained deacon in the Los Angeles archdiocese. My husband was ordained 15 years ago. I’m a retired schoolteacher, my husband a retired businessman. We do most of our ministry together. We are both bereavement ministers and spiritual directors. My husband was not allowed to sit with his family following the imposition of hands. Imagine how our daughters, grandchild and our mothers felt when “the deacon” was not allowed to sit with us. He was asked to sit with his brother priests. I am happy to report this custom has changed.
The “stained glass ceiling” will always be there for women. No matter how many degrees a woman has, she will always serve the priest. Even more disturbing is that the average Catholic wants it this way. I wish I had a penny for every time I heard the words, “we want a real priest,” as if the deaconate is not real. Many times I have taken Eucharist to a sick member of our parish and the sick person has related how wonderful it was when Father visited. Or the time my deacon husband and I traveled 2,000 miles to perform a wedding, only to be told by the mother of the groom how wonderful Father So-and-So would have been. I walk the line, wanting my husband to be accepted in his ministry while trying to establish my own way in our fraternal church.
MAUREEN MURPHY CONREY
Duarte, Calif.
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In our diocese of Albany, N.Y., most of the parish life administrators are women. These people come from the bishop, answer to him and the pastor. They have replaced those previous diligent workers in our churches, the dedicated nuns. They may even be more eager than men are to utter the words pastors and bishops like to hear: “Yes, Father.” They have little authority and mostly carry out orders from above. This whole discussion misses those whom we were told were the future of the church as priestly vocations declined and clergy aged: the deacons. The diaconate is increasingly invisible, assigned to simple liturgical tasks and seldom allowed to preach even when they have faculties. The working women in today’s church that Mr. Allen speaks of are admirable and dedicated but may well go the way of the nuns, who are few and far between. We need women priests and a non-celibate clergy for churches to function as they might.
FRANCIS W. RODGERS
Rensselaer, N.Y.
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Statements by columnist John L. Allen Jr. seem frequently to come from a very narrow perspective, that is, from the male, dominant culture and an economically comfortable perspective, thus making many of his assertions too generalist to encompass the complexities of an issue. The afterthought at the end of the article regarding “just wages” is exactly what one does not find in the fields predominately occupied by women, including lay ecclesial ministry. Perhaps that is why we do not find as many men in these fields. If one asserts that men are opting out, or might opt out, of church because the “feel” of church becomes distinctly feminine, how does one explain the reality that women have comprised a greater majority of Catholics throughout history from the foot of the cross until today, even though it has been distinctly masculine in leadership and “feel” for most of our 2,000 years?
As with racism or ageism, we need to be careful that we don’t lay at the feet of the marginalized the responsibility of making those with power and privilege comfortable. Yup, you guessed it: I’m a woman, a lay ecclesial minister, and a feminist to boot. I think I hear the receding pitter-patter of manly feet.
CHRISTIE BILLUPS
Chicago
The article, “Catholics in Congress appeal to bishops to help end the war” (NCR, Aug. 17) may have given readers an incomplete picture. In my letter of response to the House Democrats, I emphasized the desire of the bishops’ conference to work “with the Congress and the administration to forge bipartisan policies on ways to bring about a responsible transition and an end to the war.” I also noted that “our conference expressed the hope that the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group would lead to the candid assessments and honest dialogue that our nation needs to find a responsible way to end U.S. military engagement in Iraq.” Our conference was encouraged when the Iraq Study Group embraced the idea of a “responsible transition” and the building of “a bipartisan approach.”
In the spirit of bipartisanship, I sent a similar letter to the Republican leader of the House the day after writing the Democrats. Our conference is convinced that we must end the “political stalemate among decision-makers in Washington.” This requires genuine dialogue, a search for common ground and effective action across partisan and ideological lines. The goal of a morally “responsible transition” must focus especially on the dire humanitarian situation in Iraq. This difficult task will require the collaboration between members of both parties in the Congress and the executive branch.
(Bishop) THOMAS G. WENSKI
Orlando, Fla.
[Bishop Wenski is chair of the Committee on International Policy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.]
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It is a pity beyond telling when the wisdom of the Catholic moral tradition gets lost and forgotten. Take these words from a pastoral letter from the U.S. bishops written in 1919. Written decades before a Tonkin Bay resolution or false rumors of “mushroom clouds” over our cities seduced a passive citizenry, the bishops spoke of being “led or driven into conflict by false report or specious argument.”
“The growth of democracy implies that people shall have a larger share in determining the form, attributions and policies of the government to which they look for preservation of order. It should also imply that the calm, deliberate judgment of the people, rather than the ambitious few, shall decide whether, in case of international disagreement, war be the only solution. Knowing that the burdens of war will fall most heavily on them, the people will be slower in taking aggressive measures, and, with an adequate sense of what charity and justice require, they will refuse to be led or driven into conflict by false report or specious argument.”
As Fr. John Courtney Murray said, there is no time when citizens should be more informed and active than when their government is killing people in their name.
DANIEL C. MAGUIRE
Milwaukee
I have many fond memories of inspiring and exhilarating Tridentine Masses (NCR, July 20). I also recall the more common experience of the “15-minute” Mass. Post-Vatican II, I have experienced inspiring and exhilarating liturgies of the Mass today, but unfortunately like the days of old, the more common experience is one of mediocre, lukewarm liturgy. Whereas in the Tridentine Mass, the requirement for the congregation was to be in attendance, in the radical renewal of Vatican II, attendance at Mass is a necessary but insufficient requirement for the entire assembly. Vatican II called the assembly to a more demanding requirement, that is, the people of God are expected to knowingly, actively and fruitfully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist. To actualize the expectation articulated by Vatican II requires much work and effort. The council charged its bishops to make it so. If the current celebration of the Eucharist is disappointing and if the liturgy is not of the quality that one should expect for the work of God, ask how much parish or diocesan talent, time and treasure is dedicated to that work. There is a direct correlation between what’s put into liturgy and what comes from liturgy.
JOHN WERNER
Rockville, Md.
Regarding “Reinventing church” (NCR, July 20): Fr. Albert Nolan is said to “see Christianity as alive and relevant, but obscured by old ways of formulating church doctrine.” Christianity may well be alive and relevant in Africa, where Fr. Nolan resides. However, I do not see any evidence of his claim in Western Europe, where secular humanism seems to be the dominant philosophy. Here in the United States, the type of Christianity that appears to be the most alive and most relevant to its followers is fundamentalism.
To make Christianity alive and relevant, the churches need to do more than “reformulate” doctrine. That approach simply will not work. Doctrine must be changed based on today’s worldview. For example, once the story of Adam and Eve is not taken literally, a number of consequences follow. The doctrine of atonement for original sin by Jesus ceases to have meaning. Therefore, a need for an immaculate conception of Mary is unnecessary. This in turn casts doubt on the doctrine of papal infallibility, since the Immaculate Conception is a papal infallible teaching.
An excellent source of information about the subject of changes needed in Christian doctrine is the work of the highly respected scholar and author, retired Episcopalian Bishop John S. Spong, titled Why Christianity Must Change or Die. I recommend that NCR occasionally feature articles by Bishop Spong and other progressive thinkers.
GEORGE J. MATTIS
Falls Church, Va.
Mary Jo McConahay’s article about the increased numbers of illegal immigrants migrating across the U.S. border (NCR, Aug. 17) manifests the increased dangers to Americans’ well-being and property. While the suffering of illegal immigrants who die in their attempts to cross is indeed tragic, the effect of such an unrestrained influx of illegal immigrants on U.S. citizens is equally alarming. Fear of rape by illegal immigrants, MS-13 gangs now here in the United States, areas such as Brooks County suffering deficits to bury the dead indigents -- money that could be spent on poor citizens of that county -- properties of American citizens being trashed by illegal immigrants, and general dismay at the huge number of illegal immigrants are reasons that such groups as the Texas Border Volunteers have formed.
Where is the voice of Mexican bishops challenging their government to increase job opportunities for the poor? It is easy for U.S. bishops whose institutions are tax-exempt to admonish Americans to pay the taxes that support the $20,000 per year per illegal in health care, prison incarceration, education, and so on. Ten to 20 million illegal immigrants is a number too great for taxpayers to absorb.
PAULA STONE
Henderson, Nev.
I wish Fr. Horace McKenna was alive to flex his muscles (NCR, July 6) as his Jesuit community in Washington benefits again while poor neighbors lose their housing. Thirty years ago, hundreds of the poor who lived on the south side of St. Aloysius church and Gonzaga High School were uprooted when their homes and streets were destroyed as Gonzaga’s football field and parking lots were established. In 2007, disruption of poor families continues. Five hundred twenty families will have their homes destroyed on the north side of Gonzaga as they are forced to move for an urban renewal plan. These were the people who were relocated in the past. The Jesuits will again benefit. The profits will come as they sell back to the city for $5.7 million the corner property on North Capital and K Street NW, which they bought from the city for $1 million in 2000. I know what Fr. McKenna would say to his Jesuit brothers. I wonder where they’d send him packing this time.
KATHY BOYLAN
Washington
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National Catholic Reporter, September 7, 2007