The Irony of Progress

At the first Roman Catholic Women Priests ordinations on the St. Lawrence River in Gananoque, Quebec, I was so happy. But when the big moment came, all the news photographers there stood up and got their pictures, totally blocking my view. I thought of the irony of it all – I had been working for years to get publicity for our issue, and now I was resenting the very instruments of that publicity.

Pope Francis’s talk at the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) reminds me of that day. I am certainly not pleased with the content of his remarks, but I am so happy for the attention to them. Everywhere but Commonweal (so far) and the Philadelphia Inquirer, it seems, has become involved in the deacon issue, some very substantively. I will write about things I have learned from the discussion.

First, the concept of sacramentality. I am not a theologian and perhaps in college I paid less attention to this aspect of theology than I did to the social justice classes. In La Croix International, Arnaud Join-Lambert explains that sacraments are supposed to be “delivered by ordained ministers.” He says, “Tens of thousands of women exercise diaconal ministries without being ordained for them.”

As Cardinal Koch wrote in 1997, this raises a fundamental theological issue. In the Catholic Church, the structure of which is sacramental, it is problematic for people to carry out orderly ministries without having received the sacrament of the corresponding order.

That seems perfectly simple. Christine Schenk, SSJ, complicates it with the history of the female diaconate to the 12^th century, when the theology that the Pope is using to wonder about the moment of “revelation” was actually developed. The whole column is brilliant, and if you need to know about the historical evidence, it’s all here.

Second, the power of patriarchy. See Chris Schenk, above, and of course, Jamie Manson. “Like popes before him, Francis believes strongly that women are not entitled to sacramental power or authority and that it is God’s intended purpose that men and women have different roles in the church.” Manson goes on to provide example after example of the Pope’s openness to everyone from Muslims to Eastern Orthodox, “But what about the 850 sisters who stood before him in Rome asking for most basic steps of restoring women to some semblance of equality with men?” I had not thought about these various initiatives in the context of the denial of openness, especially Francis’s shocking suggestion to go elsewhere. Did he really mean that these most faithful women, these sisters, should do that? I am sure he cannot imagine that; he was not really talking about them, but did he lose touch with the fact that he was talking to them?

Third, the international protest. While the Association of United States Catholic Priests (AUSCP) has long had a position in favor of ordaining women deacons, there’s nothing current from them on the web site or in the press. In contrast, I have heard about the Irish priests’ group’s suggesting that the Pope is “kicking the can down a timeless road” from any number of secular news outlets there. Ireland is still a Catholic country, providing us with a memorable image.

Germany, too. Would you believe that The Economist presents the strike of Catholic women as if the women wrote it themselves? I thought we were pretty good with all our witnesses; they have been mobilizing women for months to go out on strike for this whole week to demand more gender balance in lay appointments – and more women in ordained ministry.

As Thomas Bremer, a professor of ecumenical theology at Münster University puts it: “[The protests are] an indication of the common mood in the mainstream Catholic church in Germany and the bishops will have to relate to it somehow….[given that] the people who took part in these actions, or sympathised, are also the ones who are most active in the church and keep its structures alive.”  

I am in awe of these women. Could we mobilize our parish volunteers and employees in significant numbers in the United States? Withholding labor is an economic issue, and it would have a profound effect on the church.

Finally, The Tablet, a Catholic paper in England began its lengthy examination of the deacon issue with Theresa Kane, RSM, in 1979. That made me feel better about US efforts.

Fourth, strategies to go forward. Luis Gutiérrez posted his suggestion of reforming theology in the comments on last week’s blog. Deborah Rose-Milavec of FutureChurch lays it all out politically:

Pope Francis needs to set up structures whereby he can immerse himself in the experience of women in this Church. He must have more thoughtful, engaged contact with women leaders than the occasional visit to an assembly. Meeting with a group as powerful as the UISG is extremely useful, but, even more than that, women must become part of the core groups that advise him, especially the group of Cardinals that meets regularly. Women must become full voting members at synods. Women must be equally represented in curial offices, diocesan offices, and parish offices. Wherever men are found, women should be standing next to them as equal partners.

This is it. I am sorry to quote so much, but this is what I have always said about this Pope. Once he had opened his heart to the Chilean survivors of sex abuse, he changed. He needs to hear from women over and over again. He needs to learn to respect us, our theology, our leadership. Echoing Margaret Mead, Deb is hopeful:

One prophetic voice can change everything in this Church. In fact, it is the only way change has ever occurred. God is always way ahead of Her people, even ahead of Her popes. She speaks to us, sometimes in whispers, but often in the unflinching questions of Her prophets.

Don’t look at all the awful headlines; don’t see Crux or America or even this blog last week. Instead, look at the Catholic News Agency from Germany, which focuses on Bishop Bode who heads the bishops’ commission on women and supports the strike. 

I have recovered from the initial shock of the Pope’s comments. I want to be hopeful, to believe in the Spirit, to know that, while many questions remain to be debated, as long as there is ordination in this church, women will be there, maybe deacons first, but not only.