Women and the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, unlike other mainstream Christian Churches, retains a solely male clergy and hierarchy. The rationale rests on tradition, the choice by Jesus of 12 men to join him as Apostles and the belief that a priest is ‘an icon of Christ’ when he celebrates the eucharist and that concept would be undermined if a woman presided. While many accept these arguments, there are many people within the Church and outside it who think these arguments are weak, reflecting chauvinistic attitudes and they point to Jesus’ radical approach to women which is obvious in the gospels. Furthermore, there is clear evidence of female deacons being active ministers in the Early Christian Church.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century after entering the enclosed order of Poor Clares and discerning that this was not her true calling, Mary Ward felt called by God to ‘take the same of the Society’. This would have meant establishing a community based on the Jesuit rule of life which was not enclosed but apostolic; the members of the Society lived in community but went out into ‘the world’ to live their vocation. She encountered much opposition from male clergy and the hierarchy, though she had some support from some priests. She was, however, always completely obedient to the hierarchy and when her community was suppressed she obediently shut down her schools. She remained convinced, though, that, ‘women in time to come will do much’ for the Church as, ‘there is no such difference between men and women...’ She educated girls because she believed that they had much to offer the Church, particularly in that time of persecution.

There are many women in the Church today, as well as many men both clerical and lay, who think it is time the Church included women in decision making and ministry. Pope Francis has made some significant moves to engage in dialogue about this issue. He created a commission, including men and women, to study the possibility of ordaining female deacons. He also appointed two women as undersecretaries of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. In a recent book he expressed concern about chauvinistic attitudes to women in some societies.

There are many influential women in the Church who think these moves, though very welcome, are a drop in the ocean and they call for the Pope to include women in his advisory council and to be part of the consultation process when bishops are being appointed. Some women, very much in the spirit of Mary Ward, are educating themselves in Canon Law to enable them to take a more informed, expert and active role to influence change while remaining within the Church. One such woman is Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland who is a canon law expert. Like Mary Ward she experiences opposition from some of the hierarchy. Recently when speaking about these issues she remarked, ‘The Catholic Church is at a very important crossroads, where it can choose to become either a large and irrelevant sect bound to become a relic of the past, or to flood the world with the capacity for healing.’