I know that this letter will sound snarky, and I know that I will get lots of "what the hell do you know" comments, but honestly the question I pose is sincere. I'm prepared to be flamed for sticking my nose in something that doesn't concern me, but as we've seen in the last couple of weeks the Catholic Church's policies do have an impact on all of us.
To Catholic Women,
I don't understand how you can stay affiliated with an organization that refuses you entry into the top four leadership positions. Not only do they not let you be pope but you can't be a cardinal or a bishop or even a priest. No man would be a member of such a group. The policy is not an under-the-table-wink-wink kinda thing it is stated public policy.
And it isn't just that they don't want women to have a leadership role, they don't want you anywhere near the leaders. The pope can't know what it is to kiss a woman or have one whisper sweet words in his ear. A cardinal can't have a woman cuddle up with him at night or smell her freshly washed hair when he holds her. A bishop can't learn about the emotional ups and downs of sharing his life with a woman; the happiness she brings with her smile and the frustration that comes when she's angry and he doesn't know why. A priest can't understand what a woman's companionship can bring to a man's life, when two people try to negoitate the ins and outs of sharing a house. a bed, and a life together. Men hold many leadership positions in the secular world, more than they should compared to women, but at least most of them have a little bit of empathy for women because they have dated them, made love to them and lived with them. The Catholic church fears you and distrusts you so much that it doesn't want you anywhere near the leadership. If a man loves a woman romantically he is disqualified from holding any of the top four leadership positions in the Catholic church.
By changing the church you would be doing it a great service. I don't think some of the abuses we've seen from the church would have been as great if women had been allowed in leadership positions. The change would make the church more flexible and responsive to the community it serves. Remember the anti-woman stance is not an edict from Christ. All of this nonsense, according to religious scholars, started two hundred years after Christ lived. Woman were leaders in the early christian church.
Fight it. Start your own church or change the Catholic church. My suggestion would be to pick a Sunday and you and any other member of the church who supports women's rights un-occupy the church: stay home. If the church doesn't make radical changes pick two Sundays the next month and again un-occupy the church. When enough of you don't show up on Sunday after Sunday the church will change. But, I can't tell you how to fight it. All I know is that the Catholic church can not exist without you. You are supporting the very organization that, from all outward appearances, hates you and oppresses you.
If you don't want to change the church for yourself do it for all the third world Catholic women who think that God wants them to be second class citizens, an idea that their secular world does nothing to dispel. They live in a world where the church could help them rise to equality, but instead the church's policies reinforce the view that they are inferior. They want to be empowered, that's why they love the Blessed Virgin Mary and grasp on to the her hems. She is the only example the church allows of a strong woman. Change the Catholic church for yourselves and for the world.
From the heart,