The eternally minor status of Catholic women

If I was a Catholic woman, I'd be hell-bent on making this pope answer a question. Why are Catholic women worth less than Catholic men? Why are they barred from being priests, bishops and popes?

The pope has been forthcoming on many topics. He's said things no pope has said before. But on the topic of ordaining women, he simply states that this door is closed. I'm sorry; that won't do.

Women should surround him wherever he goes, chanting "Why? Why? Why? Why?" When he comes out on the balcony to greet the throng, it should echo with a call: "Why? Why? Why? Why?" Women should demand a clear answer to the question. "Tell us, old man, why can we not be priests?"

"Why? Why? Why? Why?" The pope should hear this wherever he goes. When he finally answers the question, if he does, it will be the resolution to a great mystery.

No reason has ever been given for the status quo. That's what galls. To the church, it's just an incontrovertible fact, one that requires no substantiation. Priests never answer this question. But right now, in this church, it is the perfect time for Catholic women to demand an answer. I'd love to know what excuse the pope offers for denigrating half of all Catholics.

Pisses me off.

How Great Thou Art

Oddly, I woke up yesterday with a song in my head. It was Dixie Carter singing "How Great Thou Art" (at least I think that's the name of the song). If you were a fan of "Designing Women", you might recall the episode where she sang this hymn.

It's the one where Charlene confronts her pastor about the church's inability to see women as full, valid persons. The episode included a long, sad conversation between Charlene and the pastor. He affirmed the church's position: women cannot be priests. So Charlene told him tearfully that she was going to have to leave the church. It hurt her terribly to consider doing this, but the church's misogyny was too much to bear. She couldn't be a part of that. And she figured a loving god would have nothing to do with a church that viewed women as adjuncts, helpers and servants -- but never equals.

And meanwhile, Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) worried that she wouldn't be able to hit the high notes in "How Great Thou Art", which she was to sing in church that evening.

Anyway, this episode and that god-awful song were stuck in my head when I woke up to the news that Pope Francis likes gay people. But hiding behind this news, almost unnoticed by the media, was another statement: that the door is closed to women priests. Never. Gonna. Happen.

I think that was the huge news of the day, not that the pope managed to mention gay people without throwing up, but that the church will definitely continue to view women as half-persons, invalid beings who cannot fully participate in the church, by virtue of their vaginas.

I think dog was sending me a message by sticking that song in my head. It was a presentiment, a foretelling. Dog was saying, "The popeyguy's gonna trash women today. Watch out!" And lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.

If I was a Catholic woman who held out hope that the church would finally recognize my existence, I would be terribly depressed by the pope's words. And what is his reason for denigrating women? Because it's always been this way.

That's quite a church they've got there. It's a sickening organization in so many ways. But at least we know for sure now: the Catholic church hates women.

Pope pretty relaxed about gays

I knew it. He just didn't seem like a crazy homophobe. Today we get confirmation of his relatively relaxed attitude toward gays.

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Francis asked. 

His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten. 

For a pope, that's pretty damn good. (And never mind the "sin" part. Catholics are crazy; gotta remember that.)

This isn't bad, either:

Francis was asked about Italian media reports suggesting that a group within the church tried to blackmail fellow church officials with evidence of their homosexual activities. Italian media reported this year that the allegations contributed to Benedict's decision to resign. 

Stressing that Catholic social teaching that [sic] calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information for blackmail or to exert pressure. 

Repeat after me: "Pope Francis is not a crazy homophobe." And thank dog for that!

On the other hand, things don't look promising for women who want to be priests:

In one of his most important speeches delivered in Rio, Francis described the church in feminine terms, saying it would be "sterile" without women. Asked what role he foresaw, he said the church must develop a more profound role for women in the church, though he said "the door is closed" to ordaining women to the priesthood.

Francis is being interesting. Again.

Another take on the famous foot-washing, this time as viewed by Benedict's crowd.

Virtually everything he has done since being elected pope, every gesture, every decision, has rankled traditionalists in one way or another. 

Right there, you have to like the guy. He's definitely going to liven things by trying to bring, you know, Christ back into the church. I loved his washing the feet of the juvenile offenders. In this simple action, there was a promising hint of his plans. Read the following and tell me there's still no possibility that women will become priests.

The church's liturgical law holds that only men can participate in the rite, given that Jesus' apostles were all male. Priests and bishops have routinely petitioned for exemptions to include women, but the law is clear. 

The words I bolded are regularly cited when rejecting the concept of women priests: Jesus' apostles were all male. Perhaps Francis sees this issue in a new light. It would be wonderful if he ended the all-male priesthood (and allowed priests to marry).

I've always had a notion that if the priests got a little (normal, adult, consensual) nookie on the side, they'd lay off the anti-gay theatrics. So who knows what the future will bring? Mind you, if he follows through on any of this, the church will become stronger. But a church like that I might be able to live with. And so might a lot of Catholics.