Matters India Reporter
Pune, October 18, 2019: About 100 Catholic women religious in India have called for a place at the table in church leadership and asked that canon law be amended to make it more relevant and inclusive.
They stressed these and other points at a “Women in the Church” consultation held October-4-6 at Ishvani Kendra Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra.
The participants said in the statement that the consultation helped them embark on “a journey to challenge ourselves to bring about transformation in ourselves and in the church in keeping with the vision of Christ.”
They have resolved to restore equality in the church and create a consciousness to negotiate partnership in the church.
The meeting also stressed developing “feminist consciousness” to read the signs of the time, critically evaluate current structures, values and practices and build solidarity across gender, class, caste and other divides to help transform lives.
The women religious noted that caste and class along with “toxic masculinity and femininity affect the church consciously and unconsciously.”
Patriarchy, the basic organizing principle of society, thrives by dividing men and women, giving power and status to the males and leaving caring and nurturing to females, the statement notes.
It further says that women religious, who form a large percentage of the church’s workforce, are programmed to conform to a patriarchal system and meekly comply with its demands on them.
“We realize that the liberating vow of obedience to God has to be reclaimed. We need to challenge and resist stereotypes and binaries that keep women in positions of subservience and enslavement,” the statement asserts. Women religious often work in dioceses as unpaid or underpaid cleaners, decorators, cooks and housekeepers.
Listing manifestations of clericalism in the church, the nuns cited misuse of the pulpit, denial of sacraments by priests, degrading sisters and laypersons in public, imposition of biased practices, such as requiring women to cover the head, and disrespectful speech.
Courtesy: mattersindia.com