The article examines one of Pope Francis’ recent decrees on formalizing women’s leadership in the Catholic church. The decree amends the Code of Canon Law that governs the administration of the church’s operations and allows women to serve in minor leadership roles such as Bible reading during mass, altar service, and the distribution of communion (Povoledo, 2021). Proponents of this decree consider it a positive step in the right direction toward equality of the sexes within the church. However, its critics note that the Pope shut the door on women ascending to ordained and diaconate roles which would represent true equality. The Catholic church’s restrictions on women’s leadership remain contentious, demonstrating the deep-rooted gender inequality within the institution (Haskins, 2003). Although the individuals within the hierarchy change from generation to generation, the ideology persists and permeates throughout the institution.
It is essential to note that the Pope’s decree did not break any new ground. Women have already been reading Bible during mass, serving at the altar, and distributing communion in many Catholic churches. This is a result of necessity in communities where the church was understaffed as well as progression in developed societies (Povoledo, 2021). Thus, the decree represents the Catholic hierarchy catching up with the rest of the faithful in handing women a more prominent role in the administration of the church’s activities. However, the decree makes it legal that women cannot be barred from the specified roles. It also indicates the church’s willingness to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of women to the institution.
The Catholic church’s complicated relationship with women is far from resolution. The Pope is on record stating that ordaining women as priests is out of the question. Pope Francis notes that women’s service in the church must still reflect their womanhood (Povoledo, 2021). This distinction is at the heart of this complicated relationship with female leadership in the church. The proponents of the status quo anchor their arguments on the early church’s lack of women in leadership positions (Maher, Sever, and Pichler, 2007). It is important to remember that this historical period was marred with sexist discrimination against women. This period laid the foundation for the belief that women were not suited for leadership. The Pope’s concession about needing to retain one’s womanhood implies that leadership is at odds with femininity. The implication herein is that men cannot be under women’s leadership in the church.
Feminist theory notes that women continue to be discriminated against because of their gender even when there is no logical basis for this unfortunate state of affairs (Disch & Hawkesworth, 2016). There is no rationale for thinking that men make better leaders than women. Examples from other social institutions and corporations demonstrate that women are equally capable of leading. It is sexist to think that one loses their womanhood if they ascend to the top of any leadership hierarchy. In this regard, womanhood is a social construct designed to limit women to the roles reserved for them by the patriarchal hierarchy.
The discrimination against women within the Catholic church is based on religious doctrine and dogma. Therefore, although it is discriminatory, it is not illegal. The state has no authority over any religion’s doctrine and dogma (Haskins, 2003). Most countries have legal provisions that protect religion from state interference. Thus, there is no legal redress for women who desire to serve in leadership roles but are barred from doing it by the Catholic church’s doctrine because this practice breaks no laws. Consequently, most change arises from activist minds within the church that continue to agitate for expanded roles for women in leadership. Circumstances such as understaffing in far-flung regions of the world have also proven to be catalysts for radical change in the church.
The Pope has appointed commissions in the past to examine the role of women in the formative years of the church’s operations which serve as the basis for most of its doctrines. However, these commissions failed to find the consensus that would inform greater radical shifts in ordaining women as priests and deacons (Povoledo, 2021). Decrees such as the one issued by Pope Francis are baby steps that may not amount to much in the long run without the goodwill of the hierarchy and a drastic change in doctrine. Nonetheless, such decrees codify the progress made thus far and ensure that there will be no rollback of these gains made through painstaking effort and continued involvement of women in unofficial capacities.
The path forward for the Catholic church is clear. The only way to acknowledge that women are equal to men is through tangible policy changes to reflect this radical shift in doctrine. Until women can be ordained to serve as priests and deacons, gender discrimination will remain entrenched within the organization. This is because the underlying message of this policy is the superiority of men over women. However, the Catholic hierarchy’s commitment to the status quo means that this will take decades, if not centuries.
References
Disch, L. J., & Hawkesworth, M. E. (Eds.). (2016). The Oxford handbook of feminist theory. Oxford University Press.
Haskins, C. Y. (2003). Gender bias in the Roman Catholic Church: Why can’t women be priests. Margins, 3, 99.
Maher, M. J., Sever, L. M., & Pichler, S. (2007). Is the Roman Catholic prohibition of female priests sexist? How Catholic college students think about women’s ordination and sexism.
Povoledo, E. (2021). Pope Formalizes Women’s Roles, but Priesthood Stays Out of Reach (Published 2021). Nytimes.com. Retrieved 22 September 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/world/europe/pope-women.html.
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