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PDF versionPope extols women's rights in Africa
Women say pope's words undercut by discrimination they see inside church
Mar. 22, 2009
Pope Benedict greets women and children in Luanda, Angola, March 21. (CNS/Reuters)
Pope Benedict XVI delivered a strong plea for women's rights during the next-to-last day of his first trip to Africa, insisting that discrimination against women "forms no part of God's plan."
Several African women, however, said the pope's message is undercut by what they see as a pattern of discrimination inside the church itself.
The pope's comments came during an address in Luanda, the Angolan capital, to Catholic movements involved in the promotion of women. Earlier in the day, the pontiff celebrated an open-air Mass in the Angolan capital that drew a massive crowd estimated by local authorities at one million people.
"We must recognize, affirm and defend the equal dignity of man and woman," the pope said in his session with women's groups.
Benedict XVI quoted from the late John Paul II's 1995 message for the World Day of Peace, emphasizing that women have a "full right to become actively involved in all areas of public life, and this right must be affirmed and guaranteed, also, where necessary, through appropriate legislation."
"This acknowledgment of the public role of women should not detract from their unique role within the family," Benedict's quote from John Paul continued. "Here their contribution to the welfare and progress of society, even if its importance is not sufficiently appreciated, is truly incalculable."
By virtually any measure, the pope's assertion of male-female equality remains more an aspiration than a reality across much of Africa.
According to the United Nations, women are just slightly more than 50 percent of the overall population, but they represent 61 percent of all AIDS cases. The director of the Etoudi Maternity clinic in Yaoundè, the capital city of Cameroon, told NCR on Saturday that at least a quarter of all the pregnant women the clinic treats are HIV-positive, while the country's overall adult infection rate is just five percent.
Days before Benedict XVI's arrival in Africa, the United Nations released a new study asserting that 51 percent of African women have been victims of violence, 11 percent suffer violence while pregnant, 21 percent marry before the age of fifteen, and 24 percent experience genital mutilation.
In the face of those realities, Benedict XVI issued a strong call to action.
"I call everyone to an effective awareness of the adverse conditions to which many women have been -- and continue to be -- subjected," he said, "paying particular attention to ways in which the behavior and attitudes of men, who at times show a lack of sensitivity and responsibility, may be to blame."
NCR: February 3-16, 2012
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Conference fields advocates' questions on law, policy
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New study by Notre Dame researcher about parish involvement in America
The pope argued that the future of African families, and therefore African society, in many ways rests in the hands of women.
"History records almost exclusively the accomplishments of men, when in fact much of it is due to the determined, unrelenting and charitable action of women," he said.
"Think of all the places afflicted by great poverty or devastated by war, and of all the tragic situations resulting from migrations, forced or otherwise," the pope said. "It is almost always women who manage to preserve human dignity, to defend the family and to protect cultural and religious values."
Benedict held up two role models for African women: Teresa Gomes and Maria Bonino. Gomes was a lay woman who held her parish together during the most violent period of the Angolan civil war; Bonino was an Italian pediatrician and volunteer, who died in Angola during an epidemic and is buried in the country.
Benedict also urged men to assume their responsibilities as husbands and fathers.
"Society must hold husbands and fathers accountable for their responsibilities towards their families," he said.
Church women respond
Some African women, however, argued that the Catholic church here does not always live up to the ideals sketched by the pope.
"Women are always in second place in the church," said Pauline Maissaba, a 24-year-old Cameroonian Catholic, who spoke to NCR following Sunday Mass at Yaoundè's St. Kisito Parish, where the liturgy is celebrated in the local Ewondo language.
"When you come to church, you always see priests, deacons, and seminarians taking charge," Maissaba said. "Women clean the church, they wash the priest's clothes, and they do the cooking. They're always doing the less rewarding work."
Two African members of a women's religious order, the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary, seemed to agree.
"The church talks about honoring the place of women, as if women are no longer left behind. But women are left behind," said Grace Atem, a 22-year-old Cameroonian who's in formation with the Holy Heart sisters.
Sr. Anastasie Bekono, who directs a vocational school for girls sponsored by the order, said their second-class status was on display during the pope's visit.
"When it comes to decision-making in the church, you won't see many women," Bekono said. "Even the pope's visit shows this. In Cameroon, the pope met the bishops, he met the Muslims, he met politicians, but he did not meet with women."
Bekono and Atem argued that if the pope were serious about promoting women in the church, he would have met a group of major superiors of women's orders, in addition to meeting the bishops of each country he visited.
Neither Bekono nor Atem said they favored the ordination of women to the priesthood. They suggested that their concern is not challenging doctrine, but rather the practical ways in which women are excluded from leadership -- for reasons, they hinted, which are less theological than sociological.
Not every African woman, however, seemed dissatisfied.
"We are all the same in the church," said Monique Enyegue, 51, of Cameroon. "There is no discrimination."
The evil of war
Earlier in the day, Benedict XVI touched on other pressing social issues, continuing what has been a remarkably outward-looking emphasis during his maiden voyage in Africa.
"Tragically, the clouds of evil have also overshadowed Africa, including this beloved nation of Angola," Benedict said during an open-air Mass in Luanda's Cimangola Square.
Among other things, the pope made his first reference on African soil to the continent's bloodiest recent conflict -- a war in the Great Lakes region that at one point involved the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Angola, and that has left an estimated five million dead and tens of millions homeless over the last decade.
Benedict prayed for "an end to the conflict in the neighboring Great Lakes region."
More generally, the pope reflected on all the wars that have scarred Africa in recent years. The U.N. estimates that of 13 million people killed in large scale conflicts from 1994 to 2003, nine million died in sub-Saharan Africa.
"We think of the evil of war, the murderous fruits of tribalism and ethnic rivalry, the greed which corrupts men's hearts, enslaves the poor, and robs future generations of the resources they need to create a more equitable and just society -- a society truly and authentically African in its genius and values," the pope said.
"What of that insidious spirit of selfishness which closes individuals in upon themselves, breaks up families, and, by supplanting the great ideals of generosity and self-sacrifice, inevitably leads to hedonism, the escape into false utopias through drug use, sexual irresponsibility, the weakening of the marriage bond and the break-up of families, and the pressure to destroy innocent human life through abortion?" the pope added.
During brief remarks after the noontime Angelus prayer, Benedict ended on an up-beat note about Africa's future.
"May the men and women from throughout the world who join us in our prayer, turn their eyes to Africa, to this great Continent so filled with hope, yet so thirsty for justice, for peace, for a sound and integral development that can ensure a future of progress and peace for its people," he said.
The pope's trip to Angola was marred by a stampede yesterday afternoon at a stadium where the pope held a massive session with Angolan youth. Two people were killed and several injured in the melee, which occurred before the pope arrived. A Vatican spokesperson described Benedict as "very upset" upon learning what had happened.
With a brief departure ceremony in Luanda tomorrow morning, Benedict wraps up his Africa swing. His next foreign journey is set for early May, when he is scheduled to travel to Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Jordan.
(Allen is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Allen is in Africa covering Pope Benedict XVI's March 17-23 trip to Cameroon and Angola. Watch the NCR web site for his daily reports.
Reports he has already filed include:
- Pope extols women's rights in Africa
- Condemned by pope, witchcraft a reality in Africa
- Accent on 'peace, fraternity' sets tone for Angola
- Benedict in Cameroon a tale of two trips
- Pope: African Catholics can transform society
- Pope unveils African Synod preparation paper
- Pope to Muslims: 'Religion rejects all violence'
- Pope demands halt to sexual, financial scandals
- Pope's condom message resonates with many
- Pope addresses corruption, conflict in Africa
- 'Africa in miniature,' warts and all, awaits Benedict
- Five reasons the papal trip to Africa is important
- Cameroon journalist warns of 'cheap political points' from pope's visit
- Benedict needs to show that he 'gets' Africa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few very telling remarks by
A few very telling remarks by African women about the pope's visit and the concerns he voiced but there were no concrete actions suggested to correct this wrong.
Did the pope meet with any specific groups of women or with representatives of African women's religious communities? If he did I have not heard about it.
No equality exists for women in a patriarchial system.
"Women are always in second place in the church," said Pauline Maissaba, a 24-year-old Cameroonian Catholic, who spoke to NCR following Sunday Mass at Yaoundè's St. Kisito Parish, where the liturgy is celebrated in the local Ewondo language.
"When you come to church, you always see priests, deacons, and seminarians taking charge," Maissaba said. "Women clean the church, they wash the priest's clothes, and they do the cooking. They're always doing the less rewarding work."
Two African members of a women's religious order, the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary, seemed to agree.
"The church talks about honoring the place of women, as if women are no longer left behind. But women are left behind," said Grace Atem, a 22-year-old Cameroonian who's in formation with the Holy Heart sisters.
Sr. Anastasie Bekono, who directs a vocational school for girls sponsored by the order, said their second-class status was on display during the pope's visit.
"When it comes to decision-making in the church, you won't see many women," Bekono said. "Even the pope's visit shows this. In Cameroon, the pope met the bishops, he met the Muslims, he met politicians, but he did not meet with women."
Bekono and Atem argued that if the pope were serious about promoting women in the church, he would have met a group of major superiors of women's orders, in addition to meeting the bishops of each country he visited.
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
I'm waiting for the usual
I'm waiting for the usual feminist onslaught on the Pope's "hypocritical" defense of women, which he delivered in Africa yesterday. In is usual "yes-but" approach to many statements and events from Rome and the Pope, John Allen must have had to work really hard to find a few dissatisfied African women in a crowd of a million worshipers. In contrast to some American and European feminists, African women have a lot more things on their mind than dressing up like a priest, saying Mass and maybe one day becoming bishops and,who knows, even ... A good dose of humility wouldn't hurt anybody.
Ijit. Have you heard of
Ijit. Have you heard of Zimbabwe? If the women there dressed up like priests, instead of being raped and murdered, they'd only be murdered.
FU
(Felix Unger)
Patriarchy still reigns no
Patriarchy still reigns no matter what Benedict says. Seems he is talking out both sides of his mouth.
John Allen's reports on these
John Allen's reports on these visits, on everything, are truly wonderful. I read other people say this and I'm happy he knows how we count on him to make all of this so clear for us.
This article is great. Now, women in the church, I commented on this before and know my comments were not accepted. On a whole, those of us that were married, very gladly had children with no idea of ever not loving this, raised these children and they were good and the extended family became a joy. Now, what are we worth? We're nice, we come to mass, cook for funerals and events, we are good as long as we keep our mouths shut except to say the rosary and never never criticize the heirarchy. Are we too dumb? I think not; we have lived through many experiences and have had to make hard decisions.
We are far better off then our African sisters who we dearly love and pray for. We know this. We budget so we can help financialy. Yes we pray and we know God holds our hands, but we are human. We want the church to look at us as something.
I found it very difficult to
I found it very difficult to read John Allen's column without exploding in anger! I don't see how he can write such words when he must know how women are controlled in the Catholic Church. When we ask for rights within the church, we are told to be quiet and sit down. When we seek ordination we are excommunicated, our children are molested and then denied the care that we need. Wake up John!
Stop your ranting, grandma!
Stop your ranting, grandma!
When the Pope talks of
When the Pope talks of "women's rights", he doesnt mean a right to kill your own baby. Western Progresives hate him becuase he exposes them as murderers.
Pope Benedict XVI delivered a
Pope Benedict XVI delivered a strong plea for women's rights during the next-to-last day of his first trip to Africa, insisting that discrimination against women "forms no part of God's plan."
True, unless you write a thesis on inclusive language that offends the resident cleric.
One of the women in
One of the women in responding to the pope saying women are equal says, "Women clean the church, they wash the priest's clothes, and they do the cooking" while men (who can act in for Jesus) "are priests, deacons, and seminarians taking charge".
This reminds me of the gospel story of Mary and Martha where Mary says no to the cleaning and cooking and goes in to join the men with Jesus. When Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not doing the women's work he rebukes her saying that in joining the men with him she is choosing the better way. So it sounds to me that Jesus is quite happy and even pro women joining the men in the men's work versus staying with the women's work. He even uses the term "the better way" versus "a different way" which says something, at least to me. Now, the church says women cannot be priests because Jesus picked 12 men for disciples yet when a woman chose to join them he said to let her be there. Why can't these words of Jesus be used? Why do we say some things are justified by Jesus' words but others don't mean what we think they say? I think the church is playing word games to hold on to the "good ol' boy's club" they are running.
It is encouraging to read
It is encouraging to read that many women see these statements as lip service. Women having equal rights in the Roman Catholic Church is pure fantasy.
"Women have a full right to
"Women have a full right to become actively involved in all areas of Church life,and this right must be affirmed and guaranteed,also, where necessary, by appropriate dogmatic edict". Oops.
Right on Pope Benedict!
Right on Pope Benedict! Grace and peace with prayers always...
God Bless Pope Benedict XVI
God Bless Pope Benedict XVI and lets us all pray that peace and prosperity may come to the people of Africa.
Can someone teach the pope
Can someone teach the pope the proper use of condoms ?
http://radioislam.org/sarkozy-harem/pape-capote.jpg
WALK the WALK..OR BLAH..
WALK the WALK..OR
BLAH.. BLAH... Blah.. blah..
Pope Benedict PLEASE LISTEN TO YOURSELF.
LISTEN TO JESUS.. LISTEN TO THE AFRICAN WOMAN.
AWESOME that the hierarchy can not FOOL these women.
JESUS chose Mary Magdalene as his first resurrection witness. DAH..
WOMEN MUST BE ORDAINED.. YOU GO AFRICAN WOMAN.. TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN
Sr. Anastasie Bekono, who directs a vocational school for girls sponsored by the order, said their second-class status was on display during the pope's visit.
"When it comes to decision-making in the church, you won't see many women," Bekono said. "Even the pope's visit shows this. In Cameroon, the pope met the bishops, he met the Muslims, he met politicians, but he did not meet with women."
Bekono and Atem argued that if the pope were serious about promoting women in the church, he would have met a group of major superiors of women's orders, in addition to meeting the bishops of each country he visited.
Women are always in second place in the church," said Pauline Maissaba, a 24-year-old Cameroonian Catholic, who spoke to NCR following Sunday Mass at Yaoundè's St. Kisito Parish, where the liturgy is celebrated in the local Ewondo language.
"When you come to church, you always see priests, deacons, and seminarians taking charge," Maissaba said. "Women clean the church, they wash the priest's clothes, and they do the cooking. They're always doing the less rewarding work." AMEN.. AMEN.. ALLELUIA.. AMEN
So good, independent,
So good, independent, reporting. Thank you, J.Allen.
Is this some kind of sick
Is this some kind of sick joke? This is the pope that says condoms can't be used in a continent filled with AIDS...so the women get AIDS. And they get sexually transmitted diseases. And they get pregnant along with it to add to the starvation issue and their babies get these diseases.
And then he extols "women's rights." PLEASE.
Instead of teaching the
Instead of teaching the people in Africa to use contraception (which will not stop with condoms) why not teach them to have a true monogamous marriage?
Why not feed the starving instead of trying to reduce their population? Europe is no longer replacing their population because of the use of contraception. Is this what you want to happen to the people of Africa? If we can reduce their population we can get rid of the "problems"? I hear that would go over well with the government who would rather have fewer "problems".
The Muslims do not allow contraception and they are populating the world. I do not want to see the people of Africa or Europe dissappear or dwindle down to small numbers.
I think I hear you saying
I think I hear you saying that what we need to offer is love. I am reminded of the "Romero Prayer", (which was actually written by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw MI) :
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/peace
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)
(Isn't that just terrific?)
Peace,
Mercy
I'd like to add this other
I'd like to add this other fine article by Fr. Ron Rolheiser. I think it speaks to the importance of keeping a balance, to render our love pure :
Spirituality and Sexuality
2009-03-22
A common complaint about the classical Christian teachings on sexuality is that so many of these have been written by vowed celibates, unmarried priests and nuns who do not have sex. The complaint is not that these people (and I am one of them) teach something that is wrong but that, not being married, they invariably tend to over-idealize sex and encase it in unrealistic sacred romance.
No doubt there is some truth to this. But, in fairness, everyone struggles with sexuality. Every religious tradition has its struggles with sexuality and so does every culture. No self-respecting theologian would say that Christianity or any other religion has made full peace with sexuality, just as no self-respecting analyst would say that there exists in this world a culture that has come to a healthy peace with sexuality. Religion and the world both struggle with sex, just in different ways. Everyone struggles.
And this is no accident because sexuality is always partially beyond us, too powerful to always healthily contain. In this life nobody comes to full peace with it. It is too powerful and too wide. It lies at the base of everything, life and non-life alike. Molecules are sexed, atoms are sexed, all life is sexed, and every human person is sexed in every cell, body and soul. Much of this, of course, is inchoate, dark, a longing and an aching without an explicit focus, though from puberty onwards it also has a focus and deeply colors every person's consciousness.
Ironically it is on this point, the failure to take the centrality of sexuality seriously enough, where liberals and conservatives concur, conservatives by denying that centrality and liberals by trivializing it. Both tend to be naïve, just in different ways.
Moreover, beyond the sheer, brute power of sexuality there is still its complexity. Sexuality is both the most creative and the most destructive force on the planet. It is a great force not just for heroic love, life, and blessing but also for the worst hate, death, and destruction imaginable. It is responsible for most ecstasies on the planet, but also for a lot of murders and suicides. When healthy, it helps glue personalities together, when unhealthy, it works at disintegrating personalities. It can unite families and communities and it can also destroy them. It is a unique power to mellow the heart and produce gratitude even as it has equal power to make the heart bitter and jealous. It is the best of all fires and the most dangerous of all fires.
And this paradox is what lies at the root of so many of the tensions that surround any discussion on sex. On any given day, which aspect of sexuality should be emphasized? Purity or passion, its goodness or its dangers, its power to trigger ecstasy or its power to produce murder, its sacramental power to unite or its chaotic power to divide?
Because these questions are not easy to answer, what we often see are two opposing tendencies: the temptation to over-idealize and the temptation to trivialize, the temptation to be too fearful and the temptation to be too casual, the temptation to be unhealthily frigid and the temptation to be unhealthily irresponsible. We rarely get it right. Invariably the symbolic hedge is too high or too low.
How do we find a balance? Not easily. But, as with all complex issues, a good starting point is the refusal to compromise either of its paradoxical poles, to sell out any of its truths, no matter how apparently contradictory.
So it is important to admit that sex is a power beyond us even as we accept that we have a responsibility to control it. It goodness must always be affirmed even as its dangers are highlighted. Its holy, sacred character should always be taught even as it is earthiness should never be denigrated. We must be clear that it is meant to be sacrament even as it is meant to be playful, that it is meant to bring children into this world even as it is meant to express love, that it is meant to be healthily enjoyed even as it needs to be carefully guarded, and that it is not something before which we should stand in unhealthy fear even as we surround it with enough taboos to properly safeguard its meaning and our own emotional safety.
Sexuality might be compared to a high-voltage electrical wire. The 50,000 volts inside of that wire can bring light and heat to a building, but there are two risks: First, we may be so afraid of its dangers that we never connect our house to it. We then deprive ourselves of its light and heat. The second danger is the opposite: This powerful energy is safe only if its raw power is channeled through the right transformers and safely encased in proper insulation, otherwise we risk a deadly fire, inside the house and inside the psyche.
Conservatives tend to struggle with the first danger, liberals with the latter.
Peace,
Mercy
More "DO AS I SAY, not as I
More "DO AS I SAY, not as I do" vis a vis the Church's "internal culture" from the Vatican. Perhaps when they finish the USA Apostolic Visitation of Women Religious, Mother Mary Clare and Sister Eva will be sent to investigate their African sisters next?
I hope African women students
I hope African women students are allowed freedom to write their degree theses on topics of their own choice and make a case for their sincerely held opinions.
Since the Synod paper is being "managed" freedom for anyone seems rather remote.
It was just a final jab at
It was just a final jab at his Muslim hosts.
The pot calling out the kettle.
did no one think of Jesus's
did no one think of Jesus's joke about seeing a mote in another's eye but refusing to see the beam in one's own?
The key for the Pope and the
The key for the Pope and the male hierarchy of the Church is to listen. They are so busy trying to uphold orthodoxy that they have forgotten to listen. If women are important to the Church, clear your schedule and listen to what they have to say. The Spirit speaks through women also.
Jesus had time to listen to the Samaritan woman before he spoke to her. Her response indicated that she felt understood.
Half of humanity is speaking and your fear of our sexuality and your fear of what you might hear makes you fearful of even listening.
I think that God loves all of
I think that God loves all of us INCLUDING women.
WOMEN DESERVE EQUAL RIGHTS TO MEN.
Thanks alot - your answer
Thanks alot - your answer seolvd all my problems after several days struggling
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