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PDF versionVoice for women
Indian activist leaves bishops behind, but carries on work for oppressed
Oct. 21, 2011
Virginia Saldanha
Mumbai, India, native Virginia Saldanha, 63, had completed one year of university and four years as a corporate secretary when she got married at age 22. By the time she turned 28, she had three children and had become a widow. “The experience of being a widow was life-changing for me in every way,” Saldanha told NCR in a recent interview. The experience would lead her first to a bachelor’s degree in economics, then to study Catholic catechetics and then theology.
She began working as a volunteer Sunday school teacher and then as a religious studies teacher in the parish school. Appointed to serve on the Bombay archdiocese’s justice and peace commission, she would eventually head up the Women’s Desk, part of the Office of Laity for the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, and a similar post for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. After a dozen years with the Asian bishops, Saldanha left her post in 2009, but continues her work for women and empowerment for all people.
NCR: How did you first get involved as a “women’s advocate”?
Saldanha: I felt strongly about how I was treated as a widow, and decided to show people that I would live my life without being restricted by what people thought or tradition dictated I should be doing. One woman even exclaimed to me, “You do not look like a widow!”
When I studied theology I was drawn to liberation theology. I began to apply the praxis of liberation theology to my own context. I decided to take up the cause of domestic workers -- women I was directly in touch with. They work in my parish area and are mostly poor dalit [outcast] women. I thought that if my life as a middle-class widow was tough, it must be much worse for these women who are poor and disadvantaged by their caste status. I began organizing them to teach them about human dignity and the rights they are entitled to under the Indian Constitution. I met with much opposition in my own community, but it proved that my efforts were successful in empowering these women.
Dalit Christians demonstrate in New Delhi, India, in February 2009. (Newscom/EPA/Anindito Mukherjee)I then joined a women’s reflection group called Satyashodak (Search for Truth). We studied theological writings of well-known feminist theologians and discussed women’s role and status in church and society. When the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India held consultations to start a Commission for Women, our group was involved in the organization of the consultations. Our auxiliary bishop in Bombay then asked one of us to volunteer to work as secretary of the Diocesan Women’s Desk. All the women in the group refused as the bishop said he could not offer a salary at that moment. I decided to volunteer because I felt that if this opportunity was passed up, we may never get the Women’s Desk. This was in 1992. The post continues to be worked by women volunteers.
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In 1994 I was selected to go to the first Asian Laity Meeting sponsored by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Seoul [South Korea]. After this meeting in 1995 I was asked if I would take charge of the Women’s Desk in the Asian bishops’ Office of Laity, which was to be started then. I took charge of the FABC Women’s Desk in 1996.
In 1998 I received a telephone call early one morning from my local bishop who informed me that I was appointed as executive secretary of the [Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India] Women’s Desk. I said I already had two responsibilities and could not take on the third. But he insisted and promised that this was a stopgap arrangement; he would try and find someone else within the next six months. The six months turned to six years. I worked three jobs and received an honorarium only from the FABC Women’s Desk of $2,000 a year.
Women in India, it is said, face many hardships. Do you think that is a fair assessment? How much has that changed in your years as an advocate and activist?
I have traveled to almost every Asian country, but the women in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) experience the most violence. Whether it be on the street, workplace or even the home, a woman is not safe. She has to constantly watch out for sexual harassment and other forms of violence. Every day our newspapers have reports of cases of horrific violence to women.
The women’s movement in India started in the 1970s and has grown very strong. It has succeeded in putting in place many laws and continues to work to enforce those laws relating to violence to women. I have always networked with women’s groups in the movement across religion, class and ethnic communities to work for women’s rights and empowerment. In the 1980s and ’90s we had a vibrant diocesan justice and peace commission that was also doing a lot for the empowerment of women. In fact all the programs of that commission were implemented through women’s groups.
This contributed a lot to empowerment of women belonging to all religions who lived in slum areas in Mumbai. But this changed by the end of the 1990s.
Through workshops, and a book I authored, I tried to create awareness among women in the church about violence, their status and dignity. I think today we have a generation of women who will no longer be silent victims of violence.
The women’s movement began to be blamed for marriage breakup in the church. No one recognized the fact that earlier women were silent victims of violence in the home, and that the time had arrived when women refused to be silent and carry “their cross” to save a marriage without men taking any responsibility.
You have worked at the grass roots and at high levels in the church structure. Can you give us a couple examples of women and the Catholic church?
Looking back at all the work I have done in various capacities in the church, I’d say that the bishops saw me as a “loyal daughter” and perhaps safe to be in these positions. But I turned out to be a dark horse for them.
Here is one good experience: At the FABC plenary assembly in Bangkok [Thailand] in 2000, the evening before the inauguration of the assembly, the participants gathered for an introductory session. At that session we were informed that three workshops would be canceled because no bishops or observers registered for these workshops. The women’s workshop was one of them. I stood up and requested that I be given until the next morning to get a workshop group going. If I did not succeed, the workshop could be dropped. Immediately I had three bishops from India putting up their hands to join the workshop and it was saved! Later that evening, I called together all the women observers at the assembly to draw up a strategy to insert women’s concerns in all workshops and I got their wholehearted support. The women’s voice was quite strong at that assembly.
However, the plenary assembly of the Asia bishops’ federation that took place in Manila [the Philippines] in 2009 invited only 10 observers from Asia, of which only one was a woman. She was a religious, and she remained silent right throughout [the assembly]. The executive secretaries were told they could not participate in discussions during the assembly. The only time we spoke was to present the reports of our offices and answer any questions related to our work. Vatican representatives were present. I was told that the bishops were very happy that this meeting was among themselves; they felt comfortable. It seems like they want a church where they are comfortable, the old boys’ club, not a church of the people of God where they exercise servant leadership!
Some time earlier, I had proposed that the Women’s Desk hold a meeting for dialogue between women theologians and bishops. After that, I felt my work moving downhill. I think that the bishops felt threatened by such a proposal. For five years I worked to make such a meeting a reality. Several names of women theologians I wished to work with were turned down as unacceptable. Finally I was told to write to the bishops’ conferences to get them to nominate women theologians. After I did this I got the go-ahead.
The FABC Office of Theological Concerns agreed to partner with me. The Office of Theological Concerns chose dates for the meeting to facilitate its members’ attending. But when the meeting actually took place, just one bishop and one woman theologian, both of whom were scheduled speakers, turned up. The executive secretary himself and every other member found excuses not to attend. I had expected 40 bishops and finally had to work hard to get just 10. That experience finally made me realize that it was not worth continuing to work in the church structure for women. This was in 2008. By the end of the year I was told that my term was up and I should submit names of possible successors. I was happy to go.
I thought that the purpose of having a Women’s Desk in a bishops’ structure would be to help the bishops understand the problems of women so that they can carry out their pastoral ministry to women better. But since the bishops felt they had to tell me what to do and how to do it, I felt it is no use wasting my time in the structure. In the earlier years however, I did meet with a lot of success. The women’s movement in the church in Asia was launched and grew fast. It will continue to grow even at the margins because there is a lot of awareness about women’s rights and status.
What can Asian women’s experiences teach Westerners?
I would not want to say that the women in the West need to learn from us anymore than we can learn from them. What we need across the world is solidarity so that we learn from each other. ...
The terms “affluent North” and “developing South” are often used to refer to differences in economic power. This is somewhat erroneously used because we have rich countries, like Singapore in the South, and there are Indians who are among the richest men in the world. Still, most of Asia was colonized and controlled by Western powers. Colonialism left Asia quite impoverished.
In the last 60 years of independence, however, India has created a very large, educated and well-to-do middle class, which is bigger than the population of Europe. The number of practicing Catholics soon will exceed those in most Western Christian countries.
The West tends to see India and the rest of Asia differently because of the “exotic” cultures and spiritualities.
In Asia, though, the leaders in the women’s movement come mainly from the middle class. It does not just focus on women’s rights per se but on the rights of all oppressed people, which include women. So the women’s movement critiques development models, environmental degradation, workers’ rights, economic development, and all kinds of injustice, because these directly or indirectly impinge on women’s lives. ...
The movement in India has blown the myth that a poor woman is unempowered. On the contrary, my experience has found that poor women are ready to take action to protect their rights more than their economically well-off sisters in Asia. Women in the rich and middle class often do not want to rock the boat when it comes to family status and appearances, and therefore they will tolerate oppression to save the family name. They pretend that they are liberated because they live affluent lifestyles, but gender relations are poor and they are often silent victims of violence.
The women’s group has been a powerful tool in women’s empowerment. It provides strong support for women as it creates an environment to help them to take action together. But these groups thrive better among the poorer women. ...
When I attend meetings of women’s groups in the West, I feel that they look at us women from the “South” countries with pity, feeling we need their help and sympathy. But they fail to see the problems of women in their own society. There is still male domination and male superiority in the families in the West. ... But no one seems to do anything about this problem.
So having support groups of women is something perhaps our sisters in the West can learn from India. We do a lot of networking that has strengthened the women’s movement.
I ardently believe that women coming together locally and being in solidarity internationally can be a strong force to bring about change.
[Dennis Coday is NCR managing editor. His e-mail address is dcoday@ncronline.org.]
Unconcscionable that this
Unconcscionable that this woman was not adequately and respectfully reimbursed for her heroic, untiring work. Would that males in that society were doing half as much.
It's wonderful to hear from
It's wonderful to hear from someone who may be influencing the development right now of the first Asian and first woman pope. How can an all male priesthood represent humanity since humanity was created in the image of God, male and female?
http://mumbailaity.wordpress.
http://mumbailaity.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/virginia-saldanha-bombay-bis...
Virginia Saldanha: Bombay Bishop Fathers Child by Nun – By Michael Prabhu
Posted on March 20, 2012 by The Voice Of Bombay's Catholic Laity
Dear Mumbai Laitytude/Association of Concerned Catholics of the Archdiocese ofBombay,
As you can see from records that I have reproduced CHRONOLOGICALLY below, your article ofMarch 9, 2012under the caption
“Gender sensitivity grows in Church- Then why is the Bishops name not being revealed”
is at least the FIFTH TIME [see serial no {5}] that the article by Virginia Saldanha has been published in the Catholic media inIndia over the past 21 months.
I second the question that you asked which is “If Virginia thinks so strongly about women why is she not revealing the name of the bishop who according to her fathered the child?“
I also agree with you when you say, “Some persons use information in their possession for their personal gain and glory. Let’s hope that the name of the Bishop is revealed so that this statement is proved wrong.”
From the extensive research I have been doing on Ms. Saldanha, a “theologian” who has served in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and in the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in prominent positions for many years, I imagine that she would not be lying in so grave a matter which concerns the immoral acts of a bishop of her archdiocese and a nun who had to leave her congregation and become a cook after he impregnated and discarded her. There are a number of issues involved including that of abuse of clerical office/authority and of suppression of truth, leave alone the problem of the abuse of women and women’s rights.
Since the story is now around two years older than the “10-12 years ago” conversation of Ms. Astrid Lobo Gajiwala – also a supposed theologian — who is stated to have reported it to Ms. Saldanha, the guilty bishop might have retired or worse, become an archbishop or a cardinal by now.
If Ms. Saldanha’s allegation is true, it appears to me that there are grounds for a criminal investigation to uncover the identity of this bishop and bring him to justice while at the same time assuring justice to the victimised ex-nun.
If Ms. Saldanha cannot substantiate her allegation, then she is guilty of slander and bringing disrepute to the Church. Either way, Mumbai-ites must ensure that they get to the bottom of this. The longer this allegation remains unverified, even innocent bishops will be viewed with suspicion and distrust.
1) The ex-nun revealed her shame and ignominy to Gajiwala — who also militates for women’s empowerment and against gender violence — only so that the guilty may be brought to book. Instead Gajiwala has used that knowledge to their advantage, ensuring that Ms. Saldanha reported it to support their contention that there is gender violence in the Indian church.
Virginia Saldanha and Astrid Lobo Gajiwala are vocal on issues of women’s rights, women’s empowerment and gender equality, which ultimately converge in their demand for the ordination of women as priests. See THE NEW COMMUNITY BIBLE 15 – PRIESTHOOD UNDER ATTACK, DEMAND FOR ORDINATION OF WOMEN PRIESTS – FR SUBHASH ANAND AND OTHERS http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NEW_COMMUNITY_BIBLE_15_PRIESTHOOD_UNDER_AT...
Do they refrain from confronting/exposing the bishop in question because they know that the bishops can make their lives miserable as they do some priests and lay persons who have stood up to them?
Or do they wield this secret knowledge like a Damocles’ sword hanging over the Church to extend the reach of their radical feminism through their influential positions?
It must be noted that Ms. Gajiwala — [read her blogs!]– is now on the editorial board of The Examiner, the Archdiocesan weekly ofBombaysince November 2011!!! The two women – and several other feminist nuns — are contributors to the New Leader,March 1-15, 2012and The Examiner,March 3, 2012.
2) As my records below show, though yours is the fifth internet forum that has carried Ms. Saldanha’s article in the past one-and-a-half years, few Catholic voices have demanded that an inquiry be instituted. Fewer still have seen through the feminist agenda of these lay women “theologians”.
3) The Archdiocese of Bombayis indisputably the largest propagator of institutionalised New Age [Interplay, vipassana meditation, yoga, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Christian Meditation (the WCCM and KRIPA ), to name some] and other error [the "Catholic" Alpha Course, etc.] among the around 170 dioceses in this nation. Learned “theologians” like Astrid Lobo Gajiwala and Virginia Saldanha have never questioned those in authority responsible for these errors. If they did, they would lose the platforms from which they are currently able to promote their feminist agendas. Or, it is just possible that they do not protest because they too subscribe to the New Age ideologies of these practices?
A. At regular intervals, this ministry receives information concerning the moral escapades and financial mismanagement of prelates, with requests that this ministry report on them.
However, this ministry as a rule restricts itself to reporting what is already in the public domain and then too in exceptional cases, and also only in instances of liturgical abuse, Hinduisation as opposed to inculturation, doctrinal error, New Age error, and the like.
So why the exception in making and publishing the report “Bombay Bishop Fathers Child by Nun”?
The report was in the public domain not once but five times [at least]; the original report was made by Virginia Saldanha, a former high-ranking executive of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, who “studied theology” in a Catholic seminary and lectures to Cardinals and bishops in India and overseas; and because as the source of her information she cites Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, who herself “studied theology” in the same Catholic seminary, also lectures on feminist issues to Church leaders, and is on the editorial board of The Examiner, the Bombay archdiocesan weekly.
Their having been in close proximity to the bishops of their archdiocese for about three decades, their report cannot be taken lightly or be dismissed as frivolous.
MICHAEL PRABHU
CATHOLIC APOLOGIST
www.ephesians-511.net
CHENNAI
Michael Prabhu from Chennai is one of the few catholic apologist’s who writes on various catholic issues in India.He has his own web www.ephesians-511.net on which he has written a number of articles on certain practices which are going on in the catholic church.His knowledge on those subjects is deep and profound.Readers are requested to visit his blog.Michael Prabhu’s email id is michaelprabhu@vsnl.net
A RECORD OF THE FIVE APPEARANCES OF THE ALLEGATION AGAINST THE BOMBAY BISHOP
{1} http://www.ucanews.com/2010/06/18/women-are-also-victims-of-clergy-sex-a...
Women are also victims of clergy sex abuse UCANEWS.com UCA News June 18, 2010
The issue of sexual abuse of women in the Church inAsiahas been simmering beneath the surface for a long time. It is not a new issue. It has just never made the news before. But that must now be rectified.
Over the years I have become acutely aware that the problem is widespread. Many victims are crying out for justice, healing and support. But too often those cries for help are silent, made by the women victims to themselves alone.
That must stop.
For the women who have approached me already and for those I am yet to hear from, my pledge is simple. I will reach out to you with hope of justice and the path to recovery and peace.
No shortage of evidence
There is no shortage of anecdotal evidence of the scale of the problem which in some cases dates back many years.
Astrid Lobo-Gajiwala, a prominent leader in the women’s movement in the Church recently shared this story with me:
“I had gone for a family camp organized by Church personnel about 10-12 years ago. I wandered into the kitchen to meet the helpers and got into conversation with the cook.
When she came to know who I was she told me her story. She was a former nun who was forced to leave because she became pregnant. She was very, very bitter.
She said she had been working for a bishop and he was the father of her child, a boy, who was being looked after by a church run orphanage. The bishop continued in his position as shepherd of the flock.”
Brief public appearances
Occasionally the issue becomes public – at least briefly – before retreating beneath the surface again.
The first study of the problem was in 2000 when the Women and Gender Commission of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (http://www.amrsp.org/) did research on the sexual abuse of women in the Church. They presented their partial findings to the Catholic Bishops.
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) (http://www.cbcponline.net/).
In 2003 the CBCP came up with “Pastoral Guidelines on Sexual Abuses and Misconduct by the Clergy.” The final document was signed by Archbishop Quevedo, then president of CBCP onSeptember 1, 2003.
At that time I was Executive Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India’s Commission for Women (http://www.cbcisite.com/Women%20Commission.htm) as well as the Executive Secretary of the Women’s Desk in the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences Office of Laity & Family.
(http://www.fabc.org/offices/olaity/olaity.html).
Spurred on by thePhilippinessurvey, I began to investigate the issue inIndia. I found Indian sisters shy about talking about it so I approached a Mother General fromSwitzerland. She confirmed that it was an issue, but that congregations were asked to deal with the issue “in house”.
The drawback of this approach was that only the Religious sister concerned was “dealt with”, rather than the problem itself.
Prepared to speak out
Some sisters were prepared to speak out, although few appeared to hear them. When 26 Indian women theologians met inBangalorein 2002, they issued a statement saying:
“We raise our voice of concern and protest against the individual clerical abuse of women.
“We decry Institutional injustice to women that strips them of dignity and renders them powerless.”
But progress in addressing the problem was slow and frustrating. I worked with the then Executive Secretary of the Commission of Clergy and a woman theologian to produce a syllabus on sexuality, to be used in the training of seminarians.
It was rejected.
I feel the response to the issue was a questioning of the links between the women theologians’ group and the CBCI Commission for Women. They were subsequently de-linked in 2003.
Once again, the problem slipped back beneath the surface. But women’s voices could not be fully silenced and we continued to hear stories and the cries for help.
At a seminar for Religious, some years ago, I sat with a group of sisters to talk about the impact of patriarchy on women in the Church. One sister spoke about her experience as a nurse being summoned by the priest in the mission area as he was sick. When she was attending to him, he pulled her down on top of himself.
An elderly sister sitting by my side said to me: “Virginia, this is a big problem, something must be done about it!”
I agreed, but where to start? For a long time I was not able to do anything except raise the issue at various talks and discussions in the Church.
Hopeful signs
However, there were some hopeful signs that some men in the Church were prepared to address the problem. Calcutta Jesuit Provincial Father George Pattery, for example, raised it when talking to ucanews.com at the February 2006 General Body meeting of the Conference of Religious of India.
“The tendency is to silence the victims whenever complaints of sexual abuse are made. From now on, we will work to formulate a policy that will ensure justice for all within the Church.”
Montfort Brother Mani Mekkunnel*, national secretary of the Conference of Religious India (http://www.cridelhi.org/home.htm), a strong defender of women’s rights in the Church, also spoke of the need to chart a policy on sexual abuse of Religious within the Church. *a supporter of the feminist agenda; see CRI {2}
But the momentum only really began to gather over the past year or so. With the avalanche of child sex abuse cases in the Church coming to light in different parts of the world, women began asking, “what about the sexual abuse of women which is also a violation of women’s dignity, abuse of priestly position, and violation of the vow of celibacy?”
Sexual misbehavior
More women began to approach me personally.
In February this year, a Religious sister from Asialiving in the UKcontacted me because she had suffered from the sexual misbehavior of an Indian priest while he was in the UK.
He even boasted to her about his other sexual escapades!
Since then, I have been accompanying and supporting this brave and tenacious woman on her journey to bring justice and healing to herself and other victims of this priest.
As she has pursued her case of sexual harassment, she has found that the priest’s boasts were far from idle. Reports to the authorities came to light from when he worked inIndiaof his sexual misbehavior with many women, included sending inappropriate emails, betraying their trust and physical abuse.
In May this year I met with another victim of sexual abuse by a priest. She said that she had emotional problems and went to retreats organized by the priest, looking for counseling and healing. She was convinced by the priest that healing came from God in the form of his “loving touch”, which developed into a sexual relationship.
She later discovered that he had relationships with other women who also came to his retreats for counseling.
Time for action
More cases came to light during the East Asia Bishops’ Institute on Women (http://www.fabc.org/offices/olaity/docs/Final%20St_EA_BILA_on_Women…) inTaiwan in May this year, where the issue of violence to women in society and in the Church was brought up.
A participant from Taiwan shared tearfully her own experience of sexual abuse by a priest while Sprout women’s group in Taiwan said that they have helped with a case of sexual abuse in the Church and developed a course for sexual harassment prevention in all the dioceses of Taiwan.
But the time for talk is over. We in the Church need to address this problem urgently.
First we need to acknowledge a problem exists. Then we need a survey to quantify the scale of the problem and then we need action – to bring justice and healing in existing cases and to do our best through education and policy to address this issue in future.
But most of all we must ensure that no more are women left to cry for help and not be heard. END
By Virginia Saldanha, former executive secretary of the FABC Office of Laity and Family. She can be contacted on womynvs@gmail.com and would like to hear, in absolute confidence, from any women who have suffered from sexual abuse in the Church.
NOTE: Out of 28 comments, 27 encouraged Virginia Saldanha, including the following from UCAN itself!
My name is Paddy and I work on the editorial team at ucanews.com. If you need to get in touch with Virginia, you can email me at paddy@ucanews.com and I will make absolutely sure your message reaches her.
NOTE: Only one anonymous respondent saw through the subterfuge. He wrote:
■The author’s email ID reveals more about the author than what is written here. “womynvs” evidently refers to “womyn” followed by the author’s initials. For the uninformed, the word “womyn is tied to the concept of radical feminism, the kind which will not tolerate the spelling “woman” because it has “man” in it. The earliest use of the term “womyn”, according to the Wikipedia essay, is attested in the Oxford English Dictionary as being the name of a 1975 “womyn’s festival” mentioned in a lesbian publication. It is absolutely essential to discern the rising strains of militant feminism within the Church from the real sociological/gender issues. Bishops beware! By “Guest”.
{2} http://www.religiousindia.org/2010/06/23/women-are-also-victims-of-clerg...
Women are also victims of clergy sex abuse
Conference of Religious India [CRI] Bulletin, June 23, 2010
Virginia Saldanha, the former executive secretary of the FABC Office of Laity and Family, raises concern over the issue of sexual abuse of women in the Church in Asia.
{As in {1} above}
{3} http://ecclesiaofwomen.ning.com/forum/topics/women-are-also-victims-of?x...
Forum of Asian Catholic Women Theologians
Women are also victims of clergy sex abuse!
Posted by Virginia Saldanha on June 29, 2010 at 4:28pm in General Discussion
{As in {1} above}
{4} MangaloreanCatholics yahoo group digest no. 2060 July 8, 2010 [Owner/moderator Ancy D’Souza Paladka a.k.a. Salu Soz, a supporter and promoter of liberal issues]
19. Women are also victims of clergy sex abuse says Virginia Saldanha
Posted by: “Allwyn Fernandes” MangaloreanCatholics@gmail.com Wed Jul 7, 201010:48 pm (PDT)
Virginia Saldanha speaks up at last, says “Women are also victims of clergy sex abuse”.
{As in {1} above}
When people like Virginia Saldanha speak up, you know the wind has turned!!!
Better late than never, but better never late! It takes greater courage to speak truth to authority when authority is powerful. Now the bishops have been weakened considerably and people are developing the courage to speak up. But still, I am glad that Virginia has decided to speak up – she did not even reply to my email earlier giving her a specific case. Now she wants people to come forward and confide in her. By all means, Virginia, we will because, as you say, “That must stop.” Amen to that!
Bishops had better beware – nothing like women roused to anger. You have treated the complaints of victims shabbily for far too long. Allwyn Fernandes, Mumbai
{5} Your site, The Association of Concerned Catholics, http://mumbailaity.wordpress.com/:
Gender sensitivity grows in Church- Then why is the Bishops name not being revealed.
http://mumbailaity.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/gender-sensitivity-grows-in-...
Posted on March 9, 2012
The below mentioned article {Gender sensitivity grows in Church Ashley D’Mello TNN} [not reproduced here- Michael] appeared in the Times of India issue ofMarch 9th 2012.
The article under it* is taken from the blog of Virginia [Saldanha].The link to the said article is also given.
If Virgina thinks so strongly about women why is she not revealing the name of the bishop who according to her fathered the child?
Some persons use information in their possession for their personal gain and glory. Lets hope that the name of the Bishop is revealed so that this statement is proved wrong.
Link to check authenticity: Women are also victims of clergy sex abuse!:
http://ecclesiaofwomen.ning.com/forum/topics/women-are-also-victims-of?x...
*{As in {1} above}
NOTE: Separate articles on Feminist Theologians to be released shortly at www.ephesians-511.net:
1. Virginia Saldanha and Ecclesia of Women in Asia: Vaginas, Orgasms, and the Ordination of Women as Priests
2. Astrid Lobo Gajiwala: Feminist Theology, Interreligious Dialogue, Hinduisation, and the Ordination of Women as Priests
3. The Indian Church’s leading Feminist Theologians and their supporters among the religious and priests.
MICHAEL PRABHU
CATHOLIC APOLOGIST
www.ephesians-511.net
CHENNAI
This was a fascinating
This was a fascinating article about a talented woman who persevered for a long time, in spite of incredible discouragement (yes, these stories are quite familiar to those of us here in the West.)---We have seen our talented sisters/colleagues treated in similar ways for many years, and it is very disappointing to see that the Church treats women this way world-wide.
It was wonderful, though, to see how much Mrs. Saldanha was able to accomplish on her own for other women, despite many obstacles. It's clear that many minds
and hearts were eased through her good works. May God bless her!
"I would not want to say that
"I would not want to say that the women in the West need to learn from us anymore than we can learn from them. What we need across the world is solidarity so that we learn from each other. ..." This sentence, and a lot of others, don't make sense. She contradicts herself all the time.
Wonderful article, thank you.
Wonderful article, thank you. I am in a good marriage, with a good guy. I am lucky. I know lots of women can say the same...lots of great guys. Looking at the broader picture though, we are seeing in our Church, efforts to turn back the clock, take away any gains women have made. In our Church, I think they feel the breakup of families is more of a problem caused by women...as Virginia said, they don't expect men to take some of the responsibilities for the breakups. Women cannot be priests-that word came down unequivocally at the same time and in the same document as sexual abuse with minors. Then we had the criticism of the theologian, Sister Elizabeth Johnson-the bishops broke all the agreed on steps for dialog in case of disagreement. Without even letting her know they were reviewing it, without talking to her in any way, they publically condemned her book. In my diocese, the Diocese of Phoenix, girls can no longer serve as alter girls at our Cathedral. The reason is said to be that since women cannot be ordained, then this privilege should be exclusively for boys. One young woman stated that she had been an altar server and found that the experience profoundly deepened her faith. Girls can be sacristans-in other words they can do the housekeeping duties but are not worthy of assisting the priest in Mass. In politics we have a long way to go. I read an article about women in politics in Canada and the need to encourage and educate young women to join in the political process. The article prompted me to see where the US stands with women in politics. Women are 52.8% of the US. There have only been approximately 275 women in the US House or Senate EVER. Iowa and Mississippi have NEVER had a woman in the US Congress. Currently there are 435 representatives and 100 senators for a total of 535. About 88 are women-16.5 %. Our faith and our country would be healthier and stronger if women were better represented.
Virginia stated: "When I attend meetings of women’s groups in the West, I feel that they look at us women from the “South” countries with pity, feeling we need their help and sympathy. But they fail to see the problems of women in their own society. There is still male domination and male superiority in the families in the West. ... But no one seems to do anything about this problem.
So having support groups of women is something perhaps our sisters in the West can learn from India. We do a lot of networking that has strengthened the women’s movement.
I ardently believe that women coming together locally and being in solidarity internationally can be a strong force to bring about change."
I absolutely agree.
Why is it always the bishops
Why is it always the bishops who block growth? Where have these men come from? How can there be no bishops of integrity? How has this happened? How will it end? Wll they suceed it destrpoying the church? So far they've done a good job.
She is right we can certainly learn form the WOmens Groups in India. We Americans do not know wvwrything and our methods are not the only ones that will work. God Bless Virginia and her work.
Wow! I'm impressed. A young
Wow! I'm impressed.
A young widow in India, Virginia Saldanha comes forward and resists the scripts that her own culture demands of her. Next, she fulfills and then surpasses the scripts that the Catholic bishops wanted from her.
Two areas in Saldanha's story have altered my own point of view:
(1) The women's movement in Asia "does not just focus on women’s rights per se but on the rights of all oppressed people, which include women. So the women’s movement critiques development models, environmental degradation, workers’ rights, economic development, and all kinds of injustice, because these directly or indirectly impinge on women’s lives"
(2) "My experience has found that poor women are ready to take action to protect their rights more than their economically well-off sisters in Asia. Women in the rich and middle class often do not want to rock the boat when it comes to family status and appearances, and therefore they will tolerate oppression to save the family name"
Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement, died last month. As I study her life, I am surprised to find that she was able to link tree planting (and protecting the environment) with women's empowerment in just the very issues that Saldanha names in Asia. Moreover, her movement characteristically found the greatest movers and shakers among women who had most to lose if things continued unchanged, namely, the marginalized poor.
I marvel that we are all enriched by bold women like this! God be praised!
Aaron
Delighted to read Verginia's
Delighted to read Verginia's candid interview. Honest and direct - reflects her years of sincere and hard work for the Church and for women's rights.
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