Women in priestly robes. Women in clerical collars. Women in collars opening local meetings with prayers. Women Bishops. Women bestowing sacraments: pronouncing marriage; forgiveness; eucharist; the belovedness of baptism.
These images, these experiences, would help to remove the icon of females as subservient, as slaves, as property of husbands and fathers, as never to rise above menial work and not deserving of education. These icons rule vast numbers of women in much of the world.
If the Vatican were to decide that the robes and rituals of sanctification were no longer exclusively for men, it would be a huge symbol of humanity and equality. Because the Roman Church numbers over one billion, the ordination of women by it would cause a seismic shift in the estimation of women everywhere, and could raise billions of women and their children from abject poverty, as many doors to work and worth would open.
The bright light of hope that this might happen has been lit by Pope Francis, who recently agreed to set up a commission to study ordaining women as Deacons in the Catholic Church..."
Image: Ordain Catholic Women, picture from Women’sOrdinationWorldwide.org
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