"WOMEN’S EQUALITY IN THE CHURCH IS NO LONGER NEGOTIABLE" By: Mary E. Hunt

http://religiondispatches.org/womens-equality-in-the-church-is-no-longer-negotiable/
Bridget Mary's Response:

Outstanding analysis by prominent feminist theology Mary Hunt! Read the whole article at link above. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

“Champagne corks did not pop on either side of the Atlantic on April 16, 2015 when the Vatican and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious announced the end of the Doctrinal Assessment of LCWR, but there was certainly shared relief that this sorry chapter in church history is closed.
The Vatican insisted, and the women agreed, to a thirty-day moratorium on discussing the final document so it will be some time before concrete information emerges. Even this small matter demonstrates what I think is the most important takeaway: pushing back against unjust authority can work, but it does not change the fundamental power equation.

Without structural changes to a top heavy, patriarchal institution, there is little to prevent a repeat of this kind of abuse, waste of resources, or worse.Catholics can do better and we deserve better…”


..." new models of church are not rocket science but the stuff of many people’s contemporary experience, including many people in religious communities. We learned in this instance from women religious that they operate out of egalitarian power models, that they are deeply reliant on prayer and sacraments (some of which they celebrate themselves but let’s not go there), and when left alone by patriarchs, go about their world-changing work of love and justice because of their faith.


Replicating that way of being church in many and varied circumstances, including families, base communities, and parishes, will bring Catholics into line with other Christians, with other spiritual people of good will, and with the authentic mission of the church. It is not that hard and it is already going on.


Here’s hoping that the end of an unwarranted investigation might be the beginning of a new kind of Catholicism. There is no excuse for anything less."

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