Feminism and Catholicism

One topic that comes up quite frequently in the Catholic church is whether or not they should make a change in the Catholic church to allow for married priests as well as female priests to make up for the shortage the Catholic church has been facing. Then I was asked how I feel, as a woman, about female oppression in the church. This is where I silently hit my head against a wall. Got to love feminism being inserted where it doesn't belong.

Why does everyone think that because women can't be priests in Catholic church, that the Catholic church oppresses women?

Women have always had a place in the church, and play an important role to spiritual education and growth. They are just as important to God without the priestly collar around their neck. Think of all the greatest saints that we, as Christians, aspire to be like. St. Therese, St. Clare, St. Bernadette, St. Jacinta, St. Anne, St. Elizabeth, St. Joan of Arc, St Catherine of Siena, St Gertrude the Great, St Theresa of Avila, St Cecilia...

There are more female saints than I can actually name. Then there is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Venerated as our spiritual Mother, as the queen of angels and saints, as our most powerful intercessor who speaks directly to her Son on our behalf when we need her prayers.

All of these women are important figures and role-models of the church. We look to them as examples of how we should be, They intercede for us when we need prayers the most.

Many of these saints, in their lives spread God's word, they evangelized, yet they were not priests. Some never even took holy orders, (like becoming a sister/nun). Yet many were Martyred for Christ, many preached God's word, all lived as God wished them to. They accomplished just as much for the love of God as any priest or nun, some... even more so.

The church herself is actually referred to by female terms and is called the BRIDE of Christ. It is not a submissive term, it is not condescending, it is not oppressive.

So women are anything but oppressed in the church. If anything they are revered. The sheer amount of female saints shows how much the church loves women. Even today, we have a purpose. Our prayers are no less powerful than a man's, a woman's sacrifice for God is no less significant than a man's. That said... It is not about us, in the end, whether male or female. It is about God and what he wants. Being female doesn't mean you're not important simply because you're not allowed to be a priest. That is about tradition, not oppression. We focus too much on this, “Anything you can do I can do better” feminine equality when it comes to religion. There are other places it's acceptable (such as equal pay for equal work), however, it does not belong in the church.

There was a reason Christ chose 12 MEN as his apostles, who eventually sent out into the world as the first priests... it didn't devalue the women who followed him, by not ordaining them as well. We can still teach others about God's love, we can still pray for others and our prayers are just as strong as an ordained priest's, we can be sisters (nuns), we can be saints.

Being a priest wouldn't make us more equal since we're already equal in God's love. Wanting to be a priest for the sake of feminism, is making this about US and about our social agendas and NOT about God.

To seek feminism for the sake of feminism, against biblical tradition removes the necessary humility, humbleness and obedience necessary to the priestly vocation. It is making you and your agenda more important than God. If you truly love the church and God, you can be a sister, you can teach Catechism, study and teach theology, speak God's word, be a prayer warrior, there are so many other ways to be of service to God outside of changing the church's views on the priesthood, which was started by Christ himself when he chose the 12 male apostles.

Priests should remain men as they are a representation of Christ, who was born MAN. Unlike what feminists and liberals would have you believe today... there is nothing ambiguous about God. God is ONE God in 3 Persons... the FATHER, the SON, and the Holy Spirit. These are masculine terms used by Christ himself to describe the Holy Trinity. Christ became MAN, Christ constantly refers to God the FATHER, the Holy Spirit was sent when Mary conceived God's Word made Flesh. There is no ambiguity. The Holy Trinity is masculine. And since the priest is a representation of Christ (God the SON), then he MUST be male.

A woman can not represent the very male Jesus.

And again, the church's hierarchy is believed to have been set by Christ himself who consecrated the all-male apostles to be the first priests. He had female followers (like Mary Magdalene, and the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha to name a few) but he ordained his male followers only. He chose the 12 apostles personally. Only Peter was said to be married, though it is believed he was a widower. The others were celibate and unmarried, like modern priests. After the betrayal of Judas, before Christ's ascension, he picked a few different MEN to be his apostles who he would in turn Ordain.

Jesus had a reason for choosing them, teaching them, then ordaining them, and not his female followers, of which he had many disciples. Jesus was a radical person by those standards back then. Not willing to stone a prostitute as was the law of Moses, flipping over tables and whipping people who were gambling and selling in the temple, speaking to a Samaritan woman when Jews and Samaritans never co-mingled. So Christ was not afraid to go against the grain of society. And since God is all knowing, if women priests were something to be praised and accepted... then Christ would have set the example by ordaining one of his beloved female disciples. Mary or Martha, Mary Magdalene... Mary, his mother who is called Blessed through the ages, would likely have been the first he ordained before ascending. That would have made it clear to all ages, that it was God's will for this to be so. Instead, This "Radical Rabble Rouser" realized exactly what the priesthood was to represent, which was HIM and his Sacrifice for us all, and thus chose all men.

It is not about oppression, it's about tradition, and trying to observe the bible. Modernization has caused a lot of trouble in religion, making religion more appeasing to man instead of asking man to make self-sacrifices to God. People want the power of the church to fight social agendas instead of spreading the word of the God. So many are trying to make religion conform so they can worship as they wish, guilt free... instead of conforming to their religion. Religion was not meant to be easy, or morally simplistic, it was never meant to lack intellectual challenge. It is about God and not bout appeasing man.

The church has no authority to change what Christ himself started. (no legitimate authority at least). Again, this is from a Traditional Catholic's perspective. I am a woman in the Catholic church and I don't feel oppressed because I understand the tradition and theology behind the roles of everyone in the church. If it is not something that attracts you, then you have to ask yourself, are you looking for religion to make you happy, or to save your soul? Then if you still don't find that in the Catholic church, instead of asking them to conform to your desires to make it tolerable for you, look into other religions. No one is forced to be Catholic. The church should not be forced to modernize based on changing social agendas.

It is not about you. It is not about Feminism. It is not about equality. It's about God and following the guidelines he set for us. If you insist that a female should be a priest simply because of Feminism... then you're doing it for love of self and not love of God.

The Rite of Confession

One favorite thing for non Catholics (and some Catholics) to attack, is the need for confession. After all, "We should go straight to God himself for only he can forgive sins"


Right?

That is not how Jesus saw it.

On the first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed onto them and said to them "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:20-23)

Reread that last line. Jesus did not say, "Tell them to go unto God and confess their sins." He told them, Whose sins YOU forgive will be forgiven.

Obviously, God is the ultimate decider on the fate of our souls, but Jesus constantly calls upon his followers (The apostles, his disciples, and in turn... us) to forgive. It is even in the Lord's prayer. It does not say, "Forgive us our trespasses and we pray you forgive those who trespass against us." Jesus taught us to say, as WE forgive those who trespass against us. He calls on US to forgive. We are all imbued with the power to forgive through the Holy Spirit.

Forgive us our trespasses as WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us. - The Lord's Prayer

Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, FORGIVE HIM. (Luke 17:3)

"Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:20-23)

Jesus never once preached that Forgiveness was out of our hands, he preached that we must be forgiving to those truly repentant.

So where does it say we need to go to a priest rather than directly to God?

Of course you can go directly to God. In fact, all the priest does is remind us of God's love and mercy and that if we're truly repentant we are forgiven... then he reminds us of what Jesus told the adulteress he saved from stoning. "Go and sin no more." then the priest will give penance to do to reflect on our sins, on God's forgiveness, and how we can make changes in our lives to be better.

Confession is not a get out of jail free card. You can't sin, go to confession and say "sorry", then go back to sinning knowing you'll just say sorry again the following week. Confession is about being repentant. You must be repentant and want to change your sinful ways. you must want to be a better person. We're weak, and confession gives us the chance to talk our sins out with someone who serves God, like the disciples, hear ideas on where we've gone wrong and how to fix it, and hear that God can forgive us if we are truly sorry. But it does not work if you're just there to ease your guilt.

But again you ask, why not just go straight to God? Why humiliate yourself to a priest and tell him your faults?

We should feel humiliated for our transgressions, and we need to humble ourselves to show we are truly sorry. 

In the Letter of James Chapter 5 verse 16... he says "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another." It is about humbling ourselves and showing true humility and sorrow for the acts which hurt God. God already knows our sins. So to show humility and humbleness, we confess to a priest, who is a disciple of Jesus, who has dedicated all that he is, his life and soul to God.

We humble ourselves to this follower of Christ, and he, in the authority Jesus gave, offers forgiveness if he truly believes we are repentant... and as Jesus said... if he forgives our sins... then we are forgiven.

There is nothing wrong with praying directly to God, but there is something sacred in the rite of confession. We humble ourselves, the priest, who has studied the bible and theology and interpretations of Christ's words from the top apologists of our time and times past, will explain to us the ways we can get back onto the path of the righteous, we are given penance we must do to further heal the wounds the sin caused on our soul... and we are given a chance to start anew. There is nothing more powerful than to hear the words, "You are forgiven, go and sin no more".

Confession is biblical, we are all called to forgive, and confession to a priest is just. It is in keeping with the bible.

If he repents... forgive him.

Those whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them.

Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another.

Forgive us our sins, as WE FORGIVE those who trespass against us.