Women in the Catholic Church

The 2015 Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum shows that the Philippines is the seventh among the top ten countries in which the gap between women and men is narrowest specifically in terms of economic opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.  In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines ranks first, followed by New Zealand and Australia.

Although the Philippines is one of the better places in the world to be a woman, especially to be a college-educated and wealthy woman, there are many poor Filipinas whose opportunities are very limited in our predominantly Roman Catholic country.  Discrimination and violence against poor women persist, partly because of age-old cultural practices and prejudices that institutional religions have somewhat ignored or reinforced.

According to a local proverb, “A mirror and a woman are fragile valuables.”  Another proverb goes further, “once broken, a woman, like a mirror, can never be put together again.”  In 2008, the DaKaTeo (Catholic Theological Society of the Philippines) organized a Conference on sexual violence against women.  That Conference pondered on the persistence of sexual violence, and how families and communities, Church and theology, help or hinder in the healing of survivors and in holding accountable perpetrators like, among others, predators in clerical clothing.

Thru the centuries and in our times, how has Church and theology promoted, neglected, or rejected the belief that women and men are equally valuable and equally fragile?  How has Church and theology helped or hindered in the healing of women and men who have been broken, if not shattered, by sexism and patriarchy?  Or using words from the DaKaTeo vision statement, have Church practices and pronouncements been fair to women and inclusive of them, and what can be done to bridge persistent gaps between women and men in terms of opportunities to share gifts for the good of the Church and its mission? 

For a specific example, how should we interpret those portions in Amoris Laetitia, the latest apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, in which he speaks of the necessity of the “feminine genius” and “feminine abilities” of the mother and the “clear and serene masculine identity” of the father in order to create “the environment best suited to the growth of the child” (A.L. 173-175)?

 

While the papal document admits “a certain flexibility of roles and responsibilities” between the mother and the father, should we welcome the suggestion that there is some immutable essence to gender identity in the Christian household, which is the ecclesia domestica, the Church in the home, and if so, what are the implications for the mission and identity of the laity, the majority faithful?  These are among the many questions about which pastors, theologians, and leaders among the majority and minority faithful have to engage in sustained dialogue.

5 Days of Awe (5 Araw ng Pagkamangha)

Sa dagat ng mga katawan,
bumabad mga Filipino at nagpaulan,
upang mukha't ngiti niya'y masulyapan.

In a sea of bodies
immersed the Filipino under the rain,
to catch a glimpse of his smiling face.

New Evangelization

New Evangelization is the mission to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ with renewed fervor and to create and use new expressions and new methods in proclaiming the Good News.  New Evangelization sustains and does not change the salvific sufficiency of the Gospel, as “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
 
New expressions and methods in evangelization are necessary owing to these signs of the times: the globalization of information and communication and the ageing of the clergy and their steadily diminishing numbers in the older churches of Europe and North America.  With increasing access of masses of people to means of interactive communication, there is increasing discontent with one-way communication and authoritarian leadership in many parts of the world.  “Modern man is rebelling against paternalism in every sphere of life” (Theodore Wedel).
 
Old methods that involve unidirectional communication from top to bottom are giving way to methods that are interactive and dialogical.  New Evangelization is dialogical in its approach to other cultures, religions, and realms of expertise.  The dialogical way implies a humble Church, which recognizes its faults and imperfections and seeks the help of other cultures, religions, disciplines, and experts towards a better understanding of itself and the world. 
 
As one Vatican II document puts it: “Nowadays when things change so rapidly and thought patterns differ so widely, the Church needs to step up this exchange [with different cultures] by calling upon the help of people who are living in the world, who are expert in its organizations and its forms of training, and who understand its mentality, in the case of believers and nonbelievers alike” (Gaudium et Spes 44).
 
In dialogue with the natural and social sciences, the Church has developed a better understanding of the human condition.  In the process new expressions have been created by discerning believers and leaders among which is “integral evangelization.”  This new expression is a summary of a deep belief that the Gospel benefits the whole human person (body, mind and spirit), all human practices (political, economic, ecological, cultural, educational, and spiritual) and the whole of creation, “which waits in eager expectation for the sons [and daughters] of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19).  Thus, every field of human activity, which affects ecological and social environments, is a field of evangelization, which bears the Gospel as leading source of visionary light. 
 
With integral evangelization, the Gospel is understood as a divine gift to the whole body of humankind with the whole of creation.  In the Philippines, integral evangelization requires a Church transformed into a “Church of the Poor,” a Church that is pro-poor for the sake of the common good and God’s Reign.  In such a renewed Church, “the Church will not only evangelize the poor…the poor in the Church will themselves become evangelizers.  Pastors will learn to be with, work with and learn from the poor.” (PCP II Document, 132)

Politics is a priority area of New Evangelization in the Philippines because, while politics can lead people to the common good, it has dehumanized many Filipinos by entrapping them in practices and procedures that violate or degrade human dignity.  Politics should protect and not degrade human dignity, which flows from God’s decision to create human beings, male and female, in the divine “image” as co-creators who also serve as guardians “over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:27-28).

Other examples of new expressions that will be helpful for the New Evangelization are “empowerment of the laity,” “empowerment of the poor,” and “inter-generational justice.”  More new expressions will emerge as new dialogical methods will be proposed, pursued, tried and tested.

 
New Evangelization carries the hope of creative fidelity to the Spirit of Christ and the promise of an abundant harvest of holiness and joy in the Church and justice and peace in the world.

Past Presidents Help

Below are excerpts from inaugural addresses of some past Philippine presidents. Perhaps they can help incoming Pres. Noynoy Aquino, his advisers, and conscientious citizens in forging a consensus on the vision and policies our nation needs. The excerpts are taken from "...So Help Us God: The Presidents of the Philippines and Their Inaugural Addresses" by J. Eduardo Malaya and Jonathan Malaya (Manila: Anvil, 2004).
"Democracy becomes meaningless if it fails to satisfy the primary needs of the common man, if it cannot give him freedom from fear and freedom from want. His happiness and security are the only foundations on which a strong republic can be built. His happiness and security will be foremost among ths goals of my administration.
"We must develop the national economy so that it may better satisfy the material needs of our people. The benefits of any economic or industrial program shall be channeled first to our common people, so that their living standards shall be raised." (Ramon Magsaysay, 30 December 1953)
"The Government will continue its low-cost housing projects and its land redistribution and resettlement program. We shall exert greater effort so that more of our people will eventually acquire homes and lands that they can call their own. Home- and land-owning citizens possess not only a sense of stability and contentment but also the practical patriotism to live for, and if necessary, die for home and country. For upon the face of the patriot must have shone first the firelight of home." (Carlos P. Garcia, 30 December 1957)
"We assume leadership at a time when our nation is in the throes of a moral degeneration unprecedented in our national history. Never within the span of human memory has graft permeated every level of government. The solution of this problem shall call for the exercise of the tremendous persuasive power of the presidency. I shall consider it, therefore, my duty to set a personal example in honesty and uprightness. We must prove that ours is not a nation of hopeless grafters but a race of good and decent men and women." (Diosdado Macapagal, 30 December 1961)
"We must discard complacency without embracing panic; rely on our efforts alone without rejecting the support of others. Let not the future observe that being virile in body we multiplied in number, without increasing in spirit. I do not demand of you more than I shall demand of myself and of government. So seek not from government what you cannot find in yourself.
"In the solution of our problems, the government will lead. But the first duty that confronts us all is how to continue to grow in this nation now a new heart, a new spirit that springs out of the belief that while our dangers be many, and our resources few, there is no problem that cannot be surmounted given but the will and courage. Let every man be his own master, but let him first, and above all, be his own charge." (Ferdinand Marcos, 2nd inaugural, 30 December 1969)
"I would like to appeal to everyone to work for national reconciliation, which is what Ninoy came back home for. I would like to repeat that I am very magnanimous in victory. So I call on all those countrymen of ours who are not yet with us to join us at the earliest possible time so that together we can rebuild our beautiful country." (Corazon Aquino, 25 February 1986)
"Our people spoke of their faith that we Filipinos can be greater than the sum of all the problems that confront us; that we can climb higher than any summit we have already scaled.
"We cannot but interpret the vote as a summons for us to unite and face the future together. The people are not looking for scapegoats, but for the basic things to get done--and get done quickly." (Fidel V. Ramos, 30 June 1992)
"Ngayon pa lamang, ang mga kamag-anak ko ay nilalapitan na ng kung sinu-sino. Kung anu-anong deal at kickback ang ipinapangako.
"Binabalaan ko sila. Walang kaibigan, walang kumpare, walang kamag-anak o anak na maaaring magsamantala sa ngayon. At ngayon pa lamang sinasabi ko sa inyo, nag-aaksaya lamang kayo ng panahon. Huwag ninyo akong subukan." (Joseph Estrada, 30 June 1998)