For the first time, over 160 Catholic bishops will congregate in Jamshedpur next week under the aegis of the CBCI to deliberate on ‘empowerment’ of women.
But priesthood for fair sex is strict no-no in the Catholic church
NEW DELHI: For the first time, over 160 Catholic bishops will congregate in Jamshedpur next week under the aegis of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) to deliberate on ‘empowerment’ of women.
The bishops have taken up the theme ‘empowerment of women in the Church and society’ and will discuss ways and means to empower women in administrative structures and provide them economic and employment opportunities.
But the rigid Catholic Church is not yet ready for female priesthood. Even as they waxed eloquent on the need for gender equality, the bishops said the empowerment they envisage does not include the “ritualistic” aspect.
“This is for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church in India that a theme on empowerment of women has been chosen as the focus of the plenary assembly of bishops,” Stanislaus Fernandes, secretary general of the CBCI, the apex body of the Catholic Church in India, said on Friday.
“The biennial general body meeting (from February 13 to 20) will discuss various aspects of the theme such as sources of inspiration, the contemporary scenario of gender relations, forces behind gender inequality and the role of the Church in facilitating empowerment of women,” he said.
Asked why the Church was still male-dominated and why women could not become priests, Fernandes said, “Ordination of women is only one aspect, it is a matter of religious belief, we did not want to enter into this aspect (of ordination).”
Not endorsing the demand for women priesthood, Delhi archbishop Vincent Concessao said, “It is human dignity, that is the basis of equality. We are all baptized but functions are different, don’t look at the Church as an organisation, as Christians we are all equal.”
The fear factor in the Vatican of a female priesthood was more visible during the reign of the late Pope John Paul II. In his 1994 apostolic letter, the Pope had declared “the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women”.
Father Joseph said women’s ordination will not figure in the plenary. “No single nation Church can decide on this.”
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