When we were children, authority figures could give us an explanation for something and, because they were authority figures, we would likely accept whatever they told us as being true and real. While growing up in ethnic communities, unless given a reason to question what we are told, we are more than likely to simply believe it. When told that the warts on my hands were caused by picking up toads, I quit playing with toads. When my grandmother told me that to get rid of them, I needed to wrap potato peelings around then and leave them on, I tried it. Many good laughs were had by the other adults, out of my futile attempt at the potato cure. However, I came to disbelieve–because it didn’t work.
Not that prejudice no longer exist, unfortunately it is still very much alive, but I also grew up in an era of racial segregation, stereotyping, and prejudice. Fortunately, I lived next to the Black’s residential area; having not been taught prejudice, some were my playmates and friends as a child. But, the racist myths couldn’t make it into my belief system–because I knew better.
During the McCarthy era, all I ever heard from the pulpit was how evil Communists were. They were all doomed to the fires of hell (as were the heretic Protestants.) So, it must be so! Except…the Methodist girl in my seventh grade class was pretty nice and her father, the Methodist Bishop, was really nice, too. Except…while stationed in Germany with the 11th Airborne Division, I met a student from the University of Munich who was a bright, caring person, who happened to be a Communist from Stendahl in the East Zone. So, something wasn’t quite right–but would a Priest tell an untruth?
What I’m leading up to is in this same vein. We Catholics (and others) were taught with authority that women could not be ordained as Priests, Bishops, and Deacons–because Jesus only chose men.
“If you don’t believe the Priest, look it up in the Bible; there it is, Peter, a man; James, a man; John, a man. You don’t see an Alice or a Nancy, do you?”
“Nope, you’re right, none there. But what about all these other women–Mary, Mary of Magdala, Martha–they seemed to be followers of Jesus. Other than John, the women stood by Jesus at the foot of the cross. Where were the men?”
“Look, you don’t see a single woman in any of the pictures of the ‘Last Supper’.”
Then a woman from the back of the room muttered, “That doesn’t mean they weren’t there. Whoever heard of a bunch of men cooking and serving their own dinner?” (Some laughter.)
So, why did I believe all this nonsense and not other nonsense? Because the source was credible to me, and my experience did not contradict it. Perhaps it is because I just want to believe it; or, maybe I don’t want to believe something [else.]
For example, I don’t want to believe my business partner is cheating me out of money. After all, we’re good friends, and I trust him. But when the business phone bill comes in, with a month overdue charge he insisted he had paid, I have to check with the phone company. The phone company tells me to bring the canceled check. There is no canceled check to be found. Then comes our office landlord. Partner Bob had assured me we were all paid up. The landlord said we were three months behind, and Bob had always given him a story that the money was coming. There is nothing quite like some unpleasant facts to shake up our belief [system.] Sadly, it is an all-too-common experience.
So, when the Roman Catholic Bishops concealed the pedophile scandal, their deception called into question not only their credibility, but also their moral values. They would rather subject more children to sexual abuse, than admit that some of the men they had ordained to the Priesthood were sexual predators. WWJD? [What would Jesus do?]
His whole career was spent on exposing hypocrisy. To make matters worse, some men pleaded they were “just following orders” [regarding the cover-up] from the Vatican, issued by, none other than, the present Pope. With damaged credibility and moral authority, instead of an investigation of themselves, the Vatican launched an investigation of the nuns!
These same men teach, and I believe correctly so, that health care is a right and that no person should be denied any necessary healthcare. However, they let it be known they oppose President Obama’s healthcare reform, because some Federal tax money might fund abortion. Catholics United for Health Care carefully researched the Senate bill and concluded this was a false accusation and urged Cardinal Francis George to correct the situation. He did not.
However, the nuns did, through their organizations NETWORK and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The 45,000 excess deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage are meaningful to them (Harvard study by Drs. Steffie Woolhandler, M.D.; David Himmelstein, M.D. and Andrew P. Wilper, M.D.)
These nuns are the women at the foot of the cross. They may not be following the Bishop’s “orders,” because they are not afraid. Unlike the “only men chosen by Jesus,” all but one deserting him, one selling out, and one denying him, these women went all the way with Jesus to the foot of the cross.
So I have to question another old belief. Would women Bishops have covered up the pedophile scandal or protected the children? I believe that by far and large, women Bishops would protect the children at all cost. Would women Priests have kept silent if they thought a male Priest was an abuser of children? I don’t think so.
I believe Jesus called women as well as men to serve in leadership positions, then and now. That God will not allow the Roman Catholic Church to ordain women as Priest, Deacon or Bishop is another silly belief I’ve long ago discarded. We need them. “Be not afraid.”
(Dr. Donart is an ordained Roman Catholic Deacon serving over twenty-five years.)