Sex, marriage and the Catholic church
It’s not easy being a feminist and Catholic, and a Vatican power struggle could make things worse
While ruling out women's ordination, Pope Francis has been quietly insisting on the appointment of more women to positions of influence within the Vatican. Photograph: Daniel Dal Zennaro/AFP/Getty Images
Tina Beattie
The Guardian, Wednesday 8 October 2014 15.54 EDT
A battle is raging for the soul of the Catholic church, with influential cardinals increasingly open in their opposition to Pope Francis over issues including divorce, remarriage, contraception and same-sex relations.
Disagreement over these issues is likely to come to a head over the next few days, with the bishops gathering in Rome for an extraordinary synod on the family, called by the pope. Unusually, the Vatican sent out a questionnaire ahead of the synod seeking the views of Catholics around the world on family, marriage and sexuality. The hierarchy has been reluctant to publish the responses, but it is clear from their commentaries that many Catholics do not follow the church’s teachings.
Sometimes the teachings are rejected or ignored – such as the prohibition of artificial birth control and pre-marital sex – but sometimes people want a more compassionate and constructive approach to those who respect the teachings but have failed to live up to them, for example in the case of divorced and remarried Catholics. The central message of the Christian faith is, after all, not that of moral perfection but of forgiveness, mercy and redemption.
For those who take for granted the values of progressive liberalism, the Catholic church seems like a creakingly anachronistic institution. As a feminist I am treated with incredulity by those who cannot understand why I remain within the church, particularly when I am repeatedly censored because I speak out on issues such as same-sex marriage and women’s ordination.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/08/catholic-church-sex-marriage-vatican-pope-francis
