The Church, Pedophilia & More Sexism

You probably already know this, but I believe in equality. I want to see equality in the education system, I want to see equality in the distribution of resources amongst different socio-economic backgrounds across the country, I even wish to see equality for people who serve jail time and are re-entered into society. But I never would have desired for Catholic pedophile priests and Catholic clergywomen to be made equal and both accused of being guilty of the gravest crimes in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church. Well this is exactly what has happened last Thursday, when the Vatican issued a proclamation to address both of these issues.

At times, tradition irritates the hell out of me (no pun intended). This is one of those times. While I am happy that the proclamation is finally doing something about the priests who choose to steal the innocence of little children, I am disappointed that due to traditionalist values the catholic church has decided to remain in the stone ages and not allow women to become priests. The occurrence of inequality is at least fathomable when you can blame it on the mistakes of people’s prejudgments and poor decisions. But inequality is unequivocally senseless when the qualities people are born with become the basis for its existence. Yes, this is corroborated by what we find on many non-profit mission statements, “we do not discriminate due to race, gender, or sexual orientation.”

“Pope John Paul II, using his full authority as the successor of Peter, states categorically that the Church cannot — not will not, but cannot — ordain women, now or in the future. The Catechism of the Catholic Church sets it out clearly, quoting the decree Inter insigniores: Only a baptized man receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible. “

HOLD UP. So let me get this straight, the catholic church is not going to (and cannot?) ordain a female because Jesus had 12 male apostles, and because those apostles only chose men to replace them? Hmmm, how many things can I compare this illogic to?

1. That’s like saying Lebron James can’t leave the Cavs because Michael Jordan never left the Bulls (even though he did).
2. That’s like saying slavery never existed because the constitution says all men are created equal.
3. That’s like saying only carpenters, fishermen, and tax collectors can be followers of Christ because those of the occupations of the disciples HE chose.

Like I said, tradition irritates the hell out of me. But let’s not shame the Roman Catholic Church’s sexism without examining the sexism that exists in other parts of the world (yes, even here in America. In Afghanistan marital rape was legalized, in China infanticide robs women of their agency is raising their own children, in Saudi Arabia forced marriage is still accepted, and here in the United States women of color only earn 66 cents to every dollar a man makes. Moral of the story: we have a long way to go until women have equality in this country and around the world. But then again, you probably already you knew that.