Pope Francis just completed his first visit to the United States. His was the 6th papal visit. The other five were by Pope John Paul II, who visited five times. I like Pope Francis very much. He is down to earth. Ministering to people is his priority. Most of all I loved seeing him stop when he wanted to touch a child, someone who was disabled, poor or in need. He truly is a people’s pope so how can he be so wrong about women.
Being raised Catholic, I know the pope is seen as infallible, but he is also human. When he began his papacy, I had great hope for him. His caring, compassion and open way of looking at everyone and every situation made me think this is the pope who will let women be free of constraints then he made it clear that women could not be priests! Most women do not want to be priests, so it is not a big deal to them. Then there are a few of us who want the opportunity to make that choice. I was angry not at Pope Francis particularly but at the engrained male dominance in the Catholic Church.
Knowing that I was not permitted to be a priest, I left my beloved church in 1980 to enter a seminary in a Christian non-denominational church. I did not want to learn or adopt a new doctrine; I just wanted to be able to preach, teach, minister, marry, give the last rights and heal the sick. For fifteen years, I did just that, becoming a bishop in my new-found church, embracing men and women in our seminaries who shared a passion for ministry.
This past week I was watching Pope Francis speak at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He expressed his appreciation to the sisters of the church. I was on the treadmill at the time, and I broke into tears. It was so discouraging to me to hear Pope Francis validating women in as sisters but not priests. When he said sisters, I heard servants. I heard him tell women their place in the church.
While I support Pope Francis and know he is influencing great change in the world, he is missing a very important piece – women in the priesthood. That change would make an enormous difference and would bring support to his other priorities. Women as priests would bring feminine values to the church to balance the male perspective.
The Catholic Church is determined in this regard. A priest was removed from his parish last week for attending a conference on women becoming priests. The church often confuses cultural norms at the time of Christ with Christ’s teachings. In the time of Christ, women clearly were in submissive roles as a matter of culture not because of Christ teachings. The apostles were not all men with Mary Magdalene being a prominent apostle.
I know this is a topic in which people are sharply divided. In the end, allowing each of us free will seems to fit Catholic teachings. Man-made rules are not a matter of faith.
I have been a student of the scriptures since childhood, took classes in college and read the bible every day as a minister. For the life of me I cannot find the basis for why women cannot be priests. I will continue to minister, following my calling regardless of others inability to see that women as have callings too, each of us, in our own way, our own religion and with the God of our heart. Those choices should not be limited by man-made rules. I pray for the day women are free to be.
Rt. Rev. Kay Robinson