40 YEARS SINCE THE COUNCIL

by Pascual Chávez Villanueva

R

THE FACE

THE FEMININE CHURCH

The Church gives thanks to God for the manifestations of the feminine “genius,” for every woman, and for what constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity” (Gio. Paolo II – 29/06/1995)

_WWWLWWLWWWoman represents the feminine face and dimension of Christianity. One often hears talk of discrimination against her by the Church. It is forgotten – not always in good faith – that the way of thinking and the laws that have defended woman’s dignity and the family for almost two thosand years had their origin in Christianity. It is true nonetheless that we are still the heirs of a history that has made woman’s progress difficult, ignoring her dignity, restricting her rights and not infrequently marginalising her even to the extent of enslaving her. This has prevented her from being fully herself and had deprived the human race of her spiritual treasures. Even some “Churchmen” have not been without prejudice and reservations regarding woman and John Paul II strongly condemned these errors. Who should be blamed for these wrongs? It is difficult to say. The origin of many ways of doing things and of some customs are shrouded in the darkness of passed ages.

 In the Old Testament woman was valued for her role as mother. To be left without children was a dishonour and a misfortune. Such a way of thinking had its consequences: a woman lived her life subject to her husband and if she had the misfortune to be left a widow she was relegated to the margins of society. In the New Testment, the life and teaching of Jesus represented a revolution. Not only did he preach the dignity of woman, but as St Paul points out, in Christ all differences were eliminated “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female” (Gal 3, 28). In his attitude Jesus went against the tide in a society that had reduced woman to a “nightmare”: he allowed himself to be followed and served by women, he pardoned the woman taken in adultery telling her not to sin again, he stayed in the house of Martha and Mary, reserved his first apparition after the Resurrection to a woman, and declared the equality of man and woman in matrimony. In the Roman world which discriminated against children, slaves, widows, the elderly, the sick, there was approval for the subjection of women who were unable to make a will, to testify in a court of law, and were always under the control of father or husband. If men’s infidelity was considered an “accident” that of women was an outrage, and the punishment could even be death. It was Christianity that brought about a real cultural revolution, changing the practice of centuries. Every human being possesses an inalienable dignity, whatever the social condition, sex, race, or background. Preaching at Corinth, the cross-roads of commerce and immorality, Paul proposed the family as the first fundamental unit of society, and called on married couples to live an indissoluble union. To the Ephesians he writes that matrimony is a symbol of nothing less than the love Christ has for his Church, a love able to give life.

 Down through the centuries, even within the Church women have often been seen in a negative light. According to some mediaeval theologians when one spoke of woman one was referring to the one responsible for the original fall. There were preachers to be found who justified the subjection of women recalling that first sin that led to her being labelled the temptress. But there are also some who defend the equality of the dignity of men and women, and even elevate the latter fixing their eyes on Mary. “Isn’t the woman par excellence Mary from whom comes salvation?” St Bernard said. And certainly there have always been women who exercised a decisive influence within the Church. It is sufficient to think of the numerous collaborators named by Saint Paul in his letters, or to mention some of the first martyrs such as Agnes and Cecilia; or the mothers of important people: such as Helena mother of Constantine, Monica mother of Saint Augustine, Mamma Margaret mother of Don Bosco, or well-know foundresses or reformers such as Teresa of Avila, Maria Mazzarello; or holy Queens: Elizabeth of Hungary, Elizabeth of Portugal, etc.

 During the Renaissance Catherine of Siena exercised a great influence on Popes and rulers reminding them that a leader without human and Christian qualities would find it difficult to be of much help to his subjects. This is still relevant. No less influence was wielded by saint Brigid, mother and educator of eight children who conscious of the serious social, political and religious situation of the continent, founded the Order of the Most Holy Saviour and herself wrote its “Rule” something absolutely unheard of for a woman, thus overturning the traditional view of hierarchy. Brigid dreamed of a united Europe faithful to its Christian roots. With Catherine and Edith Stein she is a Patron of the Old Continent. Pope Wojtyła thanked God for the nature, the vocation and the mission of woman: for woman who gives birth, preparing new life in her womb; woman the mother who makes the family a home and a school of values; for woman the spouse, dedicated to the service of love and of life; for woman the worker who brings a human face to the economic and political arenas; for the consecrated woman who is a sign of the sponsorial response that God seeks from every creature; for the feminine genius that enriches the Church and the world. ■