www.fsrinc.org/users/mary-e-hunt,
February 14, 2013
A feminist perspective on Pope resigning
By Mary E. Hunt
Patriarchy
will get unimaginable amounts of free publicity for the next month as the Roman
Catholic Church reshuffles the papal deck. Media commentators will fawn over
the proceedings triggered by the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Unrivaled displays of kyriarchy will be beamed into our homes as reporters explain
piously the ancient rituals of a men’s club cloning its own head. It will
be hard to ignore and difficult to make sense of, even though the outcome is
clear. When the smoke subsides after the Conclave, there will still be a single
man at the helm.
As a media extravaganza full of color and pageantry, the rituals will be hard
to beat. The whole package will serve to reinforce the patriarchal patterns
of a religious tradition whose billion adherents deserve better, patterns that
are alive and well beyond the walls of Rome. No woman will have a voice or a
vote in the Conclave. Sisters and consecrated laywomen will care for the elderly
pope, but otherwise this is a men’s scene without any questions asked.
The explicit—not just implicit, but explicit—message is that men are
in charge: men confect the sacred mysteries, men decide whom to elect, men pray,
men reflect the divine, men have it all under their control. This carries over
into the larger culture as well. It is no wonder violence against women is epidemic.
Sensible feminist friends ask why I worry about such things. I reply that some
women’s birth control and abortions are at stake; some young LGBTIQ people
will commit suicide because of this crowd. Abuse survivors live with the consequences
of acts perpetrated by priests and covered up by these bishops, cardinals, and
now popes (plural). Sounds dramatic, but sadly it is true. Moreover, male entitlement
in the world, including the violence done to women and girls, is baptized and
confirmed by this symbol system.
It has the pernicious impact of making the male-only power model seem holy.
Ditto for the racist, heterosexist dimensions as well, not to mention the Euro-centrism
and moneyed assumptions that underlie the proceedings.
So how should feminists deal with the endless hype of the next month? I have
a four-part strategy that I will be following.
1. Call foul on the process
First, this is not about a pope but a process. We do not get a lot of windows
of opportunity when the press is attentive to things theological.
The issue is not a new pope, whether from a developing country or not. In fact,
foisting a sinking ship on a person whose community has been marginalized is
an old trick, and it does not work. Rather, what is needed is a wholesale deconstruction
of a hierarchal church and the reconstruction of a community that is based on
radical equality.
This is a mouthful in a sound bite era. But the important thing is to call foul
on the process. When a few men vote without accountability to anyone and when
power is centered at the top, the whole framework and process are wrong. If
a pope can resign and his colleagues make up the rest as they go along, then
a structure can be redesigned. Tradition has no claim on injustice.
2. Change the subject
The outcome of this election is pretty clear from the outset. Handicapping the
race to the tiara is a parlor game, not a serious theo-political analysis. Cardinal
electors have been handpicked to reflect a conservative ideology. Even if they
decide on a candidate from a developing country, the chances are good that he
(no women, remember) will be cut from the same cloth.
The best approach is to deflect such discussion and focus instead on the needs
of the world—economic, ecological, and social. Imagine a billion people
really empowered to do justice. We could make a real difference.
Instead, if Catholics are left to think that their leaders will do justice work
for them because they do everything else (like vote for top leadership) that
energy will never gather. The world will be the worse for it.
3. Be creative
Now is a time to think the edgiest thoughts and articulate them broadly. I will
start.
I imagine that this is the end of the papacy as we know it. Gary Wills in his
new book "Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition" (Amazon)
sketches the end of priesthood. The pope was a priest last time I checked, ergo
the end of the papacy as currently conceived. Imagine that.
It is time for this global institution, this multinational business called Catholicism
to be horizontally integrated with teams of ministers and managers, teachers,
and preachers. Beginning in local communities, every adult member would have
voice and vote with younger people brought along to participate as their abilities
allow. Jobs would rotate so no one would have to be stuck with one task forever.
Take a lesson from the retiring pope who is now hinting that he may start to
frequent his favorite Roman restaurants again when he is freed from his tasks!
Other churches and many religious communities operate this way and it works
just fine.
4. Embrace humor
Religion is a common human experience, which reflects both deeply held beliefs
and absurd nonsense. As such, it is rich fodder for humor. The humor need not
be nasty or cynical, but it can be hysterical as we enjoy the foibles of our
shared humanity. I say laugh until you cry at some of this stuff that "Saturday
Night Live" writers could not make up.
Read feminist comedian Kate
Clinton on the papal resignation.
See what cartoonists
are saying.
Hey, maybe the Pope resigned because he wants to get married, how do I know!
He is resigning on the feast day of Pope
Hilarius.
Stop me!
The patriarchal religious media-show-on-steroids will play out in the month
ahead. Left unquestioned, it will reinforce and reinscribe the worst forms of
privilege and domination. But if feminists and friends raise tough questions
along the way, we will have seized the moment for some education and social
change.
Mary E. Hunt, Ph.D.
Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER)
8121 Georgia Ave. #310
Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA
301 589-2509 | 301 589-3150 fax
mhunt@hers.com Skype: maryhunt1
www.waterwomensalliance.org