Saturday, January 25, 2020
Women Priests Essay -- essays research papers fc
     If one was to take a step back and look at our society as a whole one would see that women’s rights have changed dramatically over the last century. Women are no longer expected to get married, have children, and stay at home to take care of their family. Women have left the home and entered the work force. There have been many laws passed to prevent the discrimination of women and to make sure that they are treated equally.      Certainly, one can say that there is still a struggle between the sexes over the organization of modern society. Society has indeed embraced a gender war of sorts through the ages which has culminated in a outcome that declares the male the victor. One example of this is that women are not allowed to be ordained as priests in the Catholic Church.      As a child, I attended Catholic schools until high school. I was instructed by mostly nuns. I can remember that when the priest came into the room we would have to stand up as a sign of respect towards our faith. As I got older, I began to think that nuns are part of the religious life but we don’t have to treat them with this same respect. During my catholic education, I was taught that God created us in his image and likeness. If this is true, and as Christians we believe that Christ is the fullest manifestation of God, how can they say that only men image God? Are women incapable of revealing God?      A hundred years ago, women had little standing in the Catholic Church, like in society in general. Women were not allowed to: receive communion during their monthly periods and after giving birth to a child they needed to be purified before re-entering a church building. Women were strictly forbidden to touch sacred items such as the chalice, the paten, or the alter linen. They certainly could not distribute holy communion. While in church, women need to have their heads veiled at all times. Women were also barred from entering the sanctuary except for cleaning purposes, reading Sacred Scripture from the pulpit, preaching, singing in a church choir, being alter servers, becoming full members of confraternities and organizations of the laity, and most importantly women were barred from receiving Holy Orders.      In our time today with the new awarenes... ...you were to walk into a Catholic Church this Sunday you would most likely see a women on the alter. However this women would not be weary the fancy vestments standing behind the alter. Women have come a long way, but until a women is able to be ordained as a priest, Catholic Churches will continue to play on gender roles.          Although I am not and never will be interested in becoming a priest myself, I feel that excluding women from the priesthood because of their sex is discriminatory.                Bibliography Bartusch, D., Matsueda, R. â€Å"Gender, reflected appraisals, and labeling a cross-group test of an interactionst theory of delinquency.†Social Forces (1996). Greeley, A. (1984). Angry Catholic Women. Illinois: The Thomas More Press. Ruether, R. (1985). Women-Church, Theology and Practice. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. Sweeney, T. (1992). A Church Divided. NewYork: Prometheus Books. Swidler, L. (1977). Women Priest; A Catholic Commentary on the Vatican Declaration. New York: Paulist Press.     Â
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