Quirky Year End 2018

This is my last column this year, so I am reflecting on what 2018 means to the politics of women in the Catholic church, which I have made my “beat” on this blog. It will be idiosyncratic, the first definition of which is “quirky.” Yep, that’s me.

The 101 women who will be serving in the House of Representatives moved the needle four points, to 23.4% of the total and 37.6%of the Democrats. On October 20, I wrote about the American Woman in Politics series on CNN and I had to see how those candidates fared. 

Now I cannot read an article on this Year of the Woman without reading about Lucy McBath, who was in the CNN series. She won the House seat for Georgia that Jon Ossoff tried for in an earlier special election. She won fighting for gun control with a powerful story: her son had been killed. She won as a black woman, benefiting from and contributing to Stacey Abrams’ campaign for governor.

Abrams didn’t win, but she came so very close and proved how tough she is. Paulette Jordan didn’t win for governor in Idaho, either, but as a member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, she broke another boundary just by putting herself forward. Though they were not mentioned in theCNN series, five other women were elected as governors for the first time, and four others were re-elected.

In my quirky way, I see governors like bishops; they actually run things. They put policies into effect over a big area. They are terrific models of women’s leadership. And wouldn’t you know, Phyllis Zagano proposes that women be appointed to dioceses that are currently without bishops. In an article in NCR, she notes that a lay man has such an appointment, and explains the canon law. SEPA WOC considers me their bishop – just saying, I’m available.

I think House members are like the women who should have been present at the synod on youth in far greater numbers; they are the voices of the people. That synod was overshadowed by the sex abuse crisis, which I have addressed many times in the last six months. I will add information about another Voices of Faith (VoF) conference in Rome to what I wrote last week.

You remember that at their spring conference, Mary McAleese of Ireland opened up a conversation on the role of women in the church, which I wrote about on March 10. This time, VoF focused on the abuse of women. On November 30 Robert Mickens in La Croix International reports on the stories of three women speakers: Barbara Dorris, whom you may know from her work with SNAP in the US; Rocio Figueroa of Peru, who was a leader in the “Sodalicio” lay movement there; and Doris Wagner of Germany, who was a member of “The Work,” an institute of consecrated life. Each was abused; none was listened to when she reported it. Each became an activist. Each could be a bishop.

Voices of Faith made recommendations to the organizing committee of next February’s meeting in Rome between Pope Francis and the presidents of world’s bishops’ conferences, according to Mickens the next week. They ask for transparency about who’s coming and what’s to be discussed before, during, and after, including any documents. And they ask:

“Diverse voices of women survivors and advocates should be invited to participate and be heard at this meeting. Therefore a dedicated time allocation should be given for women’s voices… (they) are crucial to any credible efforts to stop and prevent abuse.” …
The organization’s founder and managing director, Chantal Götz, announced at the Nov. 27 event that the group will be launching a global digital campaign next January that will “focus on un-silencing women and highlighting that progress will never be achieved if we remain silent.”
“This campaign will be a catalyst for change; a movement that becomes too loud to ignore,” she said.
“It will uncover stories from all over the world, fighting for the same thing as we are today in this room, but on a global level united in one voice. Women have a role to play in leadership for the future of our Church, for its survival and for our daughters. The time for change is now,” Götz concluded.

Mickens vigorously supports this effort, noting that their suggestions, “which would be normal in most other organizations, sound daring when applied to the Catholic Church.” He may be too kind to other groups, but he’s right about the church. Keep watching, especially for the international input. And Götz could be a bishop, too, like many of the leaders in church reform movements.

And a final note: in Connecticut, a bishop has appointed a woman to lead a parish, under the rules Zagano details. Dr. Eleanor Sauers (really well-qualified with a PhD from Fordham’s graduate school of religion and religious education – why is that not a surprise?) has “decision-making authority over a team of priests who will be responsible for sacramental ministry,” according to the Brooklyn Tablet. What a shame that that final responsibility is denied her – yet what an opportunity for her to model the church of the future. This kind of delegation of authority may be what’s already done in “priestless” parishes around the country, but the prominence Bishop Frank Caggiano has given to this decision makes a statement about lay and specifically women’s leadership that has not been so explicit before. Get ready to be a bishop, Eleanor!