The review of reviews. Will women desert the Catholic Church? This is the question that runs through the latest issue of Data, Church, World (Italian from Women, Church, World), monthly supplement of theRoman Observatorythe Vatican newspaper. “The relationship between women and the Church is complicated and difficult: many leave, many stay but demand incisive changes, others place themselves critically 'on the threshold'”, summarizes in her editorial Rita Pinci, the editor-in-chief of the monthly.
In this informative and balanced dossier, published before the second general assembly of the synod on the future of the Church (from October 2 to 27), several taboo subjects are raised, from the female priesthood to “male vocabulary” which runs through the Catholic world, passing through the daily humiliations suffered by women: exclusion from the main liturgical acts, from positions of responsibility, stigmatization in the speeches of certain priests… “It wasn't me who left the Church. It left me. In fact, it never really welcomed me.”says Marta, 60, in an article.
The Roman magazine, which has a French version online, reports a survey carried out in the Peninsula: only 33% of Italian women under 30 say they are Catholic, compared to double that number ten years ago. “Figures now similar to those of their male peers. So far, [les Italiennes] were the “exception” in the face of growing distrust of religious practices. This is no longer the case”analyzes journalist Lucia Capuzzi.
“Reforming the Church from within”
Faced with what Data, Church, World qualified “silent exodus”many decide to place themselves “on the threshold” of the Church, attempting “to reform it from within” while “looking outwards, sharing with others the search for a 'different god', a 'god of women', a divine presence that, freed from the prison of a patriarchal god, can fly freely on the shores of history, leaving new footprints”poeticizes lawyer Grazia Villa in a column.
How can we change the situation while preserving the unity of the Church, which is dear to several contributors to the journal? The dossier does not put forward any major proposals. However, biblical scholar Isabel Alfaro invites us to turn our attention to Africa, where the Church is gradually taking “a female face”, women are increasingly taking on more responsibility – often contrary to their societal context.
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Source: Lemonde
