A study on a Womans Place in the Patriarchal Catholic Church

Research Proposal

Brianna DellIsola
Gender and Business Communication
Prof. Smith
 Gender bias is something that cannot be ignored in the modern day.

Society as a whole has made progress in accepting that fact that women are

just as capable as men, but there are still areas that need work. Women

today still are not offered the same positions and titles as men are, or in

some cases given the same respect as men. Old institutes such as religious

ones, have been able to avoid the progress being made by society. They

have kept traditions that make male and female roles in life completely

different. The Catholic Church is no different to this idea. The Church has

been able to mask its gender bias ways and patriarchal structure by making

it seem as though there is a high respect and need for women in the Catholic

Church, however they belittle women and kept them separated.

For hundreds of years the Catholic Church has upheld its patriarchal

traditions, and although in periods of history these traditions have favored

societys views, they are outdated in the modern day. The Church has a

patriarchal ideology that leaves females left with no chance to climb the

hierarchy. They however are able to let this go unnoticed and masked by

saying it is the way Jesus and God planned for it to be and who is society to

question that. We can see the gender biased traditions and opinions of the

Church through biblical readings, Vatican procedures, messages from the

Pope, and everyday Catholic life. Each one of these reflects the Catholic

patriarchy.

Studying the reason for and why the Catholic Church views women is

important to society due to the power and influence the Church has in the
world. Religion plays a big role in politics, with many world leaders turning to

the Vatican and Pope for opinions on social issues such as marriage rights

between homosexuals and abortion. If the biblical readings, Vatican

procedures, and messages from the Pope show that women are been

discriminated against in any way, there needs to be a change. With the

power and influence the Church has it needs to move forward to have more

progressive opinions on womens rights that reflects those of societies,

leaving it patriarchy behind.

The Catholic Church has an undeniable patriarchal structure that has

not changed throughout history. This structure needs to be exposed and

changed if the Catholic Church is going to maintain power influences across

the globe.

The Catholic Church is one of the oldest institutions in the world. With

over a billion Catholic followers worldwide, the influence the Church has is

undeniably powerful. Multiple world leaders turn to the Church for guidance

when deciding social issues such as the legality of gay marriage and

abortions. For this reason it is important to evaluate and understand the

views of the Church, particularly as they influence men and women. This

research was conducted in order to expose bias opinions the Church has

when it comes to women. Throughout the history of the Church has been

seen as a patriarchy.
 The patriarchal structure of the Church is led by a single man, the

Pope. Local churches are led by Priests, who preach the word of the Bible

within the church. Between the Pope and priests rare offices of bishops and

cardinals; both of which are priests at larger levels. The legitimacy of the

Catholic Church derives from the Bible, particularly the New Testament. They

follow the story of Jesus and believe that his actions should guide the lives of

the people.

Following His actions is one of the ways the Church has shown their

favoritism towards men. Hamer, McGowan, Patrick and other biblical scholars

argue that Jesus actions provide the justification for excluding women from

the priesthood. If not allowed to be a priest, it takes away leadership from

the woman. When Jesus was choosing his twelve apostles, he chose all men

for the positions1. It is believed throughout the Church that because of this

action done by Jesus, it led the apostles to then teach only to other men,

continuing a trend to this day. Due to this only men can be chosen as priests,

to teach all Catholics. Religion professor Anne Patrick argues Jesus chose the

men because of social and culture norms of his time, however Pope John Paul

II denied that theory stating that Jesus chose this men with a free mind.

Since Jesus had a free mind when selecting these apostles no social

1 Manson, Jamie. "It'It's time to be honest about Pope Francis and women." National Catholic
Reporter19 May 2016, https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/its-time-be-honest-
about-pope-francis-and-women. Accessed 27 Oct. 2016.
patriarchal norms play a role in all the apostles being men. There is no

biblical evidence though that these men were supposed to be priests2.

If being turned down from leadership positions without even being given a

chance was not demeaning enough, women also face mistreatment all

throughout Catholic history. From the start God told women that he would

greatly multiply [their] pain in childbirth, In pain [they] will bring forth

children; Yet [their] desire will be for [their] husband, And he will rule over

[them]."(Christianity and Womens Rights). God, the most ultimate power in

the Catholic religion, punished all women for the actions of one. The

mistreatment can be seen further, after the death of Jesus, in 581 A.D. when

the Synod of Macon disputed whether or not women had souls3. By saying

they do not have souls, the human aspect of women is being taken away,

leaving them on a patriarchal scale men once again.

The world would come to find out that women do in fact have souls

with the teaching of Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. Thomas makes

women the focal point of his teachings. He came to the conclusion that

women did in fact has a soul, but it was a less perfect soul than what men

had. Not only did they have a less perfect soul, their bodies were also

imperfect in both strength in stature. According to Aquinas, a woman is

2 Patrick, A. E. (2015, September 12). Gender imbalance in Roman Catholicism: Divine plan
or human construct?. In Global Sisters Report. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

3"Christianity and Women's Rights ." Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2006,
www.heretication.info/_womensrights.html. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
created only when something goes awry in conception. As the Catholics

patron saint of scholars, Aquinas receives praise him for his knowledge and

teachings on women, giving an indication of womens status within the

Church.

This mistreatment of women was not only something popular to

historic times but rather also modern times as well. Today, women are not in

control of what happens to their body. Abortion is an action that is highly

frowned upon by the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has even called it a grave

sin and horrendous crime4. A woman however should have the final say in an

abortion especially if continuing with a pregnancy can lead to her own death.

The Catholic Church doesnt believe that though. St. Josephs hospital in

Phoenix, Arizona, was stripped of its Catholic ties when its medical staff

performed an abortion of an 11 weeks pregnant women to say her life. If the

mother had continued with the pregnancy, her risk of death would have been

extremely close to 100%5. When a women cannot chose to save her own life;

that is mistreatment.

Along with the mistreatment of women, the Church has been known for

limiting women. Not only did the Church limit them in leadership within

44. San Martin, Ines. "Pope Francis calls abortion horrendous crime and very grave
sin." CruxNow20 Nov. 2016, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/11/20/pope-francis-
calls-abortion-horrendous-crime-grave-sin/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2016.

5Tenety, Elizabeth. "Arizona hospital no longer Catholic after abortion to save mothers
life." OnFaith22 Dec. 2010, https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2010/12/22/st-josephs-hospital-
no-longer-catholic-after-abortion-to-save-mothers-life/5546. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
Catholicism, but it also limited them in everyday life. When God created

gender, He did so to create different roles to be done6. The Church has made

it clear that a woman is only good for a domestic lifestyle. Women are

equipped to be more caring and kind, and that is they only way they can

view life; meaning that they are naturally meant to be caregivers of the

family7. Pope Pius X even only agreed to support womens suffrage as long as

it did not interfere with their domestic work8. Instead of worrying about

things lie voting and becoming priests, the Church believes that women need

to learn the value in the mission and role that God bestowed them with9. The

Church is not just dedicating the major roles and choices of women, but the

small ones as well. There is a dress code that Catholic women should always

follow. A women should always be dressed modestly, with their hair always

been longer in length than a mans and their attire to never consist of pants,

6 San Martin, Ines. "Pope Calls Gender Theory a 'Global War' Against the Family." CruxNow1
Oct. 2016, https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/10/01/pope-calls-gender-theory-global-
war-family/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2016.

7 Manson, Jamie. "It'It's time to be honest about Pope Francis and women." National
Catholic Reporter19 May 2016, https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/its-
time-be-honest-about-pope-francis-and-women. Accessed 27 Oct. 2016.

8 8."Pope Is Against Women In Politics." The New York Times, 22 Apr. 1909.
Accessed 28 Nov. 2016. query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?
res=9901E2D81131E733A25751C2A9629C946897D6CF

9 9.Hamer, Jerome. "DECLARATION INTER INSIGNIORES ON THE QUESTION OF

ADMISSION OF WOMEN TO THE MINISTERIAL PRIESTHOOD." 15 Oct. 1976,
www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_197
61015_inter-insigniores_en.html. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
unless it is for sport or work. They can also not dress or act like a man10. This

limits a womans creative freedoms, ultimately limiting the way they can

express themselves.

Through everything the Church puts women through, there are still some

Catholic women that choose to defy the Church and take on leadership

positions. There is the National Council of Catholic Women, which works to

provide social service works. Their mission statement includes that it works

through its members to support, empower and educate all Catholic women

and that is provides Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in

the modern world11. Also there are women in charge of the Catholic

Churchs three largest social service groups in the United States12. Women

across the world are also leading men in daily prayer and attending religious

services13.

10 Conte Jr., Ronald L. "Proper Dress for Catholic Women ." Catholic Planet2 Nov. 2012,
www.catholicplanet.com/women/dress.htm. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.

11National Council of Catholic

Women https://www.nccw.org/Public/Home/Public/Default.aspx?hkey=be4a8e95-5ee9-41b5-
889b-4becc3d5454d. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.

12 O'Laughlin, Michael. "Women lead in the Church, even as Catholic debate their
role." CruxNow15 Jan. 2015, https://cruxnow.com/church/2015/01/15/women-lead-in-the-
church-even-as-catholics-debate-their-role/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.

13 "In most faiths, especially Christianity, women are more faithful than men." The
Economicst27 Mar. 2016, www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/03/religion-and-gender.
Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.
In conclusion the research found in thess articles have proven one thing for

sure; the Catholic Church favors men. For a historic institution that hasnt

changed its ways throughout history, it does not look likely that the Church is

going to change anytime soon. Yet if world politicians are going to keep

turning to the Church for guidance then there needs to be a change. If a

change doesnt happen, all the social gains that women have worked

towards throughout history will all have been for nothing. The question that

now comes out of this research; is the Bible, in which the Catholic religion

gets all of its basis from sexist and wrong? If so does the Catholic Church

need to change their beliefs? It is not an easy task to have a historic

institution like the Catholic Church change all its practices and beliefs, but it

needs to be done for the equality of women.

The next step in research that needs to be conducted is an ethical

step. It needs to be established whether or not the Catholic Church is right or

wrong for the patriarchal actions they have taken throughout history. Is it

societys place to tell the Catholic Church that they are wrong? By whose

standards is the Catholic Church in the wrong doing and are those standards

ones that society should go by.

Within the next steps of the research will be the topic of universalism

verses cultural relativism. If the Catholic Church is looked at through a

cultural relative lens than the actions they have taken are justified since they
only practice these actions within their own Catholic society. It can be

compared to medical practices done throughout Africa; socially unacceptable

to many across the world but has been accepted and practice within the

regions of Africa. The Catholic Church however can also be looked at through

a universalistic lens. The Church expects the rest of society to follow the

same practices they do; showing that the Church believes in universalism. If

that is the case then the Church should also have to act by the same

standards as society.

These questions are where the research is going to go next. The

Catholic Church is a very complex institution requiring countless research to

understand it fully, and the questions being asked through this research are

just a small part in the overall research.

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