When Pope Francis stunned interviewers—and everyone else, apparently—by declaring his unwillingness to “judge” gay priests, it made global headlines. But his comments on women and their role in the Catholic church didn’t make as much of a splash.
Observers noted that Francis’ summation (“that door is closed”) seemed to offer slim hope to supporters of women’s ordination. As Mary Hunt remarked here last week:
“While I am delighted to see some small movement on the part of this pope on gay issues, I think it’s crucial that he not be given a pass on issues related to women. They are all of a piece.”
So that’s the story, doctrinally and theologically. But what happens when religion makes its way into our media culture? In today’s L.A. Times, Diane Winston offers a spot-on critique, worth reading in its entirety:
Reporters who headlined the pope’s remarks on gays, knowing the story had more juice than Francis’ condemnation of drug cartels and excoriations of poverty, treated his comments on women as an afterthought. That’s because in the current media ecology of religion and public life, sex sells and gender gets a nod.
