Mary E. Hunt

The past two popes insist, against mounting evidence, that the gender binary, male and female, is given in nature and blessed by God. God, a male after all, created them Male and Female. The Genesis account inconveniently leaves out the detail about the blue and pink blankets and onesies.

In continuing to oppose women’s ordination the pope argues that something has to be revealed in order for it to be done; but that we don’t do it so it must not have been revealed. A cursory examination of change on Catholic views of the death penalty and usury make quick mincemeat of that argument. Revelation provides direction toward increased justice; it’s not a checklist of historical givens.

The recently concluded Vatican summit on sexual abuse in the church was framed in the same old top-down way that’s at the heart of the problem. Lay people, both women and men, experts in the law, psychology, and theology were excluded. What could be more wrong with this picture?

With no women, lay people, or survivors invited, nothing will change and everyone will go home feeling righteous about having “done” something. The something will be more prayer than policy, more story than analysis, more circling the wagons than opening the doors to the light of justice.

What’s needed is a massive overhaul so that Catholic communities can be run by trained lay people rather than be ruled by incompetent and sometimes criminal bishops.