Introduction and Background

Open statistical data in new window: Statements regarding church reform Statements regarding the role of the CNWE

In 1981, the consciousness of a group of Canadian Catholic women had become so impacted with the sense that they were "Other," that they were outsiders within the Roman Catholic Church that they felt compelled to take action. In July of that year, these women from across Canada came together in Toronto and formed an organization, Canadian Catholics for Women's Ordination. Their initial focus and only goal was to see women ordained as Roman Catholic priests. To be "insiders," in the church, they knew, women needed to have members who were part of the clerical hierarchy. In the close to twenty years since its beginning, the organization has changed its name to the Catholic Network for Women's Equality (CNWE) and broadened its goals.

In looking back at the history of CNWE, I ask, " Why 1981?"

One answer is that women were becoming scholars in theology and biblical studies. Women had not been admitted to the study of theology in Canadian Catholic colleges until the 1950s.¹ However, feminists had questioned the biblical source of their religious beliefs since the 19th century, as is evident in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Women's Bible Commentary.² The feminist conviction that women are human and not a sub-species³ as Catholic scholars had suggested, ⁴ led to the development of feminism as an academic method and the initiation of women's studies as an academic discipline.⁵ In the 70s and early 80s, scholarly works in feminist theology, religious studies and scriptural analysis were published.^{5, 6, 7}

Two events occurred in the seventies, which were of special significance to Catholic Women. In 1971, Mary Daly, professor at the Catholic Boston College, after preaching the first sermon to be delivered by a woman at Harvard's Memorial Church, walked out and "invited those who were so moved to accompany her."⁸ Her sermon had been entitled, "The Women's Movement: An Exodus Community." The second event occurred in 1979 when, after the 1974 dictum from Rome that women could not be priests, Sister Theresa Kane publicly challenged Pope John Paul II with regard to women's ordination on his visit to the United States.⁹ Together with theologian, Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Sister Theresa started WomenChurch, an "ecclesia of women" ¹⁰ which considers itself "the Church …in exile" and presently numbers over two thousand members in the United States.

Awareness of their subordinate position was growing among Catholic women and Canadian women were moving with the times. In April, 1971, Catholic women from across Canada had convened in Ottawa and presented the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops with eight recommendations which "called for changes in the way both the church and society treated women."¹¹ The recommendations included a call for women's ordination and for inclusive language. ¹² The response of the bishops were interventions in Rome aimed at initiating study of women's roles. This was finally agreed to with the proviso that "sacred orders for women"12 was not an option. Meanwhile, in Canada, women filled out bishops' questionnaires and an "ad hoc committee of women"12 who had worked on the questionnaires was charged with the study of "the Christian formation of feminism" and the preparation of a draft kit of discussion papers around the roles of women in the church. Archbishop Vachon had intervened in Rome on behalf of women and was quoted¹³ in the set of discussion papers, which was finally published by the Canadian Conference Catholic Bishops in 1985. Called "The Green Kit," the discussion papers led to controversy sparked by traditionalist women as well as conservative clergy and were hastily and literally shelved.

Meanwhile, a group of four women including Dr. Ellen Leonard, a sister of St. Joseph, called a meeting of like-minded women in Toronto. That meeting of forty fore-mothers founded the Canadian Catholics for Women's Ordination. Biennial conferences during the eighties eventually led to a broader vision of the organization's goals. At the 1987 conference,these were defined in a Mission Statement and Aims, which are still in effect. According to the Mission Statement, "The purpose of this organization is to enable women to name their giftedness and from that awareness to effect structural change in the Church that reflects the mutuality and co-responsibility of women and men within that church. The Aims, as defined by the organization, are:

• to identify, understand and communicate and celebrate the history, talents, skills and contributions of women;
• to raise consciousness about the nature and consequences of patriarchy in the church;
• to foster solidarity among women, especially those who are experiencing alienation within the church;
• to communicate with women in other religious traditions and with secular women's groups in order to promote greater awareness of issues concerning women;
• to work toward the full inclusion of women in all aspects of the life and structure of the church: prayer, language, images, public worship, and all ministries, including ordained ministries.

As its goals broadened, the membership increased to close to two hundred women with representation from all of the provinces. Redefining itself brought the need for a new name. After much deliberation, the name was changed to Catholic Network for Women's Equality, (CNWE, pronounced Can We) in 1988. In locations where there were enough members, local groups met monthly or bimonthly to share their stories, discuss issues and celebrate non-eucharistic liturgies. The rituals involved were often based on Miriam Therese Winter's WomanWord or WomanWitness whose rituals "remember into life and meaning"¹⁴ the women of Christian and Hebrew Scriptures respectively. As Winter points out, "authentic religious ritual invites a person into community and that community into worship."¹⁵ In her rituals, which "release female leaders and liturgical pioneers from anonymity," women "hear Good News through the words and lives of women,"¹⁵ Liturgies with similar ritual content were integral to annual conferences. Thus, CNWE, for members in larger centres and members who attended conferences, seemed to be evolving as a worshipping community, similar in some ways to WomenChurch.

The process just described was taking place the 80s and early 90s in a church that was still undergoing enormous liturgical, pastoral and administrative changes initiated by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. New concepts of the "Lay Apostolate"¹⁶ and ideas of a new partnership between cleric and "Lay Minister" were circulating. James and Evelyn Whitehead led diocesan workshops for clergy and lay people who were to be the "new partners." The Whiteheads outline some of the difficulties in their book, The Promise of Partnership: " Women as partners: the notion both excites and threatens a masculine church…Control stands near the heart of masculine spirituality. As men, we strive to be reliable leaders…eager to master our emotions,.. Collaboration with women will certainly challenge that control…The conversion for most men lies in the realization that there is something worse than losing institutional control: denying the faith community of the gifts of its women members."¹⁷

The decade of the 90s began to see a flowering of the awareness of the importance of inclusive language. The committee which generated the second post-Vatican II, official Canadian hymnal, Catholic Book of Worship II,in the eighties, had, with the exception of one or two nuns, found inclusive language of secondary importance to rhyme and meter.¹⁸ The product of the nineties, Catholic Book of Worship III, uses inclusive language for humans, but still images God as male. This decade has also seen the publication of the inclusive new testament by Priests for Equality in Maryland and arguments for imaging God as female as well as male by Elizabeth Johnson in She Who Is. ²¹ The Canadian Catholic Bishops supported inclusive human language in their National Bulletin on Liturgy, in the article, "Language and Silence."¹⁹ and they had their inclusive language catechism rejected by Rome. A conservative reaction has attempted to crush all of the movements that would give women greater space and recognition.

Women have always had space within Catholic Christianity. Even Aquinas accorded them equal potential for sanctity.²⁰ However the cumulative effects of feminist scholarship, the more visible roles women have taken in the liturgy of the mass, and the ministerial roles that women have filled due to a shortage of priests serve to maintain a palpable frustration with ongoing, official subordination. The isolation and sense of alienation described in Defecting in Place ²¹ has seemed to resonate with many Catholic women of my acquaintance in CNWE. I can identify with the women who said, "Many women such as myself struggle to remain within 'the church' while at the same time critically needing women-church for acceptance, spirituality, etc. This presents a dilemma. I want change…I don't want leaving to be the only solution."²² Another woman describes a way of "defecting in place." She is quoted by Winter: " where powerful things are happening in the church is with individual women who listen to God, follow a call, and start ministries or a center or some related good. However, this is working around the system…"²³ Another warns: "Ordination for women in the Roman Catholic Church without changing the structure, could be as oppressive as the current situation."²⁴ On the other hand, " if the church doesn't provide meaningful avenues for growth for women, we are called to develop them or discover them for ourselves, to pastor one another and to use what God has given each of us to build up the body of Christ…," ²⁵ says another. There is commitment and growing awareness within the Catholic women's movement. Yet, in spite the progress women are making, the church still finds little or no room for women in its main decision-making processes.

Rationale The women who are members of CNWE are among those who are most aware of and concerned with the historical policies, trends, ideas and practices which I have described. Many are religious or former religious; some are religious scholars and others educated workers in church-related fields. Although we have argued and agonized over the use of the word, "feminist," I would expect all members to agree that they are feminists as Gross defines feminist conviction, as quoted above: "that women are human and not a sub-species"²⁷. Where the membership fits with respect to the four categories of feminist analysis of religion is one of the questions this study attempts to answer. Collectively, are we revisionist, renovationist or revolutionary? Or are there any rejectionists among us? The main focus of the study is to determine to what extent the aims of the members coincide with the stated goal and aims of the organization; the particulars of the changes that they wish to effect and what additional goals they may have for CNWE as a Catholic women's organization. Whether CNWE should continue to develop as a faith community for the spiritual nurture of its members is one of the addition al questions to be addressed. The results will be analyzed to reveal, if possible, whether the mission statement and aims are interpreted by the membership as revisionist, renovationist or revolutionary.

Method In order to access the relevant information, a survey was devised and sent to each of the one hundred and fifty-six members presently on the mailing list. The survey consisted of statements defining different aspects of the issues described in the statements of Mission and Aims as well as the question of CNWE as a spirituality resource. The statements were divided into two categories: those dealing with issues of church structure and reform and those dealing specifically with CNWE'. The latter sought to assess the priorities members attached to CNWE's role with regard to church issues and its role in its members' lives. Members were to mark the degree of importance they attached to the aspects of the issues as stated. Giving a mark of 1 indicated very important, 2, important and 3, unimportant. A 4 was to be assigned to any statement that a member opposed or felt to be inappropriate. As there were several statements around most of the issues, it was possible to cluster the results to gain a judgement of the importance attached to the broader issues. The clusters around Church Reform centered on the inclusion of women in church decision-making and in its hierarchy; the use of inclusive human language in liturgy and teaching; imaging God as other than male; appreciating the spirituality, value and contributions of women. The CNWE issues were grouped according to the following categories: promotion and outreach, identification as a spiritually nourishing faith community, action for church reform and linking with other church reform groups, support ministries of women and celebration of Eucharist. Results Seventy five members or 48% of the membership polled responded. The percentages of responses, which prioritized statements as either important or very important were totaled and tabulated The average percentages are the totals of important (2) and very important (1) responses for the clustered questions. Calculation of percentages includes those who made no response to a statement; the percentages therefore represent the degrees of agreement as registered by everyone who sent in a completed survey.

According to the calculated percentages, there was a 98.5% average agreement that inclusion of women in decision-making and in the hierarchical structure was important or very important. All of the statements around this issue except those advocating admission to ordained ministries received 100% in total importance. 100% total importance was also attached to the use of inclusive language in the church's liturgy. Extending the use of inclusive language to scripture and catechism reduced the agreement with regard to its importance to 98%. 97.7% of members responding agreed on the total importance attached to the church's recognition of the value of feminist spirituality, women's equal humanity and women's contributions to theology.

There was less agreement when it came to God language. While close to 97 % of members opposed exclusive male imaging of God, almost 95% thought it at least important to include feminine and masculine imagery. Only 72% thought it important to exclude gender from God language. Again 72 % attached importance to spirituality groups as an alternative to parish participation, but 93 % considered them an important adjunct.

The statements around spirituality and faith community status for CNWE were separated into two groups: those that considered CNWE as a Roman Catholic organization and those that questioned whether it should be separate from the Church. The responses that attached importance to CNWE as separate organization averaged only 44%; whereas those that envisioned a spiritual/worship role for CNWE in conjunction with participation in the mainstream church were affirmed important by an average of 78 % of members.

CNWE support for the celebration of women in Scripture and Tradition as well as in priestly and lay ministries averaged close to 97% in total importance. CNWE support for broader church reform and links with other reform organizations was considered important by 92% of those who replied. The reforms listed, other than those involving women's issues, included marriage for clergy, compassionate ministry to gays and lesbians, a more democratically structured church, concern for the environment. Continuing efforts to dialog with the hierarchy and working for reform within the church were grouped with remaining a catholic organization and opposing the exclusively male imaging of God. The average importance attached to this cluster was 94%.

Promotion of CNWE through the internet had 76% support, gift subscriptions to CNWE NEWS, 88% and CNWE's current outreach project, a Common Ground initiative, was assigned 90.4 % mportance by members. The celebration of Eucharist by CNWE groups in the absence of a priest was important to 63% of members, while not celebrating without a priest was important to nearly 23%. Rules regarding discrimination with respect to church employees was not clustered for reasons which will be discussed. 93 % of members felt it important to have the same rules in church as in society.

Replies show that 69% of members who responded attend Mass, 64% particpate in other faith communities and 69% are members of local CNWE groups, but only 45% attend meetings. The new internet communication facility has attracted 38% of those who sent in surveys.

Discussion Most important to most members was the inclusion of women in the decision-making bodies of the church, primarily at the parish and diocesan levels, but representation at Bishop's Synods was very important to 88% of members. Together with the use of inclusive language in the liturgy, these were the only categories that 100% of members found important; language being very important to 98%. The results show that CNWE members want church reform to enable women to participate more fully at all levels and to be included and appreciated in all of the ways that men are included and appreciated in the life of the parish church and of the diocese. They approved the several ways that CNWE has tried to facilitate this by attaching 97% importance to CNWE's celebration of women in Scripture and Tradition as well as its outreach to traditional women through its Common Ground project.

While there was considerable interest in spirituality groups as an addition to involvement in a parish, with 78% regarding CNWE groups that worship together important and 94% favouring spirituality groups as an important supplement to the parish, only 48% saw CNWE important as an alternative to the parish. Slightly more important than its spiritual function were CNWE's reform concerns and links with other church reform organizations working for greater participation in leadership roles (FutureChurch),women in ordained ministry (W.omen's Ordination Conference), church democratization, marriage for clergy and support for gays and lesbians as well as environmental responsibility (IMWAC, CTA and Canadian Catholics of Vision). The high percentage of members who affirmed CNWE as belonging within the Catholic Church was augmented by written comments to the effect that, like WomenChurch, we are church. Dr. Joyce Deveau Kennedy of Nova Scotia asked, "When St. Anthony went into the desert and formed a worshipping community, was he not the church?"

The statement concerning discrimination with regard to church employees did not fit well with the clustering and may have been ambiguous from the point of view of the members. Although it is a justice issue which affects the well-being of lay ministers and other staff, most of whom have been women, it is not specifically tied in with the Mission Statement or Aims. The other issue which was considered separately was the Eucharistic celebration, The double negative in the second statement may have made its meaning unclear. Members were most divided on this issue and many were probably unaware of an informal policy which has developed: that there would be no celebration of Mass, which would require a priest to preside, at national conferences. A eucharistic celebration, with a small "e" is another facet of this issue which may have confused it for some. The meaning of the results, therefore, seems unclear.

Conclusion According to its Mission Statement and Aims, CNWE could call itself a revisionist Catholic organization since it makes no claims beyond the inclusion of women in all aspects of the tradition. Working with other religious denominations does not go beyond traditional Catholic ideology, but working with secular groups on women's issues such as the WORLD MARCH 2000 might bring CNWE beyoned matters related strictly to church reform and women's spirituality. The survey has shown that members are willing to go beyond the traditional exposition of the deity in male terms.

Members' insistence on inclusive language, would, if adopted, bring the Catholic Church to descriptions of human society and relationships more progressive than those in common use in the secular media. It would make the Church the instrument of change rather than a stumbling block to it.

Interest in CNWE as a faith community, while not a top priority, was shared by enough members to make it an area of further study. The aspect of Internet communication brings with it the possibility of the development of a cyber-community whose sharing of ideas and insights would provide the spiritual nourishment that is not available within traditional Catholicism.

Both the survey results and the interviews confirm the feminist goal of deconstructing patriarchy. A limited term for the pope and inclusion of women in all levels of a democratized hierarchy would transform the patriarchal, misogynist tradition of the Catholic Church. Dr. Leonard goes further, however, taking a poststructuralist feminist position in support of collaborationism rather than democracy. Her vision urges CNWE into new territory of thought which points the way for future discussion

Endnotes

1) Malone, M., Retreat address, Holy Spirit Centre, Hamilton ON, 1999
2) Newman, Carol A. and Sharon H. Ringe, Ed. The Women's Bible Commentary. London: SPCK, 1992
3) Gross, R.M.Feminism and Religion, p.16
4) St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae: A Concise Translation, Vol. 13 Section 92 (Volume 13: The Genesis of Man It is not good for man to be alone; let us make him a help that is like himself "The help God makes for man is not for any sort of work (for there other men would be more help than a women) but for producing children… Aristotle called the female a male manqué. (a deficient male) The particular nature of the active male seed intends to produce a perfect likeness of itself, and when females are conceived this is due to weak seed, or unsuitable material or the dampness of the south wind. But this is because nature as a whole intends women, and in this se3nse they are not manqué but intended by God, the author of nature as a whole. The type of subordination in which servants are managed in their masters interests came after sin, but the type of subordination seen in households or cities, where management is for the benefit of the subordinates themselves, would have obtained even without sin. And such is the natural inequality and subordination of women to men, who are by nature more reasonable and discerning… Forming Eve from Adam's rib signified companionship, not domination (so not from his head) nor yet subjection( so not from his feet) … Section 93 …the resemblance man bears God derives from God as from an original, so scripture describes man as made in God's image…The principal constituent of God's image in man, mind, is found in both male and female human beings…A secondary image of God as he beginning and end of creation is found only in male man, the beginning and end of woman
5) Fiorenza, Elizabeth Schussler, In Memory of Her:A Feminist Theological Reconstructio of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad, 1998; first published 1983
6) Tribble, Phyllis, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978
7) Christ, Carol and Judith Plaskow, Womanspirit Rising. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1979
8) Gross, op. cit. p. 40
9) Winter, M.T., Lummis, A., Srokes, A. Defecting in Place:Women Claiming Responsibility for Their Own Spiritual Lives, p. 132
10) Fiorenza, Elizabeth Schüssler. Keynote Address, Call to Action Conference, Milwaukee, 1998
11) Brennan, Bonnie, "Catholic Women: What Progress Have They Made?," The Toronto Star, August 3, 1991, p. J10
12) Leonard, Ellen, private communication
13) Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Women in the Church: Discussion Papers" (the "Green Kit") 1985, Appendix 5 The Most Reverend Louis-Albert Vachon, Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada had recognized the alienation of women from the Roman Catholic Church and the need for reconciliation. "The dualist vision of flesh-and-spirit and the sexist prejudices resulting from it" have identified women "with' the occasion of sin'. They have experienced and continue to experience alienation, marginalization and exclusion in many forms….Experience has already shown, here and there, the rich resources available in an egalitarian partnership between men and women…for the growth of humanity. In our society and in our Church, man has come to think of himself as the sole possessor of rationality, authority and active initiative, relegating women to the private sector and dependent tasks. Our recognition…of our own cultural deformation will allow us to overcome the archaic concepts of womanhood which have been inculcated in us for centuries."
14) Winter, Miriam, Therese. WomanWord., p. ix
15) Ibid., p.xi
16) Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II: ConstitutionsDecrees Declarations, p. 405
17) Whitehead, James D. and Evelyn Eaton Whitehead, The Promise of Partnership: A Model for Collaborative Ministry, p.10
18) Private communication, David Young, committee member
19) Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Bulletin on Liturgy, "Language and Silence" v27 n137. Summer, 1944
20) Aquinas, T., op. cit.
21) Winter, M., op. cit. Chapter 3.
22) ibid. p. 66 23) ibid., p. 72
24) ibid., p. 76
25) Fiorenza, Elizabeth Schüssler. Keynote Address, Call to Action Conference, Milwaukee, 1998
26) Graham, Ron, "The Power and the Glory of Emmet Cardinal Carter," Saturday Night, v98 n4 (April 1983) p.23 27) Gross, R.M., op. cit., p.16