Globally, women break silence of violence in Church

By Virginia Saldanha

Mumbai, Dec 13, 2021: UN Women has designated November 25 as the Day Against Violence to Women. December 10 is celebrated as International Human Rights Day. The 16 days that link the two important days are designated by UN Women as 16 days of Activism against violence to women.

This year’s theme from the UN was “Orange the World – End Violence Against Women Now.” Orange being a bright color, the theme asks people to brighten women’s world by ending violence against women.

With the encouragement to the People of God to speak up about how we see the Church now and would like to see it in the future, women have decided that it is time for them to speak up about the different ways they experience violence in the Church and its different institutions.

During these 16 days, Voices of Faith, that sees women as agents of change and works to bring Catholics together to take ownership and responsibility for their Church, has focused especially on the abuses religious women face in their congregations and in the institutional Church.

They organized nine virtual events beginning on November 26, in which women from all over the world, ranging from the Americas, through to New Zealand participated, telling their stories and experiences of abuse. Experiences that were never seen as abuse earlier but were accepted as the way things just are, surfaced. Like the unquestioning obedience demanded from adult women religious, or unreasonable demands made on nuns who are expected to see everything from the perspective of sacrifice expected from their vocation.

The sessions were eye opening as they dealt with spiritual, sacramental, racist/casteist, and sexual, violence experienced by religious women across the world. Speakers questioned the human rights track record in the Church when it comes to gender discrimination. They also pointed to the support given to clericalism by religious women leaders and questioned where and how basic human rights and justice could be expected.

Indian women speakers and listeners were significant in their participation.

On December 11, Streevani together with CRI Western Region organized their own event as part of the 16 days of Activism in Mumbai, with the theme “Orange the World – Women in the Church Speak Out.” Thirty-two Sisters together with a few lay women came together to share stories and reasons why this evil exists in our Church.

The keynote address was delivered by Divine Word Father M.T. Joseph, who pointed out that all gender based violence, including to LGBTQI+ persons is attributed to male arrogance. Rebecca Solnit called it “mansplaining,” which she describes as “the intersection between overconfidence and cluelessness where the male gender gets stuck.”

Male entitlement has created the notions of masculinity and femininity that have become assimilated into our culture even in the Church. The well-known Indian activist the late Kamla Bhasin described men and boys as being emotionally castrated in the process of patriarchal socialization and conditioning.

Our Church systems and structures are hierarchal and pyramidical that attribute females to nature and males to culture which has created the masculine/feminine binary.

It was admitted that women are constantly pandering to the needs of clergy male entitlement, as extensions of their female “nature” as defined by patriarchy. Men see the unlearning of this “nature” as dangerous, as he cannot see himself as becoming ‘less manly.’

This has given rise to the structural violence we see in the Church, which women have been reflecting during these 16 days of violence against women. The most dangerous idea being that priests are “alter christus (another Christ),” legitimizing their superiority and sacramental power, whereas the vision of Jesus was egalitarian and democratic.

Sister Noella D’Souza pointed out that while we speak of the silence of violence, silence can also be powerful like in the Zen culture. Silence is understood differently in different cultures. However it is a fact that dominance does inflict silence on the weak and powerless. Therefore we need to create spaces where they can speak their truth and feel safe so that a dialogue can begin.

Astrid Lobo Gajiwala spoke on clericalism that is endorsed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Canon Law that define a priest as ‘other Christ’ giving them the right and authority to rule. Governance in the Church is linked to ordination from which women are excluded. Since this right is sacralized it cannot be taken away – making them out to be in the place of God. Ordination has created two castes in the Church, clergy and laity. Clericalism ignores the mission of Christ.

Gajiwala suggested the delinking of governance to ordination and advocated to recognize our common baptismal anointing.

Raynah Braganza Passanah spoke on women’s relationship with the Church and how women engage with Church. She endorsed everything that was said earlier on women’s socialization in the Church. She emphasized the need to support women where they are, without undermining or imposing upon them. Listening without judging, so as to accompany them in situations of violence. She questioned the ways some priests make interventions in cases of domestic violence who insist on reconciliation without going deeper into the roots of the violence.

The discussion groups, elicited from participants their views on the way forward. They all agreed that a lot needs to be done to create awareness among women religious about the different types of violence, and how to address them. It was unanimously agreed that a lot of awareness and conscientizing needs to be done to change the clerical culture and pyramidical structure in the Church as advised by Pope Francis. The ongoing Synodal process provides us with an opportunity to get involved and speak out on these important issues.