Text of the Ad
This is the text of the ad that was published in the National Catholic Reporter:
“In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or citizen, male or female. All are one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28)
Jesus welcomed women as disciples and friends. He chose women to herald the Good News of His rising. But centuries of discrimination would pass until the Second Vatican Council decreed: With respect to the fundamental rights of the person, every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language, or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God’s intent. (Pastoral Constitution on The Church in the Modern World: 29: Dec. 1965)
With these words, the Roman Catholic Church committed itself to full equality for women as an integral part of the Church’s preaching on the universal struggle for human rights and social justice. Then, in 1971, the World Synod on Justice declared: “action on behalf of justice…fully appears to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel.” (Justice in the World, 6.) The bishops also recognized that “anyone who ventures to speak to people about justice must first be just in their eyes.” (Justice in the World, 40.) Therein lies their problem.
While we have seen many tangible gains for women in other religious institutions and civil societies, our Roman Catholic leaders have failed to practice what they preach. Yet, in the first sermon of his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI announced his “determination to continue to put the Second Vatican Council into practice.”
We challenge Pope Benedict XVI to act upon his preaching and to restore the credibility of the church. It is time for the leaders of our church to embrace the commitment to justice. It is time to eradicate discrimination based upon sex from the life of the Church. We say:
The time has come…
- to affirm the equal rights of women and men in the church.
- to share decision-making with women and men equally.
- for our liturgical ministries to reflect the equality we proclaim.
- for inclusive language, the language of hospitality, to be the norm for our preaching, our liturgy, and church documents. Sexist language is no more acceptable than racist language.
- to acknowledge that the Spirit calls women as well as men to ordained ministry.