The Enormous Power of Women in the Church

For well over a generation, questions about the role of women in the Catholic Church have generated angry debates without producing satisfactory resolutions. In the 1980s the US bishopsâ?? conference, having tackled such controversial topics as nuclear weaponry and economic policy, set out to write another pastoral letter on the role of women. After years of inconclusive consultations and discussions, they retired from the field; the pastoral was never finished.

Is there a distinctive role that women should play in the Church? Or is it merely a question of giving women an equal share in the work, without restricting them to any particular roles? The doctrinal reality that women cannot be ordained to the priesthood looms over the discussion. Since most Catholics are loath to launch a direct frontal assault on the Churchâ??s teaching, feminists and their clerical supporters usually restrict themselves to arguing that women should be given more positions of authority within the Church.