Protesters urge pope to ordain female priests and stop 'legitimizing sexism' - The Guardian - 23 September 2015

Activists condemn a vision of equality that leaves out half the world’s population, but some are hopeful things could change during Francis’s tenure

By Sabrina Siddiquiand Lauren Gambino in Washington | The Guardian

Wed 23 Sep 2015 20.31 BST

Demonstrators call on Pope Francis to allow female priests.

Photograph: Mike Theiler/Reuters

A group of protesters greeted Pope Francis outside St Matthew’s cathedral in Washington on Wednesday with a message to ordain female priests into the Catholic church or risk treating them as second-class citizens.

Around 50 members of the group Women’s Ordination Worldwide, who had traveled from around the world for a conference in Philadelphia, were scattered across several papal events in the capital to make their case. Some held up a sign calling on the pope to ordain Catholic women outside of his midday prayer event at the cathedral, while others laid themselves down on the road in protest. Some activists were arrested after refusing to move from the road when police warned they were blocking traffic.

Miriam Duignan, from London, a spokeswoman for the organization, said their message to the pope was a reminder that he had neglected to advocate on behalf of half of the world’s population.

“Everything he does say about women is damaging and has a terrible, sexist message,” Duignan said. “He cannot preach about love and equality and poverty whilst telling women that they cannot discern their own vocations in life and that men need to decide what you can and cannot do and where you can and cannot speak.

“Pope Francis has a serious issue with women who are asking to discuss and to have a dialogue with him, and it sends out a terrible message throughout the world – he is legitimizing sexism.”

Duignan said the group had delegates from as many as 19 countries, ranging from Canada to Poland, Sri Lanka and Palestine.

While he has spoken more broadly of his support for women taking on a greater role in Catholicism, Francis has yet to oversee any significant changes on the subject. The pope has twice ruled out the question of allowing women into the ranks of the clergy.

In his most definitive comments on the ordination of women, during a press conference in July 2013 while on a flight from Rio de Janeiro, the pontiff said: “The Church has spoken and says no … That door is closed.”

Jane Via, a retired lawyer and ordained female priest who traveled from San Diego, said the pope’s refusal to change the status quo further enabled a system in which women lack a “meaningful role” in the Catholic Church.

“We would like Pope Francis to acknowledge that women are treated as second-class citizens in the church,” Via said, moments before laying down on the road in protest. “There are six sacraments for women and seven for men, and because only men can be validly ordained and only the ordained make decisions about the Catholic church; women are completely excluded from any meaningful role in creating the self-understanding of the church and making important decisions about the church.”

Women like Via who had been ordained as priests outside the Catholic church were excommunicated, the group said.

Jane Varner Malhorta came to see Pope Francis on the National Mall carrying a sign that said simply: “Ordain women”. She said she was surprised by the amount of positive support she received from those who read the sign.

Varner Malhorta is hopeful that Francis will be the pope who can make this happen for women.

“I think his heart is open ... so maybe he’s just waiting for the Holy Spirit to open this last door,” she said. “Women represent the groups that he’s trying to reach out and help – so many women are poor,” she said. “So many are families leading families are on their own, they’re caring for their children. Women as priests would really do so much greatness for the Catholic church.”

Asked many years she thinks it will be before women can serve as priests in the Catholic church, she laughed. “It’s only taken 2,000 years, so let’s see. Maybe three, under Pope Francis.”

She thought about it for a moment. “Yes, three.”

Demonstrators calling for the Catholic church to include female priests gather prior to the arrival of Pope Francis at the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle.

Photograph: Mike Theiler/Reuters

However, the view among the many Catholics attending the papal events was mixed. Ilenia Dicesare, an Italian missionary living in Washington, walked alongside the protesters to register an opposing view.

“The church has never ordained women,” Dicesare said. “They can have other roles in the church; they don’t need to be a priest.”

Asked if the pope’s opposition to ordaining women stood in conflict with other more political stances he has taken – particularly on the issue of inequality – Dicesare said those matters were “secondary”.

“I’m more focused on the faith and what are the dogmas of the church,” she said.