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Anonymous
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[quote:k8863xaj]<bold statement>Personally, I think many American women have a mindset that they want it all or it’s not good enough.</bold statement> [/quote:k8863xaj]

I’m leaving the “bold statement” tags on for this whole thing.

And what about Canadian women? Honestly, I’m just saying, this isn’t just an American thing. It’s a *worldwide* thing. As long as you can say it’s an American problem, then you can blame American values and ignore the fact that there are causes other than cultural greed and ambition.

[quote:k8863xaj]There are many, many women’s issues the Church is dealing with right now like poverty, genital mutilation, abortion, AIDS, etc.[/quote:k8863xaj]
Yes, and how are they dealing with it? I haven’t seen the Church deal with genital mutilation, but the response to abortion: no change in doctrine, not possible. I’m not disagreeing with the doctrine; this is just how it looks to some women. AIDS: No condoms, no change in doctrine, don’t have sex. Same as it’s always been. Despite the logic and rationality behind this approach, it offers nothing new to women.

It feels to me like the Church is telling me that it can’t stop me from being locally active, but it would really rather I get back in the kitchen and be a good little Catholic woman.

My friend Jane was part of the RCIA group I was in. She studies theology at her local seminary. All of her male classmates are becoming priests. She can’t, not because her dedication to God is any less, because she is any less able to fulfill the roles, but because she is a woman. On a basic level, the inability of women to become priests says that somehow, somewhere, we’re lacking something that men aren’t.

Yes, women are active on the parish level. Yes, we still have our essential vocation as baptised persons and can be in some positions, like youth ministers. But then, shouldn’t men be content with working on a parish level? Why do they need to be priests or deacons at all? After all, there are so many men’s issues, like violence, gun control, wars, and matters of everyday life that are being dealt with. Why would they ever want anything more, like becoming a priest?

Why should a woman’s religious call be different than a man’s?