Women Respond to the Issue of Clericalism
Archdiocesan Women’s Committee
March 2019
During the winter of 2018-19, the Archdiocesan Women’s Committee (AWC), an advisory body that reports to the Cardinal and represents women from all six vicariates, sent three questions on the topic of clericalism to more than 1,500 women. More than 700 written responses were returned. The three questions were: (1) What is your understanding of clericalism? (2) Have you ever personally experienced clericalism? (3) How can the laity help end clericalism?
Of the 700 responses, about half didn’t know the meaning of “clericalism” until it was explained to them. Once explained, however, nearly two-thirds -- 62 percent -- reported having had a personal experience with clericalism.
This article is a brief synopsis of the responses to the AWC.
THE SIGNS OF CLERICALISM
For many, the signs of clericalism include, but are not limited to, the abuse scandal and its cover up. Additionally, it is seen and experienced in parish life as a “good old boys’ club”. Each vicariate had reports of women who felt they weren’t being heard by their pastors at some point:
HOW WOMEN HAVE EXPERIENCED CLERICALISM
Women as a whole believe they experience clericalism more than men. In fact, women in numerous parts of the archdiocese -- most of them in the 30-50 age group -- declined to respond because experience has shown them no one in authority would heed their concerns. They believe the church doesn’t listen to the laity, and any changes in church culture or leadership would be incremental at best, and slow to come.
For some, clericalism is experienced when women’s knowledge on church subjects is dismissed, also by priests using their authority to deny sacraments, or favoring those parishioners who treat clergy as if they are always correct. Repeatedly, women said it’s because they have no positions of authority within the church, at any level.
Over half of the population of the Church is composed of women; however, since all Catholic clerics are male, the wisdom and talents of women are lost in the day to day life, ministry and decisions of the Church.
Women who work in parishes often experience marginalization whether they are on pastoral staffs and have advanced degrees or are church administrators or volunteers.
“Though I have had some wonderfully supportive pastors who have welcomed my gifts and given me every opportunity to contribute to parish life, I have also had pastors who preferred that I be invisible,” one woman said.
Many women spoke of priests playing favorites with families and individuals within their parishes. If you were a “Yes, Father” person, those priests treated you with respect. If you questioned him on anything, you were quickly dismissed.
All agree that the clergy sex abuse scandal is where the effects of clericalism and the lifelong pain it inflicts is most visible. Most women are especially angry and impatient with a church hierarchy who covered up the abuse for many years. “Why has it taken years -- decades! -- to deal with sexual abuse?” one woman said. “It’s three words: CALL THE POLICE!”
Multiple women questioned whether the church would be able to avoid another sex abuse scandal in the future, because women haven’t been included in accountability measures. “The Catholic Church is always going to protect itself, and women have no positions of authority,” one woman said. “They cannot use their knowledge and wisdom to protect children, since they have no voice.”
HELPING TO END CLERICALISM
If we are to end clericalism, many women said, we need to begin by listening to and empowering the voices that have long been ignored, particularly those of women and young adults.
We also need to stop treating priests and seminarians as a privileged caste, and instead to treat them as humans—as fallible men who share our human needs of community and connection, and who together can help us grow closer to God and to each other. Women want priests to educate parishioners about clericalism and devise ways to monitor it, including using their homilies and parish bulletins as a place to talk about ending clericalism.
Additionally, the church should encourage parishioners to share their diverse gifts with the parish and welcome lay people to take on tasks that help a parish to run efficiently. Finance councils, parish councils and school boards should all be “actual decision-makers,” instead of just advisors to the pastor.
Day to day operational concerns should be administered by the laity which would free the clergy to concentrate more on spiritual development. The top-down role of the pastor must be re-thought and restructured.
Qualified women should be included in church discussions and decisions -- from the parish level all the way to the Vatican.
Many mentioned the diaconate as a path that could lead to women taking on a more equal role in serving our church. Women deacons should be baptizing babies and comforting the sick and dying. Also many women can deliver homilies that would be meaningful to a parish community because they share so many of the same life experiences as other parishioners.
We need to support archdiocesan-wide efforts to get seminarians and priests involved in the everyday life of a parish and its people. Parishioners are in need of compassion, understanding and forgiveness. Secluded formation programs, such as Mundelein Seminary, isolate the church’s current and future leaders. Ostentatious dress and lavish residences further separate clergy from the people they serve.
Women of the archdiocese want the clergy to walk beside us lay people, to renew our shared baptismal call into the one priesthood of our Lord Jesus. Pope Francis and Cardinal Cupich have spoken frequently of the need to eradicate clericalism -- whether it originates with the clergy’s self-image or with other people’s deferential behaviors toward clergy. Many priests, religious and lay people have recognized clericalism as a sin that derails the church’s mission to be, as the Pope calls it, a “field hospital” in the world. When together we reject the toxic culture of clericalism, we can do the work of that field hospital: “to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.”
March 2019
During the winter of 2018-19, the Archdiocesan Women’s Committee (AWC), an advisory body that reports to the Cardinal and represents women from all six vicariates, sent three questions on the topic of clericalism to more than 1,500 women. More than 700 written responses were returned. The three questions were: (1) What is your understanding of clericalism? (2) Have you ever personally experienced clericalism? (3) How can the laity help end clericalism?
Of the 700 responses, about half didn’t know the meaning of “clericalism” until it was explained to them. Once explained, however, nearly two-thirds -- 62 percent -- reported having had a personal experience with clericalism.
This article is a brief synopsis of the responses to the AWC.
THE SIGNS OF CLERICALISM
For many, the signs of clericalism include, but are not limited to, the abuse scandal and its cover up. Additionally, it is seen and experienced in parish life as a “good old boys’ club”. Each vicariate had reports of women who felt they weren’t being heard by their pastors at some point:
- Priests, particularly pastors, have the last word.
- They are to be deferred to as the smartest guys in the room.
- Their opinions are to be valued, even on subjects they know nothing about.
HOW WOMEN HAVE EXPERIENCED CLERICALISM
Women as a whole believe they experience clericalism more than men. In fact, women in numerous parts of the archdiocese -- most of them in the 30-50 age group -- declined to respond because experience has shown them no one in authority would heed their concerns. They believe the church doesn’t listen to the laity, and any changes in church culture or leadership would be incremental at best, and slow to come.
For some, clericalism is experienced when women’s knowledge on church subjects is dismissed, also by priests using their authority to deny sacraments, or favoring those parishioners who treat clergy as if they are always correct. Repeatedly, women said it’s because they have no positions of authority within the church, at any level.
Over half of the population of the Church is composed of women; however, since all Catholic clerics are male, the wisdom and talents of women are lost in the day to day life, ministry and decisions of the Church.
Women who work in parishes often experience marginalization whether they are on pastoral staffs and have advanced degrees or are church administrators or volunteers.
“Though I have had some wonderfully supportive pastors who have welcomed my gifts and given me every opportunity to contribute to parish life, I have also had pastors who preferred that I be invisible,” one woman said.
Many women spoke of priests playing favorites with families and individuals within their parishes. If you were a “Yes, Father” person, those priests treated you with respect. If you questioned him on anything, you were quickly dismissed.
All agree that the clergy sex abuse scandal is where the effects of clericalism and the lifelong pain it inflicts is most visible. Most women are especially angry and impatient with a church hierarchy who covered up the abuse for many years. “Why has it taken years -- decades! -- to deal with sexual abuse?” one woman said. “It’s three words: CALL THE POLICE!”
Multiple women questioned whether the church would be able to avoid another sex abuse scandal in the future, because women haven’t been included in accountability measures. “The Catholic Church is always going to protect itself, and women have no positions of authority,” one woman said. “They cannot use their knowledge and wisdom to protect children, since they have no voice.”
HELPING TO END CLERICALISM
If we are to end clericalism, many women said, we need to begin by listening to and empowering the voices that have long been ignored, particularly those of women and young adults.
We also need to stop treating priests and seminarians as a privileged caste, and instead to treat them as humans—as fallible men who share our human needs of community and connection, and who together can help us grow closer to God and to each other. Women want priests to educate parishioners about clericalism and devise ways to monitor it, including using their homilies and parish bulletins as a place to talk about ending clericalism.
Additionally, the church should encourage parishioners to share their diverse gifts with the parish and welcome lay people to take on tasks that help a parish to run efficiently. Finance councils, parish councils and school boards should all be “actual decision-makers,” instead of just advisors to the pastor.
Day to day operational concerns should be administered by the laity which would free the clergy to concentrate more on spiritual development. The top-down role of the pastor must be re-thought and restructured.
Qualified women should be included in church discussions and decisions -- from the parish level all the way to the Vatican.
Many mentioned the diaconate as a path that could lead to women taking on a more equal role in serving our church. Women deacons should be baptizing babies and comforting the sick and dying. Also many women can deliver homilies that would be meaningful to a parish community because they share so many of the same life experiences as other parishioners.
We need to support archdiocesan-wide efforts to get seminarians and priests involved in the everyday life of a parish and its people. Parishioners are in need of compassion, understanding and forgiveness. Secluded formation programs, such as Mundelein Seminary, isolate the church’s current and future leaders. Ostentatious dress and lavish residences further separate clergy from the people they serve.
Women of the archdiocese want the clergy to walk beside us lay people, to renew our shared baptismal call into the one priesthood of our Lord Jesus. Pope Francis and Cardinal Cupich have spoken frequently of the need to eradicate clericalism -- whether it originates with the clergy’s self-image or with other people’s deferential behaviors toward clergy. Many priests, religious and lay people have recognized clericalism as a sin that derails the church’s mission to be, as the Pope calls it, a “field hospital” in the world. When together we reject the toxic culture of clericalism, we can do the work of that field hospital: “to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.”
For more information, visit the Archdiocesan Women's Committee webpage.