Carvajal: Imagine

EVEN if sometimes I do not act it, presumably because of subconscious cultural triggers to the contrary, my position has always been that man and woman are equal in dignity and rights for simply belonging to the human race.

This, however, is clearly not the position of our biblical ancestors who behaved as if woman was ordained by God to be unequal and subservient to man. These would have to be the subconscious cultural underpinnings of man’s self-declared superiority over woman.

Still, I can’t understand why after all the enlightenment gained in the course of our evolution into higher spiritual beings there remain males in so called developed and/or developing countries that believe in, and act out, their superiority over women.

(Come to think of it, this is no different from the fact that a significant slice of humanity thinks blacks, in particular, are subhuman and men and women of color, in general, are inferior to the colorless variety.)

I am sure there are socio-psychological even pseudo-religious reasons for this phenomenon of people, men and women of all races not treating and respecting one another as equals. I personally like that part which says that acts of domination are a cover-up for deep-seated feelings of inferiority. For, why dominate others when you are confident of your own worth as a human being, man or woman, white or colored?

Yet explanations no matter how valid will not do away with woman’s inequality with man. Something has to happen to wake people up to the truth that man and woman are equal in dignity and in rights, that both have equal rights to choose who they want to become in their lives.

This is when it occurred to me that this tradition-shattering event could be the Catholic Church’s admission of women into the sacred priesthood. By doing this the Catholic Church would be recognizing woman’s equality with man.

The Catholic Church already behaves as if it admits that all peoples, regardless of color, are equal. But it still has to practice something, like admitting women to the priesthood, that would unequivocally tell the world that woman is man’s equal.

Imagine, therefore, the impact such a move will have on the struggle of woman for equal rights with man. The Catholic Church has the right to impose the discipline of celibacy on its priests. But it does not have the right to bar women from the priesthood because this would constitute a doctrinal error. By any human logic woman is definitely equal to man.

Yet it’s hard to imagine a male-dominated Catholic Church making such an earth-shaking move anytime soon. The more reason Catholic women should band together and demand from their Church the same equality with man Protestant Christian women enjoy.