Quote of the Day

Coming to a new understanding of women as full human beings is the sine qua non of church change. Moreover, the current pope’s recent reiteration of the virtues of gender complementarity showed that he is not tuned in to contemporary scholarship, both scientific and humanistic, on gender, its fluidity, and variety. No one can be certain how constructed our gender identities are, or what grounds them biologically. Being “created in the image of God” is a better bet.

We are all learning together about this, some of us more willing to admit what we do not know than others. But we can certainly agree in the meantime that persons trump genitals, that competence and willingness to serve are far more relevant than gender identity when it comes to Christian life. This means ordination and decision making for women on a par with men, or a complete change in sacramental ministry and governance for all (my preferred future). But it does not mean that women can continue to be treated as second-class citizens in any way whatsoever.

– Mary E. Hunt
Excerpted from "Women’s Equality in the Church is No Longer Negotiable"
Religion Dispatches
April 23, 2015

For more of Mary Hunt's insights, see the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Quote of the Day – April 17, 2013
• Progressive Perspectives on the Papacy (Part 5)
• Quote of the Day – February 11, 2013
• Quote of the Day – June 10, 2012
• Mary Hunt on the "Child Neglect" of the Washington, DC Archdiocese
• The "Ratzinger Letter" of 1986 as "Theological Pornography"
• Mary Hunt: "Catholicism is a Very Complex Reality"
• Crisis? What Crisis?
• Our Catholic "Stonewall Moment"
• LGBT Catholics Respond to Synod 2014's Final Report

Recommended Off-site Links:
Pope Francis Has a Woman Problem – Jennifer Labbadia (The Huffington Post via The Progressive Catholic Voice, March 31, 2015).
I'm a Catholic Feminist, and My Church Needs Me More Than Ever – Kristina Keneally (The Guardian via The Progressive Catholic Voice, January 30, 2015).

Image: Kristen Solberg.