While the role of women in the Catholic Church is hotly debated among undebatably not hot, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has a slightly different approach.
The German Episcopal Conference has expressed its commitment “to promoting the role of women further, respecting their responsibility, entrusted to all Christians for the life of the Church” and “increasing the number of women in positions of responsibility.” The Archbishop of Milan, Angelo Scola, underlined that Francis’ focus on the role of women “is hugely important.” But while Rome appears to be opening up to the gentler sex, Moscow remains closed to to it. The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russias, Kirill, warns against the “danger” of feminism, condemning the existence of a propaganda which encourages women to take on roles that jeopardise their household and family duties.
“I believe that this phenomenon, feminism as it is called, is very dangerous,” Kirill said in a speech to an organisation of Ukrainian Orthodox women, the content of which is published on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church. “Feminist organisations proclaim a pseudo-freedom for women, which must be manifested outside of marriage and the family,” Kirill said, adding that “it is the man’s job to take care of things outside the home; he must work and earn, while the woman’s place is inside the home, looking after the family.” “If this incredibly important role the woman has is broken, then everything else will collapse along with it: family and, in a broader sense, the country,” he added. Nevertheless, Kirill did say he was in favour of women pursuing careers, as long as they got their priorities straight, fulfilling their duties as wives and mothers.
Of course, women have always been vital to the life of the Church, particularly consecrated women but it is equally true that the demale role of wife and mother is the lynchpin of society as a whole. It is just a matter of emphasis.
So where should the emphasis be right now? It seems to me that the last 50 years have been very destructive to women, mothers, and wives and society as a whole has been devastated by it. SO I understand the other emphasis. Do you?
April 16, 2013 at 2:09 pm
I stand with Chesterton in pitying Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task, but not its smallness.
April 16, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Whatever the problems in Russia, their birthrate is unsustainable and abortion rate sky high. They must actively promote childbearing and raising or die.
Here, I would love if our NFP posters, for instance, actually depicted Catholic couples WITH children…at the most I've seen one child in those posters. Another one has zero. It would be a blessing to hear our pastors avidly promote family growth. It is a very counter-cultural thing to do these days (have children).
However, as a mother of five, with a full-time job and children who have never been in day care thanks to a domestic husband, I am not too picky about how that happens, as long as young children are raised by their parents. It seems like many of the families I know have a somewhat creative approach to finances which may involve both spouses working outside of the home in some way or other while balancing the child-raising between them.
April 16, 2013 at 5:18 pm
I'd like to be able to have an actual family one day.
The major, rather serious hitches are:
Being able to provide for a family the way I see fit.
Meeting a woman who does not trigger my alarms.
Church going women like to imagine they aren't feminists. I can imagine them being like the Pharisee and thanking God they aren't like 'those' women. But they take liberties- not as many perhaps, but they still do. They also tend to want a man to assume all the duties of a traditional marriage, but have conveniently forgotten about all sorts of wifely duties.
But anyway, I've been burned once before, and I actually have interests that tend to overlap with home-making, so I have no doubt my dim view about stuff that comes out of women's mouths is due in part to cynicism.
Marriage should be emphasized, and it ought to be on everybody's radar that college is largely a scam nowadays. It is a really hard thing to do to figure out how to walk back, away from the modern lies, and figure out how to be productive again, but we've got to start doing it or else we die out. Already this country is insane enough to think that there is something called 'gay marriage'. What ever we have been doing these past few generations has been dangerously bad for us, and I think allowing some of this feminist crap into our backyard is one likely culprit.
April 16, 2013 at 10:20 pm
Feminism is anti-women, anti-men,anti-children, anti-marriage and -family. It is promoted by an elite hat want to get rid of much of the populace and dominate the rest.
April 17, 2013 at 3:30 am
Lynda is also, evidently, blessed amomng women. Feminists are responsible for the election of the 90's Rapist-n-Chief, his equally-ambitious bisexual confrere (don't think it quite qualifies as marriage), the current Alynsky-muslim, contraception, abortion, and the promotion of sodomy. Not a misogynist, I just read polls. It should also be noted that 90% of Church-going Catholic women favor contraception, so rampant sacrilege is not confined to just high-profile apostates like Pelosi. Instead of Rome worrying about septagenarians saying their Rosary during mass (Tradition), it needs to see what the spirit of the V-2 has to say about institutional desolation..VIVA CHRISTA REY!!!
April 18, 2013 at 4:02 am
I do not disagree with the patriarch.