by Eveline Kobler, swissinfo.ch
The insistence of the Roman Catholic Church that priests have to be male reflects the power of men and not Christian theology, says Swiss theologian Doris Strahm. Strahm is co-author of a recent study into women in leadership roles in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths.
We may all be equal before God, but the study by the Inter-religious Think-Tank shows that this is not the case in certain religious communities.
The study looks at three branches of Judaism, the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and the Islamic community in Switzerland. In liberal Jewish communities and in the Protestant church, women can hold leading clerical roles.
swissinfo.ch: The study shows that many women work for the Catholic Church but they are not allowed to serve as priests. Why?
Doris Strahm: The Catholic Church justifies this on the grounds that Jesus only called men as his apostles and on Catholic tradition. But this is an untenable argument, as Jesus was a Jew and he did not found a church. The office of priest only goes back to the fifth century.
Categories: CHRISTIANITY, Europe, Law and Religion, Religion, Switzerland, Women Rights
It would be interesting to read the Gospel of Mary Magdalene in this regards.
Additionally, what I have always wondered that St. Paul, who comes on the scene years later, gets to have 13 letters in the New Testament and Mother Mary, allegedly mother of God, does not get much voice in the New Testament!
One of the ‘allegation’ against St Paul was not being inclusive for women.