Commentary Women from 42 countries express aims at
synod
By ROBERTA NOBLEMAN
Gmunden, Austria
"Welcome, dear sisters."
Welcome to "Women for Change in the 21st Century" -- motto of the
first European Women's Synod, held here July 21-28.
That's what some 200 life-size wooden women seemed to say as 1,200
delegates from 42 nations arrived. The painted figures that greeted us came in
all shapes, sizes, color and decoration -- some with wings, some without -- and
some would soon be desecrated.
The goal was specific; participants, diverse.
They ranged from the feminist theologians of Western Europe to
feminists for Islam. Eloquent testimonies flowed from Eastern Europeans, raised
as atheists, now struggling to articulate a newfound faith. Catholics,
Protestant and Orthodox women talked freely without labeling or hoping to
convert.
The aim? To increase public awareness of women's concerns and
develop strategies for drawing more women into decision-making roles in church
and society. It was also to pray in liturgies, to talk, to express solidarity
with women who are poor, and to dance -- the latter difficult for the cerebral
Europeans, more accustomed to a left-brained, male model for conferences.
Northern Europeans dominated, and some American women noted a
hunger for spirituality while sensing, in the overwhelming academic nature of
much of the gathering, a discomfort with passion.
Becky Drury, a Catholic laywoman representing the Kellogg
Institute in South Bend, Ind., said, "I sense a profound pain center and a deep
frustration in many of these European women, but I am not sure they have the
voice to articulate it."
Sr. Frances Bernard O'Connor, also of South Bend, quoted an
African-American woman: "I sit warming the pew while my soul freezes to death."
O'Connor said she missed the passion and oratory of such American theologians
as Sr. Joan Chittister and Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz.
Still, many felt that women of the old country have much to give
to the new. Shirley Tung, board member of the Women's Ordination Conference
from Phoenix, Ariz., said she felt European feminists have stronger backing
from their religious peers than Americans do.
"These women came with the blessings of their home churches," she
said. "That is not true for me."
Dutch nuns spoke of their work in rescuing Eastern European women
from "white slave trade" -- forced prostitution in the West. Other nuns talked
about rescuing Catholicism from its 19th century institutional focus by
reclaiming the mystical and critical elements of their faith and the radical
charisms of foundresses of their religious orders.
On the synod's third day, women linked to found WOW, Women's
Ordination Worldwide. Ida Raming, Catholic theologian from Germany, said, "The
authenticity of women's call to the priesthood can only be decided by women
themselves."
On the third night of the synod, the lovely wooden figures that
greeted us had been desecrated. Spray-painted erect penises, strategically
placed, had been added to more than half of these art pieces. Those figures
that bore wings were spared. We were in Catholic Austria, where wayside shrines
of Madonna and child are common and crucifixes hang in stores.
The artists who created the figures reported the vandalism to
local police, who said the figures should be removed, as they were now
offensive. (The artists refused and are taking legal action.)
In the end, the most provocative statement came through silence
rather than words: a reflection on the prophet Habbakuk, who said, "Write down
the vision." The stories must be told.
Keynote speaker Mary Grey of England, Catholic professor of
feminist and liberation theology at the University of Southampton, said, "The
power of the community's vision and memory: that's the power we need at this
moment when capitalism has hijacked our vision and given us cheap dreams.
Disneyland instead of promised land.
"If it is good for poor women, it is good for all," she said.
"With this principle, we critique the dominant cultures with our alternative
vision of shared power. Our power is our wisdom, our compassion and our
commitment to justice. And where else is God but in the struggle with us?"
Roberta Nobleman, an Episcopalian actress and writer from
Dumond, N.J., performed a one-woman drama on sex abuse at the synod.
National Catholic Reporter, August 9,
1996
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