Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career)

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Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career).
 
Linux said:
Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career).
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No, I wouldn’t say that (I don’t think men have a God-given right to work either). But that certainly doesn’t mean she shouldn’t work if circumstances allow.
 
Michael_Allen said:
No, I wouldn’t say that (I don’t think men have a God-given right to work either). But that certainly doesn’t mean she shouldn’t work if circumstances allow.
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Men don’t have a God given right to work? Why do you think that?
 
PatriceA said:
Why wouldn’t a woman have the same right to support herself as a man does?
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I would think that a women has a right to have a career, but some Catholics has said to me that it is the nature of a women to be at home looking after kids and a career should not be her concern.
 
Linux said:
I would think that a women has a right to have a career, but some Catholics has said to me that it is the nature of a women to be at home looking after kids and a career should not be her concern.
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That’s only a decision that concerns the husband and the wife, and no one else. Every married couple has to come to a decision that is best for them as a couple or family. That might mean both the husband and wife works, or just the husband OR just the wife. There are stay at home dads as well as wives.
 
Linux said:
I would think that a women has a right to have a career, but some Catholics has said to me that it is the nature of a women to be at home looking after kids and a career should not be her concern.
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Not so. I have been a Catholic all my life, since my Baptism in April of 1958 and I have “never ever” heard that, … well until I read it on CAF a year or so back from a poster. But alas, I took it with a grain of salt. 🤷
 
Linux said:
Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career).
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Of course she has a right to. Now, whether she does or not (if married) is a family decision, not anyone else’s.
 
I think we are using the wrong word here. The word that we should be using is vocation. This does not just mean married or celibate, but for everyone (once they’ve chosen that first one), what else is God calling me to. We all have a vocation beyond just our married state. For a woman, it may be mother and housewife, for others it might be something else.

For us, after multiple miscarriages, we discerned that motherhood was not her vocation (whether biological or adopted), so we stopped actively trying to have kids (while always remaining open to life should God have granted us that gift.) We decided instead, if we don’t have kids, how can we better serve God. So for 8 years, my wife was the director of youth and young adult ministry at our parish while completing her Masters in Pastoral Ministry. Once that had run its course, we discerned that she was called to get her PhD in Theology, so we picked up and moved to Dayton, OH last summer. At this point, we are at an age (early 40’s) where the parenthood window is closing but we are comfortable with our decisions regarding God’s will in our life.

The point being that discernment of vocation does not end with married state. There are addiional calls beyond that - it may be to be a housewife, it may be to be a teacher, etc. No one should try to stand in the Holy Spirit’s way when the Holy Spirit calls someone.
 
Read Proverbs 31 to get a picture of the “ideal” wife. If she isn’t working, who is? 🤷
 
I agree the word “right” is incorrect. Why would God need to give any of us specific “rights”? The Constitution gives us “rights” from a legal perspective. I am a Catholic woman and have a strong, vibrant career in Chemistry which I love. It never occurred to me to ponder if I had the “right” to choose this or not. Seems very strange to me.
 
tcay584 said:
It never occurred to me to ponder if I had the “right” to choose this or not. Seems very strange to me.
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Not really; perhaps you simply take it for granted.

If human life has an inherent value, then human-beings have an inherent duty or “moral right” to protect that value which includes having access to a means to production (having the means to produce food, clothing, a roof over ones head, etc).

Isn’t that obvious?:confused:
 
Linux said:
Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career).
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No. Neither does a Catholic (or Muslim, Jewish, etc) MAN have a God given right to work (have a career).

Men and women should be afforded an equal opportunity to work wherever such equality is practical, but neither men nor women have a right to work.

If work is a “right,” then it should never be denied. But an employer is not compelled to employ anybody when there is no actual “work” to be done.
 
Also most, if not all, states have a “right to work” law/whatever. Which means that the employer has the right to fire anyone for any reason. And not have to explain why. If there is the necessity for the wife to work, then by all means let her work. Or even if she wants to and there aren’t any “dependants” who need her at home. Like, perhaps, aging parents who need support. Of course, the way our society is now, there’s nothing wrong with the man being the care giver. So, having a “right” to work? Not exactly. It’s already said that men are told, in the New Testament (by Paul in at least one of his letters), that men are told to support their families. The wife doesn’t get off easy either. Even if she were a stay at home type person, there would also be that kind of “work.” Keeping up with the housework and all isn’t exactly my kind of relaxation.
 
Linux said:
Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career).
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These may be helpful:
"Pope John Paul II:
As far as personal rights are concerned, there is an urgent need to achieve real equality in every area: equal pay for equal work, protection for working mothers, fairness in career advances, equality of spouses with regard to family rights, and the recognition of everything that is part of the rights and duties of citizens in a democratic state. This is a matter of justice but also of necessity. Women will increasingly play a part in the solution of the serious problems of the future…
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Pope John Paul II:
It is a “sign of the times” that woman’s role is increasingly recognized, not only in the family circle, but also in the wider context of all social activities. Without the contribution of women, society is less alive, culture impoverished, and peace less stable. Situations where women are prevented from developing their full potential and from offering the wealth of their gifts should therefore be considered profoundly unjust, not only to women themselves but to society as a whole…

It is necessary to strive convincingly to ensure that the widest possible space is open to women in all areas of culture, economics, politics, and eccesial life itself, so that human society is increasingly enriched by the gifts proper to masculinity and femininity.
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Pope John Paul II:
Doubtless one of the great social changes of our time is the increasing role played by women, also in an executive capacity, in labor and the economy. This process is gradually changing the face of society, and it is legitimate to hope that it will gradually succeed in changing that of the economy itself, giving it a new human inspiration and removing from it the recurring temptation of dull efficiency marked only by the laws of profit…

It is necessary to respect the right and duty of woman as mother to carry out her specific tasks in the family, without being forced by necessity to take on an additional job… The safeguarding of this basic good, however, cannot be an alibi with regard to the principle of equal opportunity for men and women also in work outside the family. Flexible and balanced solutions should be found which harmonize the different needs.
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Pope John Paul II:
The challenge facing most societies is that of upholding, indeed strengthening, woman’s role in the family while at the same time making it possible for her to use all her talents and exercise all her rights in building up society. However, women’s greater presence in the work force, in public life, and generally in the decision making processes guiding society, on an equal basis with men, will continue to be problematic as long as the costs continue to burden the private sector. In this area the state has a duty of subsidiarity, to be exercised through suitable legislative and social security initiatives. In the perspective of uncontrolled free-market policies there is little hope that women will be able to overcome the obstacles on their path.
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Pope John Paul II:
There should be no doubt that on the basis of their equal dignity with men “women have a full right to become actively involved in all areas of public life, and this right must be affirmed and guaranteed, also, where necessary, through appropriate legislation.”
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Pope John Paul II:
Profound changes are needed in the attitudes and organization of society in order to facilitate the participation of women in public life, while at the same time providing for the special obligations of women and of men with regard to their families… Nor should the special difficulties and problems faced by single women living alone or those who head families be neglected.
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Michael Allen said:
No, I wouldn’t say that (I don’t think men have a God-given right to work either). But that certainly doesn’t mean she shouldn’t work if circumstances allow.
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Though you are not arguing that women may/ought not to work, I think it’s worthwhile to point out that the Church often does speak of work as a right:
Gaudium et Spes:
…there is a growing awareness of the exalted dignity proper to the human person, since he stands above all things, and his rights and duties are universal and inviolable. Therefore, there must be made available to all men everything necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, the right to education, to employment, to a good reputation, to respect, to appropriate information, to activity in accord with the upright norm of one’s own conscience, to protection of privacy and rightful freedom even in matters religious.
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Pope Paul VI:
Every human person has the right to work, to a chance to develop his qualities and his personality in the exercise of his profession, to equitable remuneration which will enable him and his family “to lead a worthy life on the material, social, cultural and spiritual level” and to assistance in case of need arising from sickness or age.
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Pope John Paul II:
The obligation to earn one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow presumes the right to do so. A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, nor can that society attain social peace…

Among the most important of these rights, mention must be made of… the right to share in the work which makes wise use of the earth’s material resources, and to derive from that work the means to support oneself and one’s dependents…
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Linux said:
Does a Catholic women have a God given right to work (Have a Career).
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EVERYONE has a God given right to life and the pursuit of happiness- and in order to pursue these things, money is needed, and money is obtained through working. thus, in some ways, EVERYONE has the God given right to work.
 
Agreed, but that doesn’t translate to “right to a career”. No-one has a right to a “career” since a career is a man-made social pursuit.
 
The thread question is badly put.

Yes, everyone has a God-given right to work, but this does not automatically translate to a right to a career. Before the development of urbanised societies, there was no such thing as a “career” per se. Everyone has the right to work to sustain themselves and their families in morally legitimate ways.

The question should be: is a Catholic woman able to morally pursue a career? I don’t see why not.
 
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