Need quick help re: feminism and the Church

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Although I know this has been discussed, I couldn’t come up with anything exactly on point with a search.

A friend needs to point her college-age niece to some helpful information. The niece is attending a Christian college and is concentrating in the Women, Gender and Sexuality
department. The niece is having a hard time integrating/reconciling feminism and the Church. She’s stuck on the Church heirarchy being male and Biblical translations having been done only by men, etc.

Does anyone know of any good books, articles, or websites to help her? Thanks in advance!
 
Would it help her to know that Mary the Mother of Jesus is Queen of Heaven? A simple point, but easily overlooked.

Yes, Catholicism values women.

Also, there are many, many female Saints, and at least three of them are considered Doctors of the Church, meaning that their diaries and writings are considered important enough to be studied by theologians. 😃
 
Does anyone know of any good books, articles, or websites to help her? Thanks in advance!
Our late holy Father JP2 wrote the following in direct response to that question:

Mulieris Dignitatem

If she’s actually willing to read it, it should help.

Again, the last three Doctors of the Church have been women, the first female Ph.D. in history received her degree from a Catholic institution, the first female CEOs were Catholic heads of Catholic hospitals, and the Church proclaims that the greatest pure creation EVER was…that’s right…a Woman. We are to love and honor her above all others (except God).

And as if that’s not all, we proclaim that WE are the “Bride of Christ” (and there’s no homosexual marriage here, folks), which means that in regards to the Divine masculine we are all feminine. This is the language used in the Scriptures, and is also what is seen symbolically when Christ’s Body comes into us in the Eucharist. We receive His body. Very feminine.

And we’re accused of being anti-woman?!? Makes no sense to me…

God Bless,
RyanL
 
Would it help her to know that Mary the Mother of Jesus is Queen of Heaven? A simple point, but easily overlooked.

Yes, Catholicism values women.

Also, there are many, many female Saints, and at least three of them are considered Doctors of the Church, meaning that their diaries and writings are considered important enough to be studied by theologians. 😃
I would suggest she do some reading on St Eidth Stein. Heres a good example of her writings.

**Text of Letter to the Pope from Edith Stein **

**to **

Pope Pius XI in 1933

Holy Father!

As a child of the Jewish people who, by the grace of God, for the past eleven years has also been a child of the Catholic Church, I dare to speak to the Father of Christianity about that which oppresses millions of Germans. For weeks we have seen deeds perpetrated in Germany which mock any sense of justice and humanity, not to mention love of neighbor. For years the leaders of National Socialism have been preaching hatred of the Jews. Now that they have seized the power of government and armed their followers, among them proven criminal elements, this seed of hatred has germinated. The government has only recently admitted that ex- cesses have occurred. To what extent, we cannot tell, because public opinion is being gagged. However, judging by what I have learned from personal relations, it is in no way a matter of singular exceptional cases. Under pressure from reactions abroad, the government has turned to “milder” methods. It has issued the watchword “no Jew shall have even one hair on his head harmed.” But through boycott measures–by robbing people of their livelihood, civic honor and fatherland–it drives many to desperation; within the last week, through private reports I was informed of five cases of suicide as a consequence of these hostilities. I am convinced that this is a general condition which will claim many more victims. One may regret that these unhappy people do not have greater inner strength to bear their misfortune. But the responsibility must fall, after all, on those who brought them to this point and it also falls on those who keep silent in the face of such happenings.

Everything that happened and continues to happen on a daily basis originates with a government that calls itself “Christian.” For weeks not only Jews but also thousands of faithful Catholics in Germany, and, I believe, all over the world, have been waiting and hoping for the Church of Christ to raise its voice to put a stop to this abuse of Christ’s name. Is not this idolization of race and governmental power which is being pounded into the public consciousness by the radio open heresy? Isn’t the effort to destroy Jewish blood an abuse of the holiest humanity of our Savior, of the most blessed Virgin and the apostles? Is not all this diametrically opposed to the conduct of our Lord and Savior, who, even on the cross, still prayed for his persecutors? And isn’t this a black mark on the record of this Holy Year which was intended to be a year of peace and reconciliation?

We all, who are faithful children of the Church and who see the conditions in Germany with open eyes, fear the worst for the prestige of the Church, if the silence continues any longer. We are convinced that this silence will not be able in the long run to purchase peace with the present German government. For the time being, the fight against Catholicism will be conducted quietly and less brutally than against Jewry, but no less systematically. It won’t take long before no Catholic will be able to hold office in Germany unless he dedicates himself unconditionally to the new course of action.

At the feet of your Holiness, requesting your apostolic blessing,

(Signed) Dr. Edith Stein, Instructor at the German Institute for Scientific Pedagogy, Münster in Westphalia, Collegium Marianum.
 
To be honest, when I was Catholic, I was never able to square this circle.

I had no trouble with the translations. I cannot imagine with all the scholars involved in creating a modern translation of the Scriptures, that at least some of those scholars aren’t women.

It was the fact that the Magisterium was and always will be only male. You might try to get her to separate her views on civil rights from her views on religion. I couldn’t do it (but then I also had political issues as well), but kudos to her if she can.
 
To be honest, when I was Catholic, I was never able to square this circle.

I had no trouble with the translations. I cannot imagine with all the scholars involved in creating a modern translation of the Scriptures, that at least some of those scholars aren’t women.
There are more and more women theologians all the time. I was given to understand a while ago that one of Scott Hahn’s daughters is studying Theology in Rome.
It was the fact that the Magisterium was and always will be only male. You might try to get her to separate her views on civil rights from her views on religion. I couldn’t do it (but then I also had political issues as well), but kudos to her if she can.
It helps to consider the fact that the Magesterium has a servant role in the Church (also it doesn’t actually pay all that well - they don’t call it a “life of simplicity” for nothing) - and that God in His great wisdom knows that women already have plenty of opportunities to be poorly paid servants. (Our Pastor complains from time to time - the Religious take vows of poverty, but it is their priests who actually live the life of poverty.) 😉

But the real reason is that priests, deacons, and Bishops function in persona Christi - in Christ as the New Adam, and this is the reason that they have to be male. A woman cannot be a “New Adam;” not even (or especially not!) symbolically.
 
Although I know this has been discussed, I couldn’t come up with anything exactly on point with a search.

A friend needs to point her college-age niece to some helpful information. The niece is attending a Christian college and is concentrating in the Women, Gender and Sexuality
department. The niece is having a hard time integrating/reconciling feminism and the Church. She’s stuck on the Church heirarchy being male and Biblical translations having been done only by men, etc.

Does anyone know of any good books, articles, or websites to help her? Thanks in advance!
See…

Letter to Women, John Paul II 1995

On the Dignity and Vocation of Women, , John Paul II, 15 August 1988 - Apostolic LetterMulieris Dignitatem
 
Thank you all for the quick response! I’ve passed on your suggested readings to my friend and I’ll have a look at them myself. Wow, Mulieris Dignitatem is one looooooooong letter! That will take me some time to digest.

Thanks again for your help.
 
I suggest you buy her the following books, which will hopefully liberate her from “women’s studies” and all the nonsense those types of curriculums fill our impressionable young women’s heads with:

Feminist Fantasies by Phyllis Schlafly (and a visit to www.phyllisschlafly.com would be good too)

Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn

Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex, and Feminism by Carrie Lukas
 
I suggest you buy her the following books, which will hopefully liberate her from “women’s studies” and all the nonsense those types of curriculums fill our impressionable young women’s heads with:

Feminist Fantasies by Phyllis Schlafly (and a visit to www.phyllisschlafly.com would be good too)

Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn

Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex, and Feminism by Carrie Lukas
I’d add to this:

**Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism **
*Donna Steichen *
amazon.com/Ungodly-Rage-Hidden-Catholic-Feminism/dp/0898703484
 
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