Catholic women went on strike to protect modernism
Women in the Church: "Progress, but still too slow".
Four years after the Women's Strike, women continue to fight for their place in the Church. Despite some progress, particularly in French-speaking Switzerland, many feel that there is still a long way to go before they are fully recognised.
"We can feel that things are changing, but it's still slow, too slow", Marie-Christine Conrath tells cath.ch. With this in mind, the coordinator of the Women in Church Network will be taking part in an awareness-raising action on 14 June in Fribourg on the place of women in the church, as part of the Women's Strike. The demonstrators will set off from Fribourg station to the Centre Catholique Romand de formations en Église (CCRFE) to present their demands and expectations to those in charge.
Focus on training
This year, the Network is focusing on training in the Church, where it still sees disparities in treatment. In French-speaking Switzerland, women are often asked to take the Formation des agents pastoraux (FAP) at the Centre Catholique Romand de formations en Eglise (CCRFE)," notes Marie-Christine Conrath. But then, when it comes to appointing people to positions of responsibility, they are told that it's not possible, because they don't have a university degree in theology", points out the pastoral health worker in the canton of Neuchâtel. She points out that young women who decide to study theology without going through the Church have no place, "because they are appointed to pastoral teams with priests who have the power anyway". The co-ordinator of the Réseau des Femmes en Eglise (Women in the Church Network) assures us that, because of this phenomenon, many of these women theologians have withdrawn from their commitment.
This is a problem that the activists will be presenting to the CCRFE in no uncertain terms, but they will be careful not to generalise. "In many parishes, things are going well, with priests willing to share their power. But in too many others, it's the parish priest who decides and the others have no say. Women still very often pay the price," says Marie-Christine Conrath.
In a press release issued on 9 June, the Network is therefore calling for access to a wider range of training courses, better recognition of the certificates awarded to lay people, and more women among the Centre's trainers. For the members of the Network, access to theological studies (especially in the course of employment) remains difficult and must be promoted. They also call for Church posts to be advertised whenever possible, and for greater transparency in hiring criteria and procedures.
Women on the rise
There are, however, some nuances to this rather gloomy picture. "We have seen that in the dioceses, women have been appointed to positions of responsibility, even if these are sometimes 'alibi' appointments. But we're still not completely satisfied with the situation, because clericalism is still very present. That's why we have to continue our militant action."
"In religious life, it's easier for a woman to find her place".
Sister Adrienne Barras
Sister Adrienne Barras also highlighted the fact that women have taken on important roles in French-speaking Switzerland. Like Marie-Christine Conrath, the nun from La Pelouse in Bex (VD) refers to the recent appointments of lay women to head diocesan regions. Following an impetus given by Mgr Charles Morerod, Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg (LGF), three diocesan regions are now represented by women (Céline Ruffieux-Morel for the French-speaking part of Fribourg, Marianne Pohl-Henzen for the German-speaking part, and Fabienne Gigon in Geneva), whereas this position was previously reserved for priests only.
Also in the diocese of Basel, Bishop Felix Gmür has appointed pastoral theologian Marie-Andrée Beuret, together with deacon Didier Berret, as Episcopal delegates for the French-speaking part of the diocese (Pastoral Jura) in 2022.
Sister Adrienne also points out that she has been called to the Sion Episcopal Council by Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey, who has also asked her to be the first delegate for consecrated life in the diocese. "These are some encouraging signs," she says, noting that it is easier for a woman to find her place in apostolic religious life. "For centuries, women religious have made their own decisions within their communities. We practise a form of 'natural Synodality', which I think can inspire the universal Church in its approach to religious life.
Beyond the opposition between men and women
Did the consecrated life dimension of the Bishops of LGF and Sion (Mgr Morerod is a Dominican and Mgr Lovey is a canon of the Grand-Saint-Bernard) inspire them in their "Synodal" impulses? In any case, the "leap of faith" represented by the appointment of lay women to the highest positions at LGF seems to have gone off without a hitch.
Céline Ruffieux-Morel, appointed as the Bishop's representative for the French-speaking diocesan region of Fribourg in 2021, is convinced that the process has been "positive". "We've had to invent a new position as a lay woman in the Church, with new responsibilities. It's tiring, it's intense, but relations are going well," she assures us.
Admitting "some friction", as in "any position of responsibility", the Fribourg native stresses that relations have also evolved at the level of the 'Episcopal Nominations Council', where "we have had to reinvent something in the way we work together".
"The ban on women preaching is a fundamental abuse of power".
Marie-Christine Conrath
In any case, Céline Ruffieux-Morel believes that we need to "broaden the debate and go beyond the opposition between men and women". "In the Church, the system differentiates the place of men and women. Society changes, history evolves and so does the Church. And it's up to us, men and women, to invent a new way of working together, of taking on responsibilities in the Church, of bringing it to life."
Céline Ruffieux-Morel will be at the meeting at the CCRFE on 14 June, representing the Conférence des ordinaires romands (COR).
No "fixation" on the priesthood
For Sister Adrienne, mutual listening and dialogue must be the key to this evolution. This is something that has certainly improved in parish life, particularly since the Women's Strike encouraged women to make their voices heard more intensely. Despite this, the same situations of denigration and devaluation still occur in the communities. "At every Network meeting, at least one woman tells her story. And we all stand there speechless, saying to ourselves: 'It's not possible, it's still happening'", says Marie-Christine Conrath.
"Mentalities are changing, among both men and women".
Céline Ruffieux-Morel
For all that, the Network is not calling for the ordination of women. "It's really a deliberate choice not to go in that direction. We know that it's problematic at Church level, and that in any case there's so much work to be done upstream that we're not at the stage of asking ourselves this question", explains the pastoral officer. "We should already be implementing the acolyte and lectorate at our level [in 2020, Pope Francis authorised lay women to take up the ministry of lector and acolyte, i.e. the service of the Word and the service of the altar]".
While the Network is not calling for women to be ordained, it is campaigning for their right to preach. "We have a real problem with this ban because it would mean that the Word of God cannot resound through the voice of a woman. It's a fundamental abuse of power", Marie-Christine Conrath insists.
Walking together
For Céline Ruffieux-Morel, however, attitudes are changing, "among both men and women". For the bishop's representative, "there is not one sex ahead and the other behind in terms of sociological change. Some men are very open to full collaboration with women, others are not. And the same applies to women. The same type of situation exists with clericalism, which can be nurtured by both men and women.
The woman from Fribourg believes that the Women's Strike may have played a role in recent advances. "The Church is closely involved in society. I think there has been an awakening. Women have realised that they can put the subject on the table. Even if the Church didn't wait for the Women's Strike to raise these issues.
Although the three women involved in the Church in French-speaking Switzerland have somewhat different opinions on the role of women, they do agree on one point: the process must not be based on opposition between the sexes, but on a "united" march.
A report from the time on the Diocesan website
WOMEN'S STRIKE: MOBILISATION OF THE WOMEN IN CHURCH NETWORK
A large number of Catholic women - employees, volunteers and retired members of the Church - took part in today's women's strike.
Mobilised by the Network of Women in the Church, around sixty Catholic women from all over French-speaking Switzerland, and a few men in solidarity, travelled to Lausanne this morning to present their demands to the members of the COR*, a body that brings together diocesan bishops, auxiliary bishops, vicars general and episcopal delegates from French-speaking Switzerland. The main demand formulated by the Network of Women in the Church is for "significant participation by women in the decision-making and training bodies" of the institution.
A delegation of six women (one from each of the French-speaking cantons) was received by the members of the COR, meeting today at the headquarters of the Episcopal Vicariate of the canton of Vaud, and handed over a letter detailing the Network's motivations and demands. In particular, the letter expresses the desire of women to "collaborate more effectively in the conversion of our Church's actions".
The demonstrators marched from the station to the headquarters of the Vaud Vicariate, waving banners and placards and decked out in purple, the colour of the national women's strike. A large number of women working for the Catholic Church in Geneva travelled to Lausanne, before returning to Geneva to join the various mobilisation sites for this day of strike action for greater equality.
* Conference of French-speaking Ordinaries
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