Mahony Urges Greater Women’s Church Role : Archbishop Warns of ‘Alienation and Rejection,’ but Avoids Touchy Issue of Ban on Female Priests

Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, warning that many Catholic women feel “alienation and rejection in the church,” chided priests for using male imagery at the pulpit and called on them to open up more ministries and decision-making jobs to women.

In a pastoral letter to be released today, Mahony carefully avoided one of the most divisive issues in the Roman Catholic Church--the ban against women priests. But he called for greater participation of women in non-clerical roles and warned of troubling consequences should women continue to be excluded from church decision-making.

“If their call for greater acceptance and for recognition of their gifts is not heard, there is a danger that they will increasingly find their church unable to meet their need for deeper spiritual and communal growth,” Mahony said.

Attempt at Reconciliation

The 16-page statement, from one of the most influential archbishops in the nation and leader of its largest archdiocese, represents a significant attempt to reconcile rising church tensions over women’s issues and underscores the seriousness with which the church is beginning to view women’s concerns.

Although it carefully avoids criticism of church policies and repeatedly refers to the words of Pope John Paul II, the letter was described by some Catholic feminists as a “step forward” that is certain to improve Mahony’s standing among Catholic women. Mahony said, for example, that the church’s prohibition on girls as altar servers and the “sexist” language in parts of the liturgy make “public worship for some women a painful experience. . . . “

The letter was intended to respond to women’s complaints made during archdiocesan hearings and consultations held in 1985 as part of a nationwide effort to help U.S. bishops prepare a national letter on women in 1989. It comes one month before the arrival of the Pope in Los Angeles and anticipated protests by Catholic women’s groups.

The archbishop said the 1985 hearings found that some parishes exclude women from liturgical roles, such as distribution of Communion, officially opened to women by the Vatican. Single and divorced women complained that they have no roles in the church, and many women said the all-male Catholic clergy views them with “suspicion and fear,” the archbishop wrote. Women also said they resent church rules and practices that apply to them but are made by men.

“It is clear that the roles of women both in society and in the church are changing,” Mahony said. “We need to acknowledge this. . . . Where we have been insensitive, we should make changes. Where we can address these concerns, we should do so.”

But Mahony also admonished women to be patient for change. Some Catholic feminists in recent years have been substituting feminist liturgies in their homes for the Mass in church, and other dissenters have spoken of the possiblity that one day the American church could break with Rome. Mahony warned that attempts to “split off” from the church will not change it.

Division ‘a Temptation’

“It would be tragic for any group, impatient for change, to split off and attempt to form its own church,” he said. “This has always constituted a temptation within the church. Division and the proliferation of sects do not sanctify the church; they do not even change it.”

The archbishop devoted much of his letter to reminding clergy to avoid “sexist” language in sermons. Priests at the pulpit should not address their congregations as “brethren” and should avoid using masculine words, such as “men” or the pronoun “he,” when referring to both men and women, Mahony said. He added that he is hopeful that the church will continue to review official prayers and rituals to remove masculine references.

God is neither masculine nor feminine, he said, and scripture contains both female and masculine metaphors of God. Although Jesus was male, God is beyond “our categories of masculine and feminine,” Mahony said.

‘An Alienating Effect’

“To realize that our language is having an alienating effect on women calls for deep reflection and commitment to new ways of thinking, writing, speaking, teaching and praying,” Mahony said.

He defended his own record in the hiring of women, saying that the archdiocese’s personnel director, controller, attorney and a member of his cabinet are women. But he called for greater participation by women at the parish level.

The archbishop also pledged to hold a special service later this year at St. Vibiana Cathedral to “move us towards healing the rejection and pain experienced by women today.” The spiritual service, he said, “should acknowledge any lack of understanding in the past.”

Cynthia Yoshitomi, 39, vice chairwoman of the archdiocesan task force that held the 1985 hearings, said she believes that Mahony issued his statement now because of the planned protests by women’s groups during the Pope’s visit in September.

‘Really Concerned’

“I think this shows that it (women’s concerns) is a real issue and that he (Mahony) can’t really not talk about it,” she said. “He was really concerned about what women were planning when the Pope arrives. . . . It helps if he can tell the Pope he is working on the issue.”

She called the letter “the beginning of an extremely long conversation” with women. She said Mahony had treated the task force with condescension, and his letter shows “he is finally beginning to come around.” But she said his proposal for a prayer service of reconciliation is premature. First, she said, he should improve dialogue between the clergy and women and work to “get rid of stereotypes of women as dumb and out for sexual encounters.”

Pat Reif, 58, a Catholic feminist who runs a women’s spirtuality studies program, had not seen the letter but described portions of it read to her as as a “step forward.”

‘Feather in His Cap’

“Nothing like that has ever been published in this diocese for sure. . ,” said Reif, who heads the feminist program at the non-denominational Immaculate Heart College Center in Los Angeles. “It will be one more feather in his cap among a lot of women, and I suspect it’s a little bit ahead of the Pope.”

Reif expressed disappointment that Mahony did not mention women’s ordination but added that he could not have brought it up without appearing disobedient to John Paul II, who has declared the question a “closed issue.”

“The U.S. bishops just have been ordered not to bring that subject up at all,” she said. “It’s a no-no.”