THE PAPAL VISIT : A Woman’s View and the Pope’s View

Here are excerpts from the speech by Donna Hanson, bishop’s secretary for social services in the Diocese of Spokane, Wash., at a meeting of U.S. laity with Pope John Paul II:

. . . The Native Americans, the original inhabitants of our land, provide me with a central theme for today. Their wise counsel is “Never judge another’s life until you have walked in their shoes for a day.”

It is my hope that today we may walk together. I would like to begin our journey by telling you about our unique American culture, about how our experience and tradition has helped to form us in our faith and continues to impact us in our families and in our parishes.

Your Holiness, the United States Declaration of Independence expresses the country’s founding belief that all men, women and children are created equal. The reason that my great-grandparent1931503981the famine in Ireland and persecution in Germany.

Yet as I grew up in the southern United States, I watched my father and his compatriots build a church so that black Catholics in our community could have a separate place of worship. I saw billboards in 1960 that proclaimed: “Why Bible-reading Christians could not in conscience vote for John F. Kennedy for President.”

From these early life experiences I, like so many others, learned to question immigration practices, civil injustices, religious persecution.

Today, my culture compels me to keep questioning those in leadership positions. I question them about public policies related to abortion, development of nuclear arms, the exploitation of our environment. Not to question, not to challenge, not to seek understanding is to be less than a mature, educated and committed citizen.

When I come to my church, I cannot discard my cultural experiences. Though I know the church is not a democracy ruled by popular vote, I expect to be treated as a mature, educated and responsible adult. Not to question, not to challenge, not to have authorities involve me in a process of understanding is to deny my dignity as a person and the rights granted to me both by church and society.

Your Holiness, within my circle of friends, there are those who are ranchers and those who are city dwellers, those who are politically conservative, and avant-garde liberals, some who are traditional and some who are progressive Catholics. I rejoice that within my culture there is room for this incredible diversity.

The challenge before the church in the United States is to be welcoming of these diversities. Can we be inclusive as Christ who reached out to the woman at the well, who invited a tax colle1668575090centurion’s daughter back to life? Can we reach out and be more inclusive of women, our inactive clergy, homosexuals, the divorced and all people of color?

. . . Your Holiness, please let me know that you are willing to walk with me. Accustomed as I am to dialogue, consultation and collaboration, I do not always feel that I am heard. In my cultural experience, questioning is generally not rebellion nor dissent. It is rather a desire to participate and is a sign of both love and maturity.

Walk with me. My family experiences daily remind me that example speaks louder than words. It is imperative that both we parents and the church witness the Gospel we preach, and, above all, that we be just, compassionate and forgiving.

Please walk with each one of us. As you, we have given our lives in service to the church. As you, we must also seek forgiveness 70 times seven, but we truly believe that we are all gifted and that the Holy Spirit speaks uniquely to each of us. Like you, we are children of God: May we please continue this walk together?

Here are excerpts of Pope John Paul II’s speech to the meeting with U.S. laity:

Of supreme importance in the mission of the church is the role that the laity fulfill in the Christian family. This role is above all a service of love and a service of life. . . .

The service of life rests on the fact that husband and wife cooperate with God in transmitting the gift of human life, in the procreation of children. . . .

Although, in fidelity to Christ and to his teaching on Christian marriage, the church reaffirms her practice of not admitting to Eucharistic Communion those divorced persons who have remarried outside the church, nevertheless, she assures these Catholics too of her deep love. . . .

In speaking of the role of women special mention must of course be made of their contribution, in partnership with their husbands, in begetting life and in educating their children. . . .

Precisely because of their equal dignity and responsibility, the access of women to public functions must be ensured. Regardless of the role they perform, the church proclaims the dignity of women as women--a dignity equal to men’s dignity, and revealed as such in the account of creation contained in the word of God.