Bridget O’Brien

17. Ultimately, the role of women in the life of the Church must be described beginning from reality in its fullness, illuminated by faith. Such an approach requires moving beyond a view limited to certain characteristics—such as motherhood, tenderness, or care—that can leave little room for other equally important feminine qualities, such as leadership, counsel, the capacity for teaching, listening, and discernment. By grounding such participation in the dignity of the common Baptism, one is led to reconsider the Marian archetype of female roles in the Church, particularly a certain way of presenting the figure of Mary in this context that risks basing women’s participation on ideological or cultural patterns that society attributes to them (cf. Appendix IV). It may therefore be helpful to draw attention to other aspects of Mary beyond motherhood alone, such as her role as witness, as a reflective and questioning woman fully immersed in the joys and sufferings of her people, and the fact that—as attested in Acts 1:14—Mary very likely served as a point of reference for the first Christian community gathered in prayer after the Ascension. In Mary, one can truly find the archetype of a woman connected to the destinies of the world because she is the guardian of life, not only at the physical level but above all at the spiritual level. Such a reflection should also be extended to other women mentioned in Scripture: for example, the first witnesses of the Resurrection or those figures who, already in the Old Testament, contributed to a revision of the exercise of authority and of established traditions (cf. Appendix I).

www.synod.va/content/dam/...

I'm still reading it, so I make no final judgment.

I am NOT favorably predisposed (understating things) toward the emergence of "Petrine Principle / Marian Principle" in Roman Magisterial thinking—but despite myself, I appreciate the language around its first introduction in the final report of the Synod's Study Group on Women in the Church.

The flattening of training & experience on social media can be very frustrating, yes. “I’m glad this is a hobby and interest of yours! It is … what I do, every day. Please can we start from an assumption that I have a decent knowledge base.”

do not pick a fight via subtweet do not pick a fight via subtweet do not pick a fight via subtweet do not pick a fight via

Lord make my words unarmed, but not yet.

I would never claim that I am experiencing any form of oppression when, eg, a stranger decides to corner me at a mutual friend’s wedding and repeatedly interrogate me about my religious beliefs—but it’s rude to do so, and should be frowned upon.

This is not the most pressing issue in the world—good God I know that—but I do experience left/progressive spaces as needing more openness to naming behavior as rude & object to it on those grounds even if it is not oppressive.

“The next Republican that tells me I’m not religious, I’m going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.” —Joe Biden, 2005

But like guys. We JUST had a Democratic president, and before that vice president, who was VERY VISIBLE in his practice of his faith.

(This isn’t me pledging fealty to Joe Biden; this is just me observing that the single most visible Democratic politician for 4 years was very vocal about religion!)

Catholics don’t exist, I guess!

(My snark here is directed to the NYT paragraph, NOT Jenkins, who is an excellent journalist & consistently does yeoman’s work in complicating over simplified narratives re religion & politics.)

but surely if ANY survey of opinions regarding the patriarch of the west were meaningful, it would be one of registered voters in the US.

see that’s the problem: they went with registered voters when they should have done LIKELY voters

vicar of christ: better or worse than artificial intelligence?

no.

it's ABSOLUTELY misogyny.

things i do while waiting for my latte: smile at babies in the cafe; compliment strangers on their fashion choices; read the notices on the community bulletin board about upcoming local events etc.

"standing around in the same physical space as other people patiently waiting for a drink to be made is what is causing us to be lonely. no one would be lonely if your drink took 15 seconds to pour into a cup. i am very smart."

i dunno elvie, i AM both single and someone who enjoys iced caramel lattes, so qed, really.

Had a rough experience this afternoon that I don't really blame anyone for but that has left me sad and rattled and also feeling really childish for feeling sad and rattled, and man, sometimes ministry is amazing and sometimes it's... super complicated. hashtag Gender.

(I'm 43 and have never been on Jeopardy; please don't kick me off.)

That would absolutely be fun; I would go to such a bar.

"Someone NOT ordained with graduate training in theology and ministry? But that's un-possible!"

Everyone on this website is 38 years old, has a graduate humanities degree, and has been a contestant on Jeopardy (very excited for Jordan; now I have to figure out how to watch Jeopardy in 2026 when all I have are streaming services.)

Weird that they think they need a special word rather than the phrase "Talarico holds a master of divinity degree from..."

(I do not understand why people keep describing Talarico as a seminarian, as he seems to have already earned his MDiv.)

(Yes, I know integralists are not exactly known for their obedience to Rome on matters related to peace and justice—but every now & then a version of online Catholicism pops up that asks for an authoritarian Vatican but emphasizing issues like migration & peace, and that would ALSO be bad.)

!!!! This is so exciting!!

…but things like this demonstrate that question is about more than “I think that Santa Claus wears a red suit & you think he wears a green suit.” You do not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to Catholic integralists, AND the Catholic Church is VERY clear on its stance re this war.

There was a thing here a couple days ago where people were mocking the idea that “Which form of Christianity?” was a meaningful question in the context of Christian nationalism, and OTOH I passionately agree that establishing ANY form of theocracy tramples human rights…

Diaper pantries and food banks are running on fumes these days. Signing up for a recurring gift of $25/month can make a genuine, substantial difference on the ground.