Editorial on Boston Catholic Church

Essay by shantelly22College, UndergraduateB+, November 2014

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Shantel James

998968121

RLG313H1

Professor. Kevin Lewis O'Neill

February 14, 2005

Dear Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley,

This letter is to serve as an explanation of Eileen McNamara's editorial and its criticism of the Boston Catholic Church. With the recent arrest of a former Boston Priest for child molestation, the arrest of several others for similar crimes, and parishioners protesting against the closure of churches across the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, it is evident that the church is in a state of division. [1: McNamara, Eileen. "Conclave Is Male Enclave." Boston Globe 13 February 2005. 2 October 2014 <http://www.bishop-accountability.org/>]

As such, it would be expected that Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley's response to this situation would be a call for inclusion within the various dioceses. However, the opposite is true. Instead, O'Malley's resolution to said conflict, was to partake in a conference designed exclusively for Catholic men. Whereby, the objective was to help men,"sort through the current confusion about, and attacks on, masculinity and maleness."

Unfortunately, this type of discrimination is commonplace within the Catholic Church. An organization in which, there is relationship between the Church's inability to address claims of child molestation and it's system of gender hierarchy. [2: Ibid.][3: Ibid.]

Sadly, the blatant gender-based discrimination perpetrated by Archbishop O'Malley, is not an deviation from the standard practices of the Vatican. As it stands, the Catholic church self-identifies as one of the last bastions of patriarchy. This male dominated organization, operates through a system of gender hierarchy, wherein by women's work, power, and voices are often met with tremendous hostility. An essential element of this system, is the refusal to allow female ordination. Due to this law, women are unable to participate in the highest levels of leadership and decision-making, "including and especially on matters affecting women's most...