To the Editor:
I am writing in response to a Messenger editorial, titled Respect Life: Men and women are equal in dignity. It talked about how male domination is maintained and supported in social media and other aspects of life. It went on to say how the Catholic Church acknowledged male domination way back in 2004 in a Letter to the Bishops on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Modern World.
If the Catholic Church acknowledged male domination in the world in 2004, why hasn’t something been done about male domination in the Catholic Church? When my children were going through classes to receive the sacraments, I saw how Sister Mary Schmitt did all of the training while balancing the running of many other programs at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
When the first Communion class photo was taken, Father was positioned with the communicants. I made them pause before taking the picture to include Sister in the picture. The women of the church are doing a lot of the work and not getting any credit for it. I feel the women of the Catholic Church are being treated like second-class citizens.
God loves us all equally and wants us all to have the same place around the banquet table. I believe women should be acknowledged by the Catholic Church for what they do and should be able to become deacons and priests.
Jesus treated women as equals while he was here on earth. He inspired a woman to convert a whole town in the story of the woman at the well.
I implore the Catholic Church to start letting everyone live up to their full potential for the good of each person, and the health of the Catholic Church. We were put on this earth by God our Father not to just survive but thrive.
Mary M. Maher
Davenport
