By Very Rev. Fr. Christopher Bazaanah
This is the third of a thought-provoking article on Christian Image of Women delivered by Very Rev. Fr. Christopher Bazaanah at the recent Centenary Celebration of Catholicism in the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province at Navrongo.
The Pope also officially apologized to women for the past hurts and injustices the Church has inflicted on them saying, “I am truly sorry. May this regret be transformed on the part of the whole Church, into a renewed commitment of fidelity to the Gospel vision.”
Kindly Allow me to highlight the salient points of the document.
In the said document, the Pope stresses the greatness, the dignity and the vocation of women (MDI). While admitting the qualities proper to man and woman, he is unambiguous about the dignity of woman and her equality with man (MD7). What is even more striking is the Pope’s assertion that when man offends woman’s dignity, he also acts contrary to his own dignity. This is because man and woman are one in Christ.
To the above statements, the Pope adds the following:
“Woman is the one in whom the order of love in the created world of persons first takes root…they manifest the love of God for all persons” (MD29).
* The moral and Spiritual strength of a woman is jolined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way.” MD30, MD 32). This explains why our times which are threatened with a loss of sensitivity to the truly human, awaits the genius of women.
*Without discrimination, women should be participants in the life of the Church, offering every kind of service according to the specific vocation (cf CL 49, MD 31), in the family, in professional life and in the Civil Society (CL 47).
To conclude, the Pope holds out the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model and an archetype of “feminine genius” the order of faith, charity and perfect union with Christ. (MD 3). She particularly gives higher expression to special “prophetism” which belongs to the feminine character of women. The Pope prays her to obtain for all of us this same grace.
The attitude of Jesus towards women
“When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation, and domination,” we must turn to Jesus himself. Thus, I cannot bring this presentation to an end without giving due recognition to the attitude and teaching of Jesus with regard to women.
The position of women at the time of Jesus was that of second class citizens. They could hold no positions of trust or responsibility. They could not testify or give evidence in court. They were not allowed to mix freely with men.
Jesus overlooked these Jewish customs in his dealings with women. He spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well though to do so was considered a taboo especially for rabbi (Jn. 4:27). He allowed Himself to be touched by the woman with an issue of blood, though that made ritually unclean (Mk 5:27-34).
For the sake of a bent woman, whom Satan had held bound for 18 years, he broke the Sabbath obligation in order to set this “daughter of Abraham free (Lk. 13:10-17). This was an insult to his listeners. Still today, we sing “sons of God”….and in our liturgical texts, we are very reluctant to introduce inclusive language.It must be emphasised that Jesus calls her a daughter of Abraham and not a “son of Abraham.” This was an insult to his listeners Language, they say, betrays the speaker and shows the mind of that society which refuses to use inclusive language.
In his ministry, Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance and tenderness. In this way, he honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God’s plan and love. Even though Jesus was particularly gentle with women, he was harsh with hypocritical men.
For example, when Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus’ feet during a Pharisees dinner party and the host and other guests criticized her sharply, Jesus ignored them and bestowed honour on her by saying that wherever the good news is announced, this loving deed of hers will also be told (Mk 14:3-9). So often, Jesus called the hypocritical Pharisees and Scribes “brood of vipers,” white-washed tombs,” etc.
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