I should probably start this article off by saying I used to be Catholic. I was baptized as an infant, had my first communion and was confirmed in high school. I attended catechism every Wednesday of my childhood and church every Sunday. You might also note the past tense part of this disclaimer. I am no longer a Catholic, I had a falling out with the church about 6 years ago and though I’ll still attend mass with my mother every once in a while, it has otherwise been a clean break.
We had a slow separation, the church and I, and for one very serious reason- the Catholic Church is out of touch with the world we are living in. It is a system where women still take a back seat to men in every way, where science is rejected, where sex scandals can simply be covered up and never acknowledged, where homosexuals are admonished at best, hated at worst. The Catholic Church and I simply see the world differently.
But finally, a group within the Church is starting to see the same inconsistencies that I saw and they’re starting to take action. As someone who also worked in a Catholic high school, it’s not at all the group I would’ve expected. But yes, it’s the 55,000 American nuns, a group of women that the Vatican is labeling as “feminists.”
And all I can say is, it’s about time.
One specific group that is being targeted is found in Michigan and heads a social justice group called NETWORK. This particular group is being scrutinized by the church not for their theological issues, but for their politics. NETWORK supported President Obama’s healthcare reform, including the provision that required employers to provide insurance that covers oral contraceptives for their employees without a copay. And when the church fought this on the grounds of religious freedom, the compromise was to require the insurance companies to bear the cost of the OCP instead of the church directly. The nuns at NETWORK supported this decision and the church did not.
And now these nuns are under a magnifying glass. Do they themselves use the contraceptives? No. They haven’t broken their vows, they haven’t taught anything that goes against the church’s teachings by supporting this decision. They aren’t telling women to use the pill. They supported a political move that went against the church. A political move that Catholic women throughout the country support, because we live in a world that is starkly different than the one the Vatican lives in.
These nuns live in a world where the black and white decrees of the church don’t make sense. Where we can’t, won’t and shouldn’t condemn our friends for being homosexuals. Where whether someone else gets and abortion isn’t anyone’s business but the person getting it. Where taking a birth control pill either for a medical reason or even for birth control doesn’t make me a slut, it just means that I’m trying to be a responsible adult.
And for the record, the OCP is no more birth control than the “natural family planning” that the Church supports. Both methods allow men and women to have sex without the intention of having children. Just because one option utilizes a pharmaceutical agent doesn’t mean it’s any more birth control than the other. It’s hypocrisies like that, that have driven 1 in 10 Americans to leave the Catholic Church.
There is concern about the future of American nuns, especially in light of the Vatican investigation. Whether they will be quieted and their “progressive” ideals silenced, or whether they’ll leave the Catholic Church completely. It is my opinion that if the Vatican wants to remain relevant to the people, they should be embracing these women instead of investigating and punishing them. These women are trying to pull an old dinosaur of a religion into the current era. They are trying to make it meaningful to people again, to make it relevant in today’s society. They are exactly what the church needs if it wants to survive in the modern era.
I only hope that the work of these nuns, both their community service work to shelter and feed the homeless, to educate children and provide comfort and care to the sick and their more controversial work to bring religion to the 21st century isn’t hindered by a group of old men in Italy. There is so much the Catholic Church can learn from these women if only they would listen to the world around them for a change.
Katie is a 28 year old Southern Californian, married to a doctor, racking up as much student debt as possible as a full-time graduate student in a health science. Her hobbies include abusing parentheses, baking complicated desserts that almost universally involve frosting and loving her two cats more than is socially acceptable. She’s currently balancing her first child and graduating from graduate school. So planning and timing are also things she excels at. You can read more from Katie on her blog, Overflowing Brain.
image source BadgerCatholic
Just a note: oral contraception is MUCH different. It is an abortificient while NFP is not. That is the big reason the Catholic Church takes issue.
I’m not Catholic, but I wanted to point that out.
That is actually not true. There is an available abortifacient called mifepristone, but oral contraceptives use progesterone and estrogen (sometimes just progesterone) as a way to stop a woman from ovulating. The pills never let you get pregnant in the first place rather than terminating a pregnancy in its early stages.
yep, Brandi’s right. Traditional BCP uses hormones to prevent ovulation. No egg is released so no fertilization can occur, so there’s no abortive component.
That is actually incorrect. It doesn’t always prevent ovulation. It prevents the egg from implanting and THAT is an abortifacient.
There are several different formulations of the BCP with differing levels of hormones. Since most women don’t use it correctly and may take a “double dose” it affects the efficacy.
From Planned Parenthood:
“How Do Birth Control Pills Work?
It’s pretty common for people to be confused about how birth control pills work. Here’s what it boils down to: birth control pills are made of hormones. Hormones are chemicals made in our bodies. They control how different parts of our bodies work.
Some birth control pills contain two hormones — estrogen and progestin. These are called combination pills. Some are progestin-only pills. Most women on the pill take combination pills.
The hormones in the pill work by
Keeping eggs from leaving the ovaries. Pregnancy cannot happen if there is no egg to join with sperm.
Making cervical mucus thicker. This keeps sperm from getting to the eggs.”
The mini-pill (or progesterone only) CAN thicken the lining of the uterus and prevent implantation, but that isn’t the main function and doesn’t happen for all women. Not to mention, the mini-pill isn’t used as often as most other types.
Sidenote: I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with how the pill functions that is causing the church to oppose it. The Catholic Church is also opposed to condoms except to “reduce the risk of infection” so it’s not like the pill is the only form of birth control they oppose. Regardless of the exact way the pill functions, it’s the condemnation of the use of birth control, other than natural family planning, that is the point I was trying to make.
So true. I was also raised Catholic, and no longer am, for much the same reasons as you. I love your explanation of why you left, spot on. Also, go nuns!
Same here. I split with the church completely in my early college days, but much earlier than that in my heart. I couldn’t wrap my brain around a church that marginalized women on such an enormous level. Also: GO NUNS!
My sister is a former nun. It would take a book on explain why she no longer is, but she still believes strongly in the Catholic Church and she follows every “rule” they give. I find it to be a blind faith, especially after all she went through. She is not one of these progressive nuns and I wish she would open her eyes. But she lives in that vatican world, not the world the rest of us live in. It boggles my mind!
The nuns in question were part of a group that does a lot of work with people who are both poor & sick and therefore uninsured. Their argument was, regardless of where the church stands on contraception, this bill had the potential to save millions of lives and that was far more important.
This illustrates that the Pope and Vatican are not elected and don’t necessarily represent the views of all Catholics. For example most American catholics support contraception, equal rights for gay couples (gay marriage slightly lower percentage but still around 50%). Nick Kristof of the New York times wrote some great articles on this. And I am not Catholic either!
Amazing post, K!! I agree. That is why I left the church, as well. xo
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