The terrible revelations from the current Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse leave little doubt of appalling systemic problems in a range of highly respected institutions.
The Catholic Church is not alone in facing up to what has happened within its own ranks. But it has been one of the largest and most powerful institutions involved and steps are now being taken here and around the world to tackle the question of compensation or legal action for the victims.
Let’s hope that these tragic abuses also trigger a long overdue discussion about the efficacy and indeed sustainability of mostly running a major global institution with one (celibate) gender only.
Given the important role women have always had either behind the scenes in parishes or as lay and religious teachers, nurses and aid workers in the Catholic Church, isn’t it about time they were accorded the right to formal power?
I was educated by nuns from the age of four and all the key power figures during those 13 years of my education were women. They were mostly feisty women – a bit too much so at times – but they urged us girls to make something of ourselves even when it was unfashionable to do so.
But it jarred with me, even as a little girl, that the nuns couldn’t say mass or, when I was growing up, give communion. In fact, it made me a feminist before I even knew what the word meant.
Surely the days when any organisation, much less a challenged global religion, could afford to ignore half the educated population as potential office holders are well and truly over?
Apart from anything else it means the church runs the distinct risk of simply not having enough recruits or the best skills during a critical period. And when the jobs on offer involve giving up the chance of having relationships and a family as well, it’s no wonder the pickings are slim and getting slimmer.
Not to mention the capacity of the church to reflect and comprehend the concerns of a substantial number of its followers. Or look closely at its edicts on topics such as contraception.
Traditional male-only cohorts have a poor history with treatment of children, women and the vulnerable. You only have to remember the pattern of scandals in a number of football codes and in some areas of Defence to know these incidents are more than just a bad apple or two and involve reinforcement of classic gender norms which then go badly awry.
But giving women their rightful role in the Church is not about side-stepping scandals or improving behaviour – important as these goals may be.
Women should be equal with men in leadership in all parts of society and reflect the communities they serve.
When you restrict women from the highest power levels you send a very clear and disturbing message that half the population is simply not leadership material.
Critics of change in the church quote deeply-held traditional beliefs about faith, hierarchy and social order to defend the status quo. But thriving, relevant organisations are those that change with the times — and the Catholic church has done that over and over again in its long history.
But evidence of the awful child abuse that has emerged in recent decades is actually sending a strong signal that the structure of the church hierarchy and the demands made on the clergy must be reviewed.
Opening up the senior levels and formal leadership of the church to women will certainly not solve every problem or resolve future challenges but it will modernise and revitalise the institution and reflect the concerns and needs of many of its followers at a critical time.
It’s an argument that is familiar to many of us who have long advocated for better gender balance in political and business ranks — but it’s a slow process. Power sharing isn’t easy.