Friday, 15 April 2005
 
Since the 1990s Vatican authorities systematically have downgraded the role of women in the church, giving the lie to Pope John Paul II’s declarations that women must be accorded equal dignity in the church, says Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB, a prominent lecturer and writer from the United States.
 
“In [American] diocese after diocese, where they have served in official capacities for years, women are being removed from every office in the chancery except, perhaps, as vicars for religious,” says Chittister.
 
These events are occurring despite a papal letter to women in 1985, in which Pope John Paul II famously apologized for the church’s historic failure to recognize the equality and value of women. In it, John Paul II wrote, “respect (for women) must first and foremost be won through an effective and intelligent campaign for the promotion of women, concentrating on all areas of women’s life and beginning with a universal recognition of the dignity of women.”
 
Chittister’s remarks were given in Rome during an April 15, 2005 press conference at the Cavour Auditorium near St. Peter’s Square. Her presentation was one of four media presentations sponsored by the International Movement We Are Church (IMWAC), focusing on the problems facing the successor of Pope John Paul II.
 
The question of women is at the heart of the survival of the American church, says Chittister.  In March 2005, the National Lea