Essay on The Necessity of Gender Equality in the Catholic Church

http://omeka.lib.fsu.edu/files/original/cda1353742ac13b06c9e70ac6a429ef2.pdf

An Essay on why women should find
gender equality in the Catholic Church. 

Katrina Cortright, Fall 2015

This essay describes the brief history of women in the Catholic Church, and describes how women have been excluded from many leadership roles, even in modern times, and why women should be able to hold important leadership positions in the twenty-first century. Though women were allowed to hold power in Catholic Church leadership before the Catholic Church was publically accepted, they were pushed out when it gained popularity and acceptance. They were given roles that were below the roles of their male counterparts, and were given no opportunity to prove their leadership skills or pursue other jobs within their church. While in modern times women are fighting for equality, like equal pay and equal healthcare benefits in the workforce, Pope Francis has stated that women are unable to hold leadership roles in the church because the Pope before him declared it. Women represent the majority of church attendance, and in studies have been show to be more religious, yet they have been excluded from leadership roles because of their gender. Countless other religions have offered women leadership roles, including the Church of England, Methodists, and Judaism. Women have broken off from their church and formed groups that actually ordain women in protest of the inequality they are facing. Women should not be excluded from the church in which they worship, nor should they have to fight to prove their worth. It is currently the twenty-first century, and it is time that the Catholic Church offers equality to their devotees, regardless of gender. 

Essay on The Necessity of Gender Equality in the Catholic Church