And yet it continues to surprise people. Did you notice the controversy with Pope Francis and his trip to Belgium last week? He'd been invited to help celebrate the 700th anniversary of a Catholic university there, and he ended up having the university leadership issue a statement denouncing his sexist speech.
The Belgian press (both French and Dutch) exploded in outrage at Francis.
Even Belgium's political leadership called the pope out.
On the plane trip back to Rome, he told reporters that his critics were “obtuse.”
In his speech, he called women valuable because of their roles as mothers, wives, and sisters, for their ability to nurture and care for families. He called women valuable because of how they serve men or are seen by men.
He didn't even try to explain why men would not be valuable if they were nurturers and caretakers for families.
Because he's an unapologetic sexist. Caretaking is what he reduced women to. And he thinks his critics are obtuse. Pot kettle black, much?
The pope says people should be okay with his sexist ideas because the Catholic Church is a woman. Is female. That’s his defense. Seriously.
I don't know what that means, but it's nonsense. The Belgian press related to that with incredulity. So did I. Obviously, the Church is in no sense a woman. The Catholic Church is ruled by men and only by men. Every woman who is part of the Church's infrastructure reports to a man. No woman is in charge without a man being in authority over her. And of course, the Vatican's top leadership are all men. Every single one of them.
Rather than being a woman, the Church is (obviously) a male-dominated, male-run institution that concentrates power and privilege in the hands of men.
Also, speaking of Francis, twice in the last few months, he repeated that gay men are not eligible to train for the priesthood because there's already too much fagotry in the Vatican. (He used an Italian word that is every bit as vicious and hateful as fagotry. People who claim otherwise are either wrong or they're lying.)
The Vatican halfway apologized for him the first time he said it, but they refused to apologize the second time he got caught at it, a mere two weeks later. He himself never uttered a word of apology or even discussed the matter publicly.
Who wants to be part of that?
Who wants to be part of an organization that calls gay men like me literally “depraved” and “disordered,” while relegating women to positions of service and nurturing, but not power and leadership?
Clearly the bishops of the Church, like Francis, are viciously sexist and homophobic. They cling to their male power and privilege with fierce strength ... and even anger when it's challenged.
Personally, I don't know how anyone could be part of such a horrible institution. When the head of the Church travels to Belgium and finds himself reprimanded by the very people who invited him there, because they're embarrassed by what he said ... you know things are probably changing .
And I'm not at all surprised that women are leading the way.
I hope women continue to lead, and I hope the Church chokes on that. Because if there's anything they hate more than having their sexism challenged, it's being challenged by women.
When Francis dies, I hope he does so in the despairing knowledge that women are defeating him, destroying his twisted sexist and homophobic teachings and practices.
