Reviewing the Church's teaching in the context of male violence

MALE violence against women affects all women, some of them directly. It, has many forms, including silence. And it is widespread in Ireland. For example, Women's Aid received more than 8,000 calls from Irish women being abused in their homes between January and October of last year.

This disease in our midst is now receiving more serious attention from the Catholic Church. Archbishop Desmond Connell made it the theme of the readings, prayers and homilies at Masses last Sunday in the Dublin Archdiocese. Archbishop Connell's initiative was facilitated by the work of the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace, which was established by the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference in 1970, as a result of the Second Vatican Council and the leadership of Pope Paul VI.

In 1989 the Commission identified the issue of Women in the Church as a priority area for action, and created the Women in the Church Working Group towards the end of 1991.

This group made a recommendation concerning violence against women to the Catholic Bishops meeting in Maynooth in March 1995. The bishops approved their recommendation "that the Episcopal Conference would request priests throughout the country to call attention in the course of the Sunday homily to the problems of violence against women in society". The bishops undertook to have this document circulated widely to the priests in their respective dioceses and also decided to have it highlighted in the Episcopal Conference Bulletin. Intercom published the document that September, and the media gave it some publicity.

SINCE then also, Archbishop Connell has established the men's Forum in the Dublin Archdiocese. The increasing concern of Archbishop Connell and bishops to tackle the long and degrading history of violence against women is in line with initiatives being taken by Church leaders in other parts of the world in recent years.

The Catholic bishops of the United States said in October 1992: "We join bishops in other countries, notably Canada and New Zealand, in saying as clearly and strongly as we can that violence against women, in the home, and outside the home, is never justified. Violence in any form, physical, sexual, psychological or verbal - is sinful; many times it is a crime as well ... We write out of our, desire to offer the church's resources to both the women who are battered and the men who abuse".

The document includes a list of practical suggestions for parishes and dioceses. These are addressed, in turn, to abused women, men who abuse, pastors and pastoral staff, educators and catechists, liturgy committees, and commissions on women and other women's groups.

Ecumenical Church leaders in Canada, among them the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, published a similar document seven months earlier. They included recommendations for actions in churches and by the government "to respond to those who are being abused, to challenge those who are abusing, and to transform the beliefs, attitudes, and structures that condone or contribute to violence against women".

The document of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference was published six months after the Canadian statement. It said that violence against women "is a grave injustice which cannot be accepted ... we urged all Catholics to become informed about the extent, the causes and the remedies". It also addressed particular sectors of the Catholic community with practical steps for change. These included the use of "homilies band other forums".

In October 1992, Bishop Jorge Mejia, vice president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, headed the Vatican delegation to the Council of Europe meeting in Rome on eliminating violence against women. When he addressed the conference he said that "no justification whatsoever can be found for any kind of violence, sexual or otherwise, regarding women, be it rape, sexual molesting or more generally discrimination in the workplace ... there is moreover no doubt that violence against women has as its root cause a diffuse, mostly unexpressed conviction that women are not equal to men and that therefore it is normal for a man to subject women to his own will or to have them serve his pleasure".

IN his recent Letter to Women, Pope John Paul II spoke of an "underground" history of violence against women. This message was made more explicit by the Vatican delegation at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing last September.

The different Church documents also recognise and acknowledge that a certain kind of Christianity has participated in male violence against women. For example, the statement from the United States says: "As a church, one of the most worrying aspects of the abuse practised against women is the use of biblical texts, taken out of context, to support abusive behaviour".

Missing, however, from the US statement is an appreciation of how pastors have participated in this misuse of biblical texts by the way they have interpreted and implemented them over the years. Missing, too, is an appreciation of how some biblical texts are inherently biased against women.

The Canadian document recognises that not only biblical texts, and their uses, but also theological meanings can contribute to violence against women: "The affirmation of Christian teachings such as those on forgiveness, reconciliation or marriage, if done inappropriately, can also compound the problem and leave "women more vulnerable."

My own experience working with groups in Ireland around these issues confirms the findings of those in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. It has also taught me that the language of prayer and worship, and the whole area of Church practices and decision making need to be reviewed in the context of gender violence. Therefore, in addressing violence against women, the Catholic Church, here and worldwide, will also be led, I believe, to look more closely at itself than it may have anticipated.