Elizabeth Dreyer, guest speaker at the 2011 Gather Us In Conference: "There's a lot of misogyny and oppression" in the Catholic Church

"The history of the church is complex. There have been many opportunities in the church for women to obtain dignity and rights. And, then, on the other side, there’s a lot of misogyny and oppression, and they’re both there in quite large doses. I think it’s amazing that the memories of Jesus in the New Testament escaped sexism to the extent that they did. But by the early second century the cultural context of patriarchy reasserts itself." - Elizabeth Dreyer, feminist theologian who advocates women's ordination and who has been invited to appear as a guest speaker at the 2011 Gather Us In conference of the Worcester Commission for Women [Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts].  See full interview with citation here.

In an article entitled "A Gender Gap in the Church?," Father Jay Scott Newman, pastor of two rural parishes in the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina who holds a Licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, writes: "Even a cursory glance at most newspapers and magazines, both Catholic and secular, suggests that there is a wide gulf of misunderstanding and mutual suspicion between men and women in the Church - especially between women and the aging, all-male, celibate hierarchy.

The basic story line runs thus: The all-male priesthood is the last redoubt of absolute patriarchal authority left in the Western world, and those in power -particularly in Rome-will do anything to preserve their positions of prestige and prevent women from breaking this last irrational barrier to their full participation in public life.

The story continues by pointing out that every major Protestant communion now has female clergy and by suggesting that Rome's failure to respond to this simple demand of justice is yet another indication that Catholicism-as all reasonable people know-is and always has been a force of oppression and domination. So runs the standard story, but is it true?"  Fr. Newman then proceeds to dismantle this childish notion of "patriarchal oppression" and "misogyny" which is part and parcel of Elizabeth Dreyer's worn-out theology which is driven by the demonic drive to enslave women to the tyranny of a purely masculine criteria.

Women are not made whole by being turned into copy-cat men.  They are truly whole and free when their own genius is respected.