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Against the in-law

2022-05-15T19:50:04.090Z


It seems clear to me that celibacy has contributed to making the Church one of the fiercest strongholds of machismo | Column by Rosa Montero


It turns out that the Pope has started talking about mothers-in-law.

In a hearing a couple of weeks ago, he asked us to overcome "the most common prejudices" about them, and then he unleashed the usual string of platitudes.

"They are also mothers (...) It is true that sometimes they are a little special, but they have given everything."

Are mothers-in-law sometimes a little special?

I already tell you.

And the carpenters, the chicken sexers, the admirals of the Navy, the ballet dancers, even the pontiffs.

I mean that there is no human group of which it can not be said that sometimes they are a little special.

As a finishing touch, the Pope added: “To you, mothers-in-law, I say: be careful with your tongues.

It is one of the sins of mothers-in-law, the tongue.”

take it now

I don't think there is a more stale and outdated topic of conversation than talking generically about mothers-in-law.

Well, sissy jokes may be a bit behind, but I'd say the dandruff mother-in-law obsession still takes the cake.

It is annoying that someone who, like the Pontiff, has a public voice continues to objectify women like this.

And it is that being a father or mother-in-law is nothing more than a family biographical circumstance, that is, it is not something that defines anyone's life.

But female in-laws consist precisely of that, in stripping the woman of all her other attributes and classifying her individually and socially for the sole fact of having been a mother and now an old mother, which, by the way, condemns her to ridicule, joke and disdain.

And to pontifical paternalism.

When the Pope says that they should be careful with his tongues,

I don't know if he is referring to mothers-in-law like Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde or Hillary Clinton, who have surely had to measure their words many times, but I think for reasons other than those suggested by the Pope.

Not to mention all those extraordinary women who work hard and share their meager salaries or pensions with their children and take care of the grandchildren to boot.

Let's see if the one who has to watch his tongue is the Pontiff.

And, on the other hand, what the hell does the Pope know about mothers-in-law to say anything?

True, sometimes you don't need to have a direct experience of things and you can learn from observation, as the great Jane Austen did, for example, who, although she died at the age of 41 unmarried and probably a virgin, was able to describe in her novels the ins and outs of love.

But it is that she lived immersed in society, went to meetings, had friends, while the Pope is embedded within that world of celibate so rare.

Let us remember that celibacy is not a dogma of faith, but a regulation of the Church.

In fact, Catholic priests have lived more centuries married than without, because celibacy was instituted at the two Lateran Councils, in 1123 and 1139.

Supporters of the measure say it is a test to prove the true vocation of the priest and that it allows full dedication to religious work.

It seems nonsense to me;

I think it encourages pedophile abuse, mental rarity, lack of contact with real life.

And there are many voices within Catholicism who feel the same way.

Some hold that celibacy was a way of enriching the Church, since they did not have to share fiefdoms with the sons of priests.

What seems clear to me is that it has contributed to making this institution one of the fiercest strongholds of machismo.

For example, so that these celibate priests can comfortably devote themselves to their work, many nuns have been subjected to painful exploitation, making them serve as servants of the male clergy,

L'Osservatore Romano

, the official newspaper of the Vatican: I already said that there are critical voices).

I'm not surprised that, enjoying such a fix, they refuse to give women an equal place in Catholicism.

Ultimately, it's all about power.

By the way, do you know what is the only country in the world (failed Afghanistan apart) where women do not have a vote?

Well, the Vatican, precisely.

All things considered, it doesn't surprise me that the Pope talks about mothers-in-law.

And that Francis is branded as a revolutionary extremist by some of his co-religionists!

my mother

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Source: elparis

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