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“Be brave and raise your voice”: Superior of the order from Schlehdorf on the role of women in the church

2023-03-08T05:42:56.039Z


March 8th is International Women's Day. The Tölzer Kurier spoke to the superior of the Schlehdorf monastery, Sister Francesca Hannen, on this subject. The 58-year-old Dominican Missionary is also on the leadership team of her congregation and is currently in Johannesburg.


March 8th is International Women's Day.

The Tölzer Kurier spoke to the superior of the Schlehdorf monastery, Sister Francesca Hannen, on this subject.

The 58-year-old Dominican Missionary is also on the leadership team of her congregation and is currently in Johannesburg.

Schlehdorf/Johannesburg – Sister Francesca Hannen has been the provincial superior, i.e. the leader, of the Dominican Missionaries in Schlehdorf Monastery for eleven years.

The 58-year-old is also on the leadership team of her religious community, whose headquarters are in South Africa.

There, more precisely in Johannesburg, Sr. Francesca is currently staying for a team retreat lasting several weeks.

On the phone she spoke to our newspaper about International Women's Day from her perspective as a nun and about the role of women in the Catholic Church.

Sr. Francesca, what does International Women's Day mean to you?

For me and my personal development, International Women's Day is more important today than it was 15 or 20 years ago.

I see more and more that we women - and I don't just mean us religious women - should raise our voice in the church.

We have held back for far too long, for example in dealing with sexual abuse or the question of women's priesthood.

What do you mean by sexual abuse?

Dealings within the church have revealed that this is also about structural abuse of power, about many encrusted structures.

One wonders: how did all this happen?

The church has a double duty to come to terms with this.

Thank God the moral pressure on the Church has become so great that there is no turning back.

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Sr. Francesca (2nd from left) surrounded by some fellow sisters in South Africa: (from left) Nobulali, Katy, Veronika (also from Schlehdorf Monastery) and Tshifhiwa.

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What do you think of the synodal path?

Something is changing this way.

There are many more women theologians who are raising their voices and becoming better known.

The crisis the church is going through is creating something new.

Even women who are involved in church service are now much more daring than in the past to say they would like to be ordained a priestess.

How long do you think it will be before the Pope approves this?

I hope it won't take longer than ten years.

Maybe you need a new pope for that.

Francis faces a lot of opposition in the Curia.

Even if it's difficult for the Vatican, you can't go back now.

You have to look ahead.

However, I hope that this question will not lead to a schism within the church.

That would be bad.

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Sr. Francesca with sister Theresia from Augsburg, who has been living in South Africa for 60 years and has set up a workshop for women with disabilities in Johannesburg.

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What speaks for the fact that women can also hold a priestly office?

In my view, the theological justifications are scientifically untenable.

It has been proven that some passages from the Bible are mistranslated.

Our Dominican order, for example, titles Mary Magdalene as "Apostle of the Apostles".

She was the first to see the risen Jesus and to tell the disciples about it.

And also in the Acts of the Apostles there is talk of some women who led a church.

Suppose women could be ordained priestess.

Would they fill this role like men?

About 20 years ago, a fellow sister in South Africa was ordained as a priestess and did not communicate this with the leadership of the order.

It ultimately led to her leaving the Order.

Today she is a bishop and says she would not take this step again because you cannot simply copy the priesthood from men.

There needs to be a debate about how to shape the female priesthood.

I can understand this thought very well.

It's about being authentic and not about copying structures.

When we talk about the question of the ordination of women to the priesthood, we also have to talk about what face priestesses want to give to this office.

That's a very exciting question.

By the way, what I particularly like is the fact

What do you mean by that?

On the World Day of Prayer for Women (March 3, editor's note), one country is always the focus, and it's about the power of women there.

In church circles this day experiences a great resonance.

It is also an ecumenical action.

I think it's great.

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In the project workshops of the Dominican Missionaries in South Africa, among other things, bags are made that women embroider with motifs from their tribes.

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Let's talk about your life as a religious and your vow to be obedient.

How do you define that nowadays?

In our religious community we are obedient to one another in the sense that we listen to each other and, after discussion, make decisions together.

And that can sometimes be a decision that takes a different view than that of the archdiocese.

As provincial superior, I see myself as a manager who works in a team.

Our task is to lead our community into a good future.

What message would you like to give to young women today?

be brave

Go your way and make yourself independent of what is given to you by the male side, be it in terms of appearance, sexual orientation or career choice.

Look when you see injustice and raise your voice.

I myself come from a family where mother and grandmother were strong women.

That shaped me and my siblings.

It saved me from simply submitting and developed a genuine resistance.

How do you experience International Women's Day in South Africa?

With completely different challenges than in Germany.

South Africa has a high rate of rape, at 170 a day, probably the second highest in the world.

This is madness.

It has been proven that projects where women are in charge work better than when men are in charge.

But the problem here is the huge corruption.

And women hardly have the opportunity to protect themselves from violence.

That is bitter.


Interview: Christiane Mühlbauer

You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-08

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