Historical note. Tina was fighting for equality in the Church. At the same time she became keenly aware of the much wider issue of gender inequality on a global scale. Many human beings still live sub-human lives. The natural world faces enormous challenges. She hopes that men and women can solve these issues together, with recognition of genuinely equal responsibilities. In her painting she depicts on the left Adam and Eve in paradise (the past), the couple in the middle still shows a dominant male (the present), the crows on the right are future generations.
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
we allowed it to happen
that men took charge of our earth,
we women allowed ourselves
to be robbed of our original task
by a lack of self respect and laziness
we women dethroned ourselves
we allowed it to happen
that we women naively played helplessness
we hid ourselves
behind the cloak of imagined inferiority
but the commission we received
has never been withdrawn
we, women and men, have to take charge
protect and maintain the earth
that was entrusted to both of us
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
as long as strange things
have not been mentioned by name
they seem unreal
as long as no one has heard of them
it is easy to deny them
when something has been thought over however,
when something has been spelled out and pinned down,
then the switch has been flipped
there is nothing that can hold the force back
years ago I started a whole new process –
time
grating grinding polishing time
now takes over from me
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
from where emerged that vision
of the superiority of the male?
on what ground did he claim the privilege
of dominating the whole of creation?
who granted him the right?
who gave it a name?
who knows the reason why?
from where arose that vision
of the inferiority of the female?
on what did she ground her duty
to be subservient to the man?
who imposed this obligation on her?
who gave it a name?
who knows the reason why?
from when I was young I learnt the vision
that people are marked to be like God
that it was God’s breath that aroused their love
through which they equally share the privilege and duty
of caring for creation; of preserving life
is this not the task God imposed?
was it not God who enabled us
for us to act as one?
is that the reason why?
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
as cascading heavy snowflakes
disturbing thoughts cover the floor of my being
I am struck down
with a broken image of my church
with an attempt to be heard that is doomed to fail
with feeling paralysing injustice
with light without warmth
and life without structure
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
in me lives a hunger for higher things
for belonging and infinity
in me I experience, in spite of my humanness,
the warmth of an attentive power
in mutual connectedness
in me rise feelings and values that struggle
with norms and rules of tradition and law
I note in myself, born from growing self-respect,
rebellion and aggression about my womanhood denied
by male distrust
in me grows hope–filled confidence
that the human spirit will prevail
I see my changed mentality
as basis of an equal future for women and men
and mutual respect
broken in pieces
as cascading heavy snowflakes
wild thoughts cover the floor of my being
I am saddled with a broken image of the church
with an attempt to be heard that is doomed to fail
with paralysing injustice
with light without warmth
and life without structure
my God, where shall I turn?
departing from a nameless void
not knowing where they travel
women of today seek
their own structures,
their own identity
nourished by the fire
of an awakening sense of self
yet hampered by ancient cultural roots
women test their dreams and ideals
“how can we be fully human and fully woman?”
Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person. Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.
Support integrity in the Church and voices of protest
SEVEN STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE WOMEN’S ORDINATION, no 6
In recent decades, especially under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XIV, Rome unleashed an unprecedented ‘reign of terror’ in the Church with the express purpose of suppressing all further discussion on women priests. Powerful measures of organisational control were put in place and were being constantly monitored. Whatever intentions these two Popes may have had, they inflicted lasting damage on the Church. We still suffer from the consequences.
The Reign of Terror: Popes John Paul II and Benedict XIV
These two Popes made a concerted effort to suppress any voices calling for women to be ordained. The following facts have been documented with evidence.
• Bishops. Only those men were elected as candidates for the episcopacy who undertook, usually on oath, not to promote the ordination of women. Constant pressure was put on bishops ‘to resolutely refuse any support to those people, whether individuals or groups, who defend the priestly ordination of women, whether they do so in the name of progress, human rights, compassion or whatever reason it may be’. Individual bishops received detailed instructions from Rome regarding supposed ‘dissidents’ in their dioceses. The Synods of Bishops, which were instituted by the Vatican Council to curb curial monopoly, have been deprived of any real influence by a rigging of the agenda, by saturating committees with members of the Roman Curia, by a subtle censorship of bishops’ contributions, by selectively omitting resolutions voted on by the bishops.
• Religious Superiors. Whenever a man or woman religious expressed disagreement with Rome’s view on women priests, Roman Congregations leant on the Superior General concerned. Usually this happened behind the scenes and religious superiors were urged to keep Rome’s intervention secret, but some cases have come out into the open. In October 1994, fourteen prominent Religious Sisters in India belonging to ten different Religious Congregations addressed their objections to Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in a letter to the Holy Father. All the Congregations were put under pressure. The Sisters involved were reprimanded.
• Theologians. Professors in seminaries and theological colleges are required to swear the oath of loyalty which now, since Ad Tuendam Fidem (28 May 1998), includes agreement to the ban on women priests. Theologians have been dismissed from their teaching posts because of their views on the ordination of women. Others have been warned that they will be dismissed if they speak out on the issue. Rome issued new instructions that put Catholic Colleges under more direct ecclesiastical control. I know of cases where theologians were admonished by their bishops, on instigation of Rome, because they had allowed their articles to be published on the women priests’ web site. Last year the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales withdrew sponsorship of a theological conference in Newman College, Birmingham, because I was one of the speakers.
• Editors, Writers, Publishers. Many Catholic newspapers and magazines were vulnerable because they are owned by dioceses or by publishing houses owned by religious congregations. Rome issued strict instructions to book censors not to give the Imprimatur or Nihil Obstat to books favourable to women priests. The Liturgical Press of St. John’s Abbey, Minnesota, North American publisher of Woman at the Altar by Lavinia Byrne, allegedly burnt its stock of 1300 copies when it was informed by the local bishop that Rome was displeased with the book. A number of Catholic publishers to whom I showed the manuscript of The Ordination of Women in the Catholic Church. Unmasking a Cuckoo’s Egg Tradition, responded with: “We’d love to publish a book like that, but we can’t in the present climate in the Church!”
• Parish Priests, Lay leaders. Through the new oath of loyalty priests too were put under pressure to fall in line with Rome’s opposition to women priests. The ban to women priests was incorporated into central Church documents: Church Law (can. 1024), the official Catechism (§ 1577).
• Congresses and Meetings of Catholic Organisations. The outcome of such consultations was often manipulated by Roman interference. An infamous example is the Third World Congress for the Lay Apostolate (Rome 1967) that manifested the wide range of ‘hierarchical control mechanisms’ that Rome has used ever since.
The Climate of Dishonesty
The intimidation from above resulted in a climate in which many individuals and groups acted and spoke against their better knowledge. They felt trapped between conflicting loyalties. On the one hand, they did not want to disobey authority or risk their jobs and positions. On the other hand, they realised that Rome’s stand against women priests is really untenable and is doomed to fail. This became a problem of conscience which was ‘resolved’ with the help of classical rationalisations:
“Authority has spoken. I have to obey.”
“Everybody else toes the party line. Why should I risk my neck?”
“Another Pope will surely change this policy, meanwhile I better comply . . .”
“It is better for the people entrusted to me that I keep my job.”
It is not my intention here to condemn the persons who feel caught in this terrible dilemma. Their struggle is real. I can sympathise with them. But what happens when everyone finds excuses? Integrity, truth and credibility suffer. If bishops, priests, theologians comply and even swear oaths with bad consciences, the Church itself is gradually being corrupted.
We have seen the results in the world-wide Catholic child abuse scandal. It came about because bishops and other church leaders, usually against their own better judgment, protected priests who were abusers and ignored the plight of their victims. They had been instructed to do so by Rome “to safeguard the reputation of the Catholic Church” (!).
The situation in the Church has slightly improved under Pope Francis. But God’s People are still at the mercy of many arch-conservative bishops. Catholic Colleges and Catholic theologians still feel power-hungry curial officials breathing down their necks.
Conclusion
What is more vital in theology than that the truth be sought out without inhibitions and freely discussed? What is more important for the teaching authority than that its opinions can be trusted? What is more dreadful to the People of God than that they are reduced to a bunch of puppets held by a string? For the good of the Church and to bring about far-reaching reforms we have to speak out fearlessly.
John Wijngaards, WHAT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU IN CATHOLIC COLLEGE. Women in the priesthood and the mind of Christ, Acadian House Publishing, Lafayette USA 2020.
I was
