Maria 2.0 Initiative Posts Seven Theses on Church Doors
A dozen women met in the reading circle of the Catholic parish of Heilig
Kreuz in Münster in Germany in the spring of 2019 to talk about “Evangelii
Gaudium”, the first Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis. They also discussed their
situation as women in the Church and their daily difficulties. Without women,
nothing happens in the Catholic Church. But women have no voice within church
structures. “We have to do something”, they said, “more than just talk about
it”. They are active in parish councils and pastoral care, supervise the
preparation of the communion, and plan family worship services. But they are not
allowed to baptize or receive confession. Only men who live in celibacy are
allowed to do so. Even the first action caused quite a stir – a week of strikes
in May 2019, during which the women did not enter a church but held their own
church services outside their churches. Thus the protest initiative “Maria 2.0”
was born, which calls for a change in the structures of the Catholic Church.
Word about the strike got around quickly, and this became a nationwide protest
action in Germany and even in some other countries. The participation was much
greater than expected. Even if the action does not seem to have had much effect
on the Church, the women are not giving up.
Portraits of
Women
One of the founders of the initiative, the painter Lisa Kötter, started
painting portraits of women with their mouths taped shut. She created the
symbol of the movement: the Madonna with her mouth shut up. Another founder,
Andrea Voss-Frick, believes that the church as a moral authority must renew
itself after the many cases of abuse and cover-ups if it wants to be perceived
as such again. This protest movement demands a new beginning of the Catholic
Church, including the complete clarification of all cases of abuse, and
absolute gender justice up to the opening of ordained ministries for women.
They want women to be allowed to preach instead of just cleaning the candlesticks.
They have reached out to priests and bishops, hoping for support, but very few
have dared to help them.
„What are we supposed to do here?“
In an interview on German national TV, Lisa Kötter said, „I understand my
daughters and I understand my granddaughters very well. They go to church with
me and say, ‚What‘s this about? Only men at the altar. The women are lucky if
they are allowed to pass something out or read something before the Gospel.
They are not even allowed to preach the gospel. What are we supposed to do
here? They live in a different world.‘
„The church should be leading the way, it should be leading societies with
justice. Instead, it crawls behind like a snail – and we don‘t have that time
anymore. The message is so precious that it could unhinge the world, and I
think especially in Western societies we need this message of charity. And
where it‘s not just always about greed and „me, me, me“. And that message is
getting lost because the church is so ossified and so male-dominated that
people are just leaving. There‘s going to be a huge exodus if real, genuine
structural change doesn‘t happen soon.“[1]
Theses 2.0
More than 500 years after Martin Luther, the Maria 2.0 Initiative nailed
new theses on church and cathedral doors throughout Germany on February 21,
2021, the Sunday preceding the annual bishops‘ conference. In their seven
Theses[2],
they demand among other things equal rights for men and women, common
responsibility, respectful treatment and transparency. With the posting of the
theses the Maria 2.0 Initiative is pointing out the blatant grievances in the
Catholic Church, and in doing so, underscoring their demands for reforms toward
a sustainable, and diverse church without fear, where believers are treated as
brothers and sisters equally.
Protest Movement
I am impressed by these women. They are fighting for the soul of their
church. They are not giving up. They are not just leaving the church. They want
their church to change and become relevant. They are pointing their fingers at
the deficits, the abuse, calling out the grievances. They are showing that when
you love your church, you have to be honest and creative, finding ways to make
an impact even if the church doesn’t want to change.
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