By IANS
New Delhi : Women in the male-dominated Catholic Church will finally get a chance to be heard. At its biennial conclave, the apex panel of the church in India is set to discuss ways to empower women in the church and society.
The general body meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the highest decision making body of the church, is to take place in Jamshedpur Feb 13-20. The meet aims at chalking out plans to empower women and find ways to fight problems of gender inequality.
“This is for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church in India that a theme on ’empowerment of women in the church and the society’ has been chosen as the focus of the plenary assembly of bishops,” said Stanislaus Fernandes, secretary general of the CBCI.
“The issue has great relevance in the modern world,” he said.
A survey, conducted by the CBCI commission for women ahead of the meeting, revealed that a majority in the community did not believe that the church treated women at par with men. The majority also felt that the church could contribute more towards women’s empowerment.
The church leadership, however, was not willing to admit that women were a neglected lot.
“The Church believes in diversity of functions. No one person is considered to be superior to another or have a greater role or function to fulfil,” said Delhi Archbishop Vincent Concessao.
“Contrary to what many believe, the woman’s role and function is no less than the man’s but it is clearly different,” he argued.
The bishop also said that it was the Catholic community that took the initiative of educating women in India.
According to CBCI spokesman Father Babu Jospeh, the church wanted to focus on problems faced by women in the society too.
“We are planning to take up issues like human trafficking, displacement due to industrialisation where women and children are the worst affected,” Joseph told IANS.
Around 50 women representatives are to attend the weeklong meeting of the bishops. About 160 Catholic bishops from across India would attend the plenary session.