Paolo Cugini
These days, as I'm attending
the conference organized by SOTER (Society of Theology and Science of Religion)
on the topic of Violence and Religion, many of the speeches are presented from
a variety of religious, philosophical, and social perspectives. I'm
particularly struck by the reflections of several feminist theologians, which
have prompted some brief considerations, which I share below.
As Saffiotti argues: “the
cruel reality of violence against girls and women is not an isolated
phenomenon, but the concrete manifestation of deeply rooted sexist,
patriarchal, misogynist and capitalist structures that have shaped and continue
to shape society” [1] (Safiotti, 2024). Patriarchy is a system that
manages inequality between the sexes, with sexism as its political technology,
while misogyny is the hate speech that sustains this political technology and
the patriarchal system. “There is no patriarchy without sexism, there is no
sexism without misogyny” [2] .
Patriarchy is, therefore, a
form of social organization in which relationships are governed by two
fundamental principles: women are hierarchically subordinate to men; young
people are hierarchically subordinate to older men. Gender-based violence,
therefore, is not simply the individual behavior of some men, but an
institutionalized system legitimized by patriarchy, which is why it is so
difficult to break the cycle of violence without changing the entire social
structure.
Religious discourse,
especially in traditionalist movements, reinforces the symbolic idea that the
traditional family will save society. In the traditional family, the man is the
head of the household, while the woman is the wife, always ready to serve her
husband, and the mother devoted to her children. Violence against girls and
women is reinforced by religious discourse, which is understood as the norm,
the truth, because it is God who speaks through the pastor, the priest, the
religious leader, as an integral part of patriarchal Christianity.
Christian religious leaders
from traditionalist groups and those close to far-right political movements
propose fundamentalist readings and interpretations of biblical texts,
affirming women's submission and silence, discouraging reporting, advising women
to pray for their husbands, because they must be possessed, or even stating
that, just as Jesus carried the cross, women must also carry theirs, suggesting
submission and the invisibility of violence within families. Many women obey
and remain silent without questioning the religious leader's words, which can
lead them to become victims of violence and even femicide. A
pseudo-spirituality is encouraged by religious leaders who only reinforce the
patriarchal cultural model, with its derivatives of misogyny and homophobia.
From this perspective and
along this path, women's sexuality is torn from their bodies and confined to
the sphere of motherhood, reproduction, and family. In short, sexuality and
eroticism are not sacred. The sacred body is asexual; everything is reduced to
the womb. Christian tradition has serious problems with the body and sexuality,
denying them the sphere of the sacred. "In the symbolic incarnation of Eve
the sinner and Mary the redeemer through submission and virginity, resides the
'rod of patriarchy' in the hand of God the Father, who punishes and redeems.
This rod is directed specifically toward women's erotic dimension"
(Jarschel; Nanjarí, 2008, p. 4).
At this point in the
discussion, a question immediately arises: how can one participate in the
Christian community and in the Eucharist or the Communion Supper when the
bodies of girls and women continue to be violated, raped, and killed with the
"spiritual" complicity of the very institution that should value and
protect them?
The Church must prophetically
denounce women's right to autonomy, power, and responsibility to decide over
their own bodies, their spiritual well-being in all its dimensions, and
sexuality understood as pleasure and not merely as a procreative purpose. Therefore,
it is essential to question the exclusion of women from ministerial ordination
in the various Christian traditions.
It is urgent to adopt a new
religious and theological hermeneutic, as well as ecclesial and pastoral
practices that guarantee the full inclusion of women at the table of communion,
understood here as the totality of family, social, cultural, and spiritual
life.
[1] SAFIOTTI, Heleieth.Gender Violence: Power and
Impotence. São Paulo:
Expressão Popular, 2024.
[2] TIBURI, Marcia.How to Defeat Turbomachismo.
Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2023.
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