Countering Renewed Patriarchal Commitments in the Institutional Catholic Church: Feminist Perspectives among Women Religious in Canada

Abstract

This chapter argues that feminist inquiries and activism must be pursued considering women’s marginalized position within a religious institution in Canada in the 21st century. Drawing on Canadian Catholic nuns’ unique accounts of their experiences with the Roman Catholic Church, this chapter brings nuance to the complicated power dynamics navigated by women religious to show how women remain excluded and exploited in various ways in their own religious institutions. We point to the institutionalized Roman Catholic Church’s long-standing control over women’s reproductive rights, as well as its ongoing prohibition and recent criminalization of women’s ordination. We also address recent structural dynamics at play by drawing attention to a recent Vatican investigation and ongoing surveillance of women religious in North America under newly established church doctrine. We view these recent tactics as evidence of the Vatican’s renewed commitment to existing gender hierarchies within the Church. Feminist intervention is especially important considering this deepening patriarchal power and how, by extension, the church is regressing rather than progressing towards gender equality, even while it shows evidence of shifting attitudes on other social issues. This chapter also underscores the implications of a global religious institution for women in Canada.

Citation

Gervais, C. and Watson, A. (2017), "Countering Renewed Patriarchal Commitments in the Institutional Catholic Church: Feminist Perspectives among Women Religious in Canada", Bonifacio, G.T. (Ed.) Global Currents in Gender and Feminisms, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-483-520171006