Integral Human Development
The Ascension of Christ
The Assumption of Mary
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The Twilight of Patriarchy and the
Dawn of an Integral Ecology
Luis T. Gutiérrez
15 August 2017
Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary
SUMMARY
This is a meditation on integral human development, the twilight of patriarchy, and the dawn of an integral ecology. Laudato Si' is a wake up call on the reality of the ecological crisis, a global phenomenon that emerges from population and economic (production-consumption) overshoot. Patriarchy, the mindset of male domination and female subordination, extends to human domination of the human habitat and is, thereby, the cultural driver of the ecological crisis as well as social inequities. The complexity of the global social/ecological crisis is such, and the potential consequences for the future of humanity are so grave and virtually certain, that it is no longer ethically justifiable to continue doing "business as usual."
As Pope Francis has pointed out, "all of this shows the urgent need for us to move forward in a bold cultural revolution" (Laudato Si', #114), and "there can be no ecology without an adequate anthropology" (Laudato Si', #118). Human choices have consequences. Population and consumption issues can be distinguished, but cannot be separated. Reproductive choices have consequences, and economic choices have consequences. Technologies can mitigate or exacerbate the consequences, but human choices are the real drivers. The current social/ecological crisis is a symptom that humans are making some bad choices. But what is the anthropological etiology of such choices, and how can human behavior be guided toward a more reasonable balance of cooperation and competition, between human beings, and between humans and the entire community of creation? How can be walk together toward social/ecological justice?
How can be walk together toward eventual integration into the Cosmic Christ?
"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,..." (Colossians 2:9). It follows that the divine feminine abides in Christ. The patriarchal repression of the divine feminine, derived from original sin (Genesis 3:16), distorts human-human and human-nature relations. There can be no harmoniously functional ecology without and adequate theological anthropology. We need a sacramental ecology. A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible grace. If the visible sign is defective by being biased and/or incomplete, it provides a biased/incomplete perception of divine grace. Religious patriarchy makes the Eternal Word of God practically invisible (or, at least, only partially visible) by undue emphasis on the biophysical masculinity of the Incarnate Word. The reason is that the human body is a sacrament of the entire person, but is not the entire person. This is true for human persons, and even more so for a divine Person.
Based on St John Paul II's Theology of the Body, it is argued that bodiliness and sexuality are not identical realities. Granted that sexuality influences the human subject at levels deeper than race or any other biophysical attribute, human beings are "body-souls" before they are male or female or intersex. Patriarchy, and the simplistic binary gender ideology, emerged as a consequence of original sin but is by no means the divine plan for man/woman relations. This gender ideology, and the concomitant idolatry of "male headship," has evolved from the ancient "females are defective males" to modern stereotypes about "man and woman are complementary but separate." But the complementarity of man and woman, as thoroughly elucidated in the Theology of the Body, is a complementarity in unity and for unity in one and the same flesh, not a complementarity of contention based on culturally conditioned gender stereotypes; as evidenced by the creation of a single human nature, male and female, whereby man and woman were created of the same flesh and fully homogeneous in their whole being.
In light of this adequate theological anthropology about man and woman, the linkages between secular/religious patriarchy and social/ecological injustice are identified, and examples provided as to how secular/religious patriarchy makes integral human development practically impossible. The Theology of the Body's exegesis of the Book of Genesis (written in 1000 BC or so) conclusively shows that the sacred texts projecting the 10000-years old secular patriarchy back to the beginning is not to be interpreted as patriarchy being "divine law" in family and society, let alone in the Church. The Trinity is a communion, not a patriarchy. The Eternal Word of God was not a male before the incarnation. The Church is a communion, not a patriarchy. The marriage covenant between a man and woman is a communion, not a patriarchy. Indeed, the great mystery of Christ and the Church is a mystery of communion, not a culturally conditioned arrangement compliant with patriarchy or any other human system constructed after original sin. The vexing resilience of patriarchy in religious institutions betrays their contamination with human culture; a reality that must be faced as the patriarchal phase of salvation history passes away.
It must be faced, because secular/religious patriarchy, being an obstacle to integral human development, is also an obstacle to attaining an integral ecology. It must be faced, because the Church has no credibility preaching about doing something while she keeps doing the opposite. There is no way in the world that power-seeking financial capitalism (or communism, or any other "ism" conducive to elites dominating/manipulating other humans and the human habitat for self-serving ends) can be turned around to seek instead integral human development, and an integral ecology, as long as religious patriarchy keeps obscuring the Eternal Word of God in the flesh. Reiterating that priests and bishops are "ordained to serve" sounds hollow at a time when such ordinations systematically exclude 50% of the baptized based on a patriarchal covenant, the Old Law, that was superseded 2000 years ago by the sacramental covenant of the New Law.
Every conceivable rationalization is being used to evade facing the nefarious consequences of religious patriarchy, but the bottom line is that all men and women share one and the same human nature, male and female; and integral human development, which necessarily includes worship and liturgical body language, must be integrally male and female. Beyond superficial sentimentality, how can the Church foster devotion to Mary, who is Mother of God, Mother of the Eucharist, and predecessor of the apostles, as long as baptized women are excluded from the church hierarchy? Why should the successors of the apostles, in today's world, image the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel? Why should the Christ-Church mystery be reduced to a patriarchal marriage covenant? Why should the Eucharist continue to be a phallogocentric ritual? How can a patriarchal church hierarchy image the
feminine genius in Christ? Since the goal of integral human development is integration in Christ, and the ultimate goal of an integral ecology is integration into the cosmic Christ, how can the Church foster such goals without integrally imaging the Eternal Word of God in the flesh?
These questions must be faced and must be answered, and sooner rather than later, if we really want to foster integral human development and a fully integral ecology. It is time for the Church to let go of her culturally-conditioned patriarchal past. It is time to recognize that the patriarchal, phallogocentric Old Law has been superseded by the sacramental, integrally human New Law, and move forward, for the glory of God and the good of souls; else, integral human development is not based on an adequate anthropology, attaining an integral ecology is practically impossible, and the mission of evangelization is compromised. Here and now, for the new evangelization in a post-patriarchal world, we need both viri probati and feminae probatae ordained to act in persona Christi. Else, the mission of the Church is compromised and moving toward an integral ecology -- integration into the Cosmic Christ -- is impeded.
The patriarchal phase of salvation history is passing away. A radical cultural evolution, based on an adequate anthropology that rediscovers human nature in light of the signs of the times, is urgently needed. The linkage of secular/religious patriarchy and social/ecological injustice, and the path toward integral human development and an integral ecology, can be summarized as follows:
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Irresponsible parenthood by rich and poor is the main symptom
The symptom is exacerbated by excessive consumption by the rich
The patriarchal treadmill of money and power is the root cause
Secular patriarchy and religious patriarchy are inseparably coupled
Both are jointly the root cause of most social/ecological injustice
Gender balance is most conducive for integral human development
Gender balance is most conducive to an integral human ecology
Both secular and religious institutions must cease to be patriarchal
Gender balance in secular/religious governance is a moral imperative
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Note: This article is a revised version of An Adequate Anthropology for an Integral Ecology with added emphasis on cultural evolution for integral human development.
Visual Framing ~ Redemption of the Body
INCARNATION ~ REDEMPTION ~ ASCENSION  ASSUMPTION
The Assumption of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and Predecessor of the Apostles
Image by Denise Bossert
Visual Framing ~ Anthropogenic Integral Ecology
INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
Christ at the center of the Zodiac. Dekoulou Monastery, Greece
OUTLINE
1. Jesus of Nazareth ~ The Eternal Word Became Flesh, a Divine Human Being
2. Mary of Nazareth ~ Mother of the Eucharist and Predecessor of the Apostles
3. Mary of Nazareth ~ A Living Model for Integral Human Development
4. Mary of Nazareth ~ Original Ecology, Patriarchal Ecology, and Integral Ecology
5. Mary of Nazareth ~ From Conception in the Flesh to Assumption in the Flesh
6. The Assumption Event ~ Climax of Integral Human Development
7. Integral Human Development ~ Integral Ecology and a New Assumption
8. Patriarchal Ecology ~ Obscuring the Logos in the Flesh and the Cosmic Christ
9. Integral Ecology ~ Imaging the Logos in the Flesh and the Cosmic Christ
1. Jesus of Nazareth ~ The Eternal Word Became Flesh, a Divine Human Being
Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal Word made flesh, is God incarnated as a human being. For the redemption, and the sacramental economy, what matters is that God became human, irrespective of gender, race, or any other distintictive psychosomatic classification. He was unique, as any other human being is unique. Jesus is also unique because he is a divine person. He took flesh from Mary, not a divine person, but his flesh was fully homogeneous with hers.
2. Mary of Nazareth ~ Mother of the Eucharist and Predecessor of the Apostles
Mary of Nazareth, by bringing us the incarnate Word, is Mother of God and, therefore, Mother of the Eucharist. She became so while still living under the Old Law, and therefore her unique ministry precedes the sacramental ministry of the apostles and their successors under the New Law. As a human being with no biological father, Jesus bears a natural resemblance to his mother. For this reason, it is utterly absurd to keep insisting that only males can be sacramentally ordained as priests. A baptized female bears a natural resemblance to Christ in his humanity as much as a baptized male. As the patriarchal phase of salvation history passes away, it is clear that the unique ministerial priesthood of Mary (who, significantly, stood "presiding" at the foot of the cross!) anticipates and prefigures the sacramental priesthood of ordained priests. The obsolescence of patriarchal gender ideology makes the patriarchal priesthood of the Old Law utterly irrelevant for the sacramental priesthood of the New Law. By her fiat, Mary was already acting in persona Christi. Any baptized human person, male or female, can be ordained to act in persona Christi.
3. Mary of Nazareth ~ A Living Model for Integral Human Development
"Integral Human Development" means that human development cannot be reduced to partial development of some dimensions of human life while ignoring others.
Integral human development must include all dimensions of the human life -- biophysical, psychological, spiritual, social, political, financial, etc. It must include the concrete totality of the personal subject as a "body-soul," and not in isolation from others but in interpersonal relations with others.
Now that the patriarchal phase of human history is passing away, interpersonal relations between men and women, and between the masculine and feminine polarities within each person (i.e., the masculine genius in women, the feminine genius in men) are becoming critical for integral human development. Human development, if not engendered, is endangered.
he male domination of females in families and religious traditions extends pervasively to all dimensions of human life, including social institutions and all human interactions with the human habitat. Domination of nature (Genesis 1:28) trumps caring/nurturing of nature (Genesis 2:15). The historical development of cultures and languages has been influenced by the
firstness of the masculine polarity, to the point of assuming that such is the natural order of things. It is a worldwide phenomenon, by no means limited to any particular culture or religious tradition. It is, in real life, the first and most universal consequence of original sin (Genesis 3:16).
The linkage of secular/religious patriarchy and social/ecological injustice is the inordinate attachment to power. The accumulation of power requires money, which is the currency of power. The history of money is driven by men seeking power of women and nature, often under the pretense of divine inspiration (the holy book says that's the way it should be!). The emergence of trade and mercantilism after the agricultural revolution, and the subsequent emergence of capitalism and communism after the industrial revolution, are characterized by violence (often via scapegoating of vulnerable victims) supported/financed by money. Whether money is in the form of cattle, metal coins, paper notes, or bit coins, it serves the economics of necessity and the economics of sufficiency, which is fine; the problem is that it also serves the economics of extravagance and power struggles, to the point that the consume-borrow-consume treadmill is tightly coupled to the military-industrial complex. As long as we keep running on this treadmill, justice with peace is practically impossible.
The tripod of money-power-honors assumes many forms, such mercantilism, capitalism, national socialism (and other forms of facism) and, more recently, neoliberalism. Another variant, nationalistic capitalism, is now emerging. But the patriarchal culture of domination by brute force is the root cause of them all, and it is reinforced by the full range of religious patriarchies, from the most brutal (e.g., ISIS) to the most benign (e.g., the Vatican). In this regard, Laudato Si' may have missed the boat. Climate change is not the main problem. Climate change has been happening for a long time, and will continue to happen. That there is a significant anthropogenic component to current climate change trends is uncertain and by no means a verified scientific hypothesis. What is undeniable is that unbriddled capitalism, and now nationalistic capitalism, is exacerbating social inequities and converting the planet into a garbage dump.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, following the story of the creation and original sin, salvation history starts with the proto-evangelium (Genesis 3:15). The central events are the Incarnation and the Redemption. After the Resurrection of Christ, we are in the already/not yet time window; we are already a "new creation" but we must keep praying and working toward full integration into the Cosmic Christ, i.e., the Omega Point or recapitulation of all things in Christ. For an alternative narrative see, for example, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance. What obstacles are we finding along this path? Many, but none as formidable and ingrained as religious patriarchy. For an insightful analysis of the historical record, current tipping point, and outlook for the future, see The Chalice and the Blade.
In brief, the linkage of secular/religious patriarchy and social/ecological injustice can be summarized as follows:
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Irresponsible parenthood by rich and poor is the main symptom
The symptom is exacerbated by excessive consumption by the rich
The patriarchal treadmill of money and power is the root cause
Secular patriarchy and religious patriarchy are inseparably coupled
Both are jointly the root cause of most social/ecological injustice
Gender balance is most conducive for integral human development
Gender balance is most conducive to an integral human ecology
Both secular and religious institutions must cease to be patriarchal
Gender balance in secular/religious governance is a moral imperative
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4. Mary of Nazareth ~ Original Ecology, Patriarchal Ecology, and Integral Ecology
The following are some initiatives that are systematically trumped, blocked, made difficult, even practically impossible, by secular/religious patriarchy, thereby rendering ineffective otherwise feasible/practical remedies to minimize extreme poverty/social inequality and habitat degradation/climate change:
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Integral human development is about human beings who are bodies but are more than bodies. Meeting biophysical needs is necessary but not sufficient for social/ecological justice. Human development, if not engendered, is endangered. Patriarchal societies are mostly driven by power plays irrespective of the common good. Cf. Populorum Progressio,
Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine.
Population stabilization is about regaining balance between man and woman, humanity and nature. Abusive patriarchy in families and societies is a significant obstacle. Responsible parenthood is the only civilized and sustainable manner of stabilizing population without coercion and in ways consistent with human rights. Cf. Humanae Vitae, Theology of the Body, Amoris Laetitia.
Integral human ecology is about embedding humanity in the entire community of nature, rather than humans exploiting the planet for their own gratification. An integral human ecology is unattainable under patriarchal social systems, either capitalist or communist, because they merely seek the accumulation of money pursuant to the accumulation of power. Cf. Laudato Si', Doughnut Economics.
Consumption stabilization is contingent on integral human development and population stabilization. It requires embracing the
sufficiency principle ("why more, if enough is enough?") and letting go of the patriarchal mindset of financial accumulation for power accumulation, which induces the delusion of infinite material growth in a finite planet. Cf. Laudato Si', Doughnut Economics, Rethinking Economics.
All economic activity, both production and consumption, requires energy. Since "cheap" energy from fossil fuels eventually will be exhausted, it is imperative to develop and deploy competitive energy systems that are both clean and renewable. On the need to phase out of "cheap" fossil energy supplies, see The End of Fossil Energy and Per Capita Oil. For a comparative economic analysis of fossil fuels and alternative (renewable) energy resources, see Energy Return on Investment: A Unifying Principle for Biology, Economics, Sustainability.
Universal education is feasible (via home/school, radio/television, internet/web, cell phones, etc.) as soon as the secular/religious patriarchal elites stop the mass marketing that seeks infinite growth in a finite planet, and reduces citizens to "consumers," to refocus on population/consumption stabilization conducive to integral human development and an integral ecology. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.
Universal health care is feasible (via open borders, open access, migrant hospitality, voluntary resettlement incentives) as soon as the secular/religious patriarchal elites stop greasing the financial consume-borrow-consume treadmill economy, and start implementing checks and balances to mitigate abusive use of resources and abusive profiteering by health care providers. HEALTH MATTERS.
Universal basic income can be an effective way to mitigate extreme poverty. It can be funded by resource usage taxing as soon as the secular/religious patriarchal elites stop seeking infinite growth in a finite planet via mostly unearned/untaxed financial gain pursuant to valueless consolidation of power, and start focusing instead on creating space to enjoy the commons. CREATION MATTERS.
Employment incentives that make meaningful work attractive, coupled with zero income taxes on earned income, can be formulated as soon as the secular/religious patriarchal elites stop seeking infinite growth in a finite planet, via mostly unearned/untaxed financial gain pursuant to valueless consolidation of power, and start creating meaningful jobs. MEANINGFUL JOBS MATTER.
A world government (some form of global authority, democratically elected and tempered by the subsidiarity principle) can be formed as soon as the secular/religious patriarchal elites stop seeking infinite growth in a finite planet, via mostly unearned/untaxed financial gain pursuant to valueless consolidation of power, and start focusing on the PLANETARY COMMON GOOD.
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None of the above initiatives is impossible. They are highly interconnected by a web of feedback loops and must be carried forward as a package. Human culture is the glue that has brought humanity to the current predicament, and human culture must evolve to carry forward the entire package. By pressing for short term gain now at the expense of the future, patriarchy is the human culture that lurks underneath population overshoot, production and cosumption overshoot, inordinate attachment to cheap carbon energy, and the vexing inability to correct issues of social/ecological injustice. Patriarchy is the main obstacle to all the above initiatives, and religious patriarchy is the greatest obstacle to all of them. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED to the ancient rupture of interpersonal communion between man and woman.
Materialistic capitalism is literally turning the planet into a garbage dump because money is the only thing that really matters, and those at the service of capitalist institutions will use violence if necessary to protect their salaries. Needless to say, materialistic communism is no different; proletarian delusions notwithstanding, money is what matters. Under any kind of system driven by money, we are "free" to do what the elites induce/addict us to do, and practically force us to do. Advertising paraphernalia is the instrument, money is the narcotic. Drug trafficking is just one form of money trafficking.
Materialistic socialism is not a promising alternative. Materialistic socialism is materialism capitalism turned inside out. As has been shown in many places (the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Venezuela, etc.) stealing money from the capitalist class and spreading it around is an ephemeral solution that may sound promising at superficial political levels but runs out of steam as soon as the stolen money is exhausted. Then a "new class" of socialist technocrtas emerges that becomes, in effect, a new elite that seeks control and usage of all resources, and we are back on square one. A new paradigm is needed, a new culture of solidarity and sustainability , a radical shift from competittion to cooperation, between humans and between humans and the planet.
Since money is the main instrument for exhange of good and services in all dimentions, a radical reform of the international monetary system may be require. For a global monetary reform proposal, see Paradigm Junction and Blue Planet Governance. Why is money reform the key to refreshing the entire cultural infraestructure of the gloabl human system? The reason is that money leads to power, and this is the bottom line going all the way back to the industrial revolution and further back to the agricultural revolution. The monetary system must be redesigned in such a way that it induces solidarity and sustainability, rather than profit maximization at the expense of the poor and the planet.
5. Mary of Nazareth ~ From Conception in the Flesh to Assumption in the Flesh
Religious patriarchy is a resilient legacy in most religious traditions. The following chronology focuses on the Judeo-Christian-Catholic tradition. While the patriarchal covenant of the Old Law has been superseded by the incarnation and the redemption, and we are now a new creation under the sacramental covenant of the New Law, patriarchal residues remain in rituals and doctrines. One symptom is the conflation of patriarchal binary gender ideology with our sacramental theology. The patriarchal phase of salvation history is passing away, but "old habits die hard."
Only God knows what the future sequence of "scandals" and "responses" would be. We are on our way to Tipperary, but we keep inventing rationalizations to delay getting there. Two thousand years after the redemption, the Vatican still seems to have an inordinate attachment to the patriarchal priesthood of the Old Law. When shall we finally arrive at Tipperary? When shall we have Catholic women priests? When shall we have Catholic women bishops? When shall we hear the senior cardinal deacon cry, for the first time, Habemus Mamam!?
Why the vexing resilience of ancient patriarchy in religious institutions? Specifically in the Roman Catholic Church, why should we keep conflating apostolic succession with patriarchal gender ideology? After the resurrection, Christ entrusted the mediation of all vocations to the Church. St. Matthias we elected by the Church to replace Judas. Since the resurrection, all successors of the apostles have been elected by the Church. The patriarchal phase of salvation history is passing away. Ecclesiastical patriarchy is a pastoral disgrace. The number of priests could be doubled by ordaining qualified celibate women. Do we really have a vocations crisis, or is it that the Church is blocking vocations with obsolete rules and pseudo-doctrines rooted in patriarchal stereotyping?
6. The Assumption Event ~ Climax of Integral Human Development
A comprehensive exegesis of biblical texts on man and woman, and their unity in one and the same human nature, was developed by Pope John Paul II in his Theology of the Body (TOB). It provides a solid basis for solving the most pressing issues of human sexuality, both in families and in the Church as the family of God, including the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. It endorses neither radical patriarchy nor radical feminism, and provides a vision of marriage, and gender relations in general, that can be summarized as unity in diversity ("original unity of man and woman"), individuality in community ("communion of persons") and equality in mutuality ("spousal meaning of the body"). The complementarity of man and woman is for reciprocity and mutual enrichment, not mutual exclusion.
It is noteworthy that, in the TOB, the "male or female" descriptor is always used in reference to the human being as a body, while "male and female" is always used in reference to the human being as a person. The human person is a body, but is more than a body (Genesis 2:7). The body is a sacrament of the entire person, but is not the entire person. Furthermore, being a body is more fundamental to the structure of the personal subject than being somatically male or female (TOB 3:2, 8:1, 21:6). In other words, bodiliness and sexuality are not simply identical, as simplistically assumed by patriarchal gender ideologies.
The following diagram attempts to portray the difference between patriarchal gender theory and the Theology of the Body:
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Patriarchal Gender Theory is based on a simplistic, artificial classification of human beings based on socio-cultural gender stereotypes that emerged *after* original sin.
The Theology of the Body, based on thorough exegesis of biblical texts in continuity with apostolic tradition, recognizes that while sex and gender cannot be separated, they can be distinguished (TOB # 8:1, Amoris Laetitia # 56). By providing a natural model of the structure of the personal subject, it also provides a sound anthropological foundation for the new evangelization and integral human development. An integral sacramental economy would be more conducive to integral human development and an integral ecology, for the glory of God and the good of humanity.
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A Theological Anthropology for Integral Human Development
"There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself. There can be no ecology without an adequate anthropology." Pope Francis, Laudato Si' #118
But what is an "adequate anthropology" for the Anthropocene? St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body (TOB) is fully adequate, because it reconstructs the original divine plan for man and woman in communion with each other and in harmony with nature. However, care must be taken not to read the TOB through a patriarchal lens. The patriarchal mindset of male domination, of women by men, and of nature by humans, is the root cause of the ecological crisis. Now that the patriarchal era is passing away as families increasingly evolve from sole male (father) headship toward joint male-female (father-mother) headship, a new anthropology of the family is emerging that may pave the way for humanity to thrive in the Anthropocene. The relations between humanity and the human habitat must also evolve from domination and subordination to caring and sharing (Genesis 2:15). Humans were created to preside over nature while taking good care of it and freely share what they freeley received; not to exploit nature in a zero sum game that destroys nature and induces social/ecological abuse.
Religious patriarchy is a formidable obstacle to integral human development and attaining an integral ecology:
Religious Patriarchy ~ Annotated Chronology of Key Events
Why is it that Matthias was chosen by the Church to be an apostle, and not Mary Magdalene? Because the witness of Mary Magdalene, or any other woman, was considered worthless. But now, to be a model for integral human development, the hierarchy of the Church needs male-female INTEGRATION.
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7. Integral Human Development ~ Integral Ecology and a New Assumption
As explained in the Theology of the Body, the somatic homogeneity of man and woman (TOB 8:4) shows that sexual differentiation, while undoubtedly being a gift, is also a limitation of embodied human nature. A man is bodily a man, and a woman is bodily a woman, but they are both equal in human personhood because they are both "body-persons" (i.e., "body-souls"). The entire TOB is a thorough deconstruction of the patriarchal binary:
- Being a body is more essential than being male or female (TOB 8:1)
- Man and Woman are fully homogeneous in their "whole being" (TOB 8:4)
- Bodiliness, not sex, is the foundation of the primordial sacrament (TOB 19:5)
- Imbalance of male domination/female submission must be corrected (TOB 31:2)
- The spousal meaning of the body is not limited to patriarchal analogies (TOB 33:3)
- The spousal bond of Christ-Head and Church-Body transcends patriarchy (TOB 91:1)
- The language of the body, male and female, is the language of the liturgy (TOB 117:5)
The Theology of the Body (TOB) correlates with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):
- The human being, male and female, is a "body-soul," a living being composed of body and soul (CCC 362; TOB 2:4, 4:2)
- The complementarity of man and woman does not cancel their equality as human persons (CCC 369; TOB 3:2)
- All human beings are consubstantial, share one and the same human nature (CCC 371; TOB 3:3)
- Having a body is more fundamental for human personhood than being male or female (CCC 372; TOB 8:1)
- The human nature of man and woman are fully homogeneous, somatically and in their "whole being" (CCC 372; TOB 8:4)
- The egalitarian complementarity of man and woman is ordered to the communion of persons (CCC 383; TOB 9:2)
In brief, the body is a sacrament of the entire person, but is not the entire person. In the Roman Catholic Church, we celebrate Corpus Christi, not vir Christi. The patriarchal gender binary is a cultural scaffolding that effectively obscures the Eternal Word made flesh; a divine person who, by embracing all the limitations of the human condition (including becoming a body, of a given gender), does not thereby ceases to be a divine person. How can an exclusively male priesthood make visible the divine feminine genius in Jesus of Nazareth? How can a patriarchal sacramental theology that hides the divine feminine genius in Christ foster the integration of humanity and the human habitat into the Cosmic Christ? The exclusively male priesthood is, in effect, a symbolic obstacle to integral human development and an integral human ecology. Overcoming this symbolic obstacle can be done in perfect continuity with apostolic tradition:
"But whatever be the risk of corruption from intercourse with the world around, such a risk must be encountered if a great idea is duly to be understood, and much more if it is to be fully exhibited. It is elicited and expanded by trial, and battles into perfection and supremacy. Nor does it escape the collision of opinion even in its earlier years, nor does it remain truer to itself, and with a better claim to be considered one and the same, though externally protected from vicissitude and change. It is indeed sometimes said that the stream is clearest near the spring. Whatever use may fairly be made of this image, it does not apply to the history of a philosophy or belief, which on the contrary is more equable, and purer, and stronger, when its bed has become deep, and broad, and full. It necessarily rises out of an existing state of things, and for a time savours of the soil. Its vital element needs disengaging from what is foreign and temporary, and is employed in efforts after freedom which become wore vigorous and hopeful as its years increase. Its beginnings are no measure of its capabilities, nor of its scope. At first no one knows what it is, or what it is worth. It remains perhaps for a time quiescent; it tries, as it were, its limbs, and proves the ground under it, and feels its way. From time to time it makes essays which fail, and are in consequence abandoned. It seems in suspense which way to go; it wavers, and at length strikes out in one definite direction. In time it enters upon strange territory; points of controversy alter their bearing; parties rise and around it; dangers and hopes appear in new relations; and old principles reappear under new forms. It changes with them in order to remain the same. In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often." John Henry Newman, Development of Christian Doctrine, Chapter 1, Section 1, 1845
It is not complicated. Basically, the redemption of the body applies equally to male and female bodies; else, women could not be baptized. All the complications emerge from the conflation of patriarchal gender ideology and sacramental theology. Not even Aquinas was able to reconcile the Aristotelian view of women as "defective males" with the egalitarian revelation of the Christian gospel. St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body, by explaining that bodiliness and sexuality are not identical realities, and further explaining that men and women are of the same flesh, fully homogeneous in their whole being, makes it clear that the patriarchal gender binary is not divine revelation. For this reason, the exclusion of women from priestly ordination is an artificial canonical/doctrinal construct, heritage of the patriarchal priesthood of the Old Law, that the Church is free to overcome at any time under the New Law. It should be note that apostolic succession will remain the same, for men and women are of the same flesh.
8. Patriarchal Ecology ~ Obscuring the Logos in the Flesh and the Cosmic Christ
Was the Eternal Word a male before the incarnation? No, because the Eternal Word did not have a body before the incarnation (John 1:14). Since the body is a sacrament of the entire person, but is not the entire person, it follows that:
- Religious patriarchy is cultural scaffolding that obscures the Eternal Word made flesh: one Person, divine and human.
- Specifically, in the Catholic/Orthodox churches, the exclusively male priesthood makes the feminine genius in Jesus practically invisible.
- The exclusively male priesthood reduces the celebration of the Eucharist to a phallogocentric ritual, a very patriarchal but very partial imaging of the Eternal Word as a divine Person.
The Eucharist is the gift of love and life. Is patriarchy a sign of love? Is patriarchy a sign of life? Are flesh, bread, blood (John 6:35-59) exclusively masculine realities? "The glory of God is man [and woman] fully alive." Since the patriarchal phase of salvation history is passing away, the exclusively male priesthood is no longer for the glory of God and the good of souls. Is "integral human development" about preserving secular/religious patriarchy, or is it about making man and woman fully alive?
The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, but not necessarily patriarchal. The four marks of the Church remain intact when the culturally-conditioned patriarchal scaffolding is removed to make more clearly visible the glory of the Eternal Word in the flesh, "like us in all things but sin."
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A Theological Anthropology for an Integral Ecology
"There can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself. There can be no ecology without an adequate anthropology." Pope Francis, Laudato Si' #118
The ecological crisis is a blessing in disguise. Impending challenges such as "climate change" and limits in energy flow and other resources, and the consequent moral imperative for new mitigation and adaptation initiatives, convey the voice of God as it continues to resound in the events of history. If the ecological crisis is anthropogenic, then an adequate anthropology becomes indispensable to avoid the dangers and seize the opportunities that are emerging as the crisis unfolds. The Anthropocene is an opportunity to begin reconstructing the originally intended communion between man and woman, and well as the harmony between humanity and nature. The same patriarchal culture of male domination and female subordination that emerged as the immediate and most universal consequence of original sin (Genesis 3:16), and impairs male/female human relations, also impairs human/nature relations. In order to resolve the current, worldwide social/ecological crisis, and in order to keep movig along the path that leads to integration into the Cosmic Christ, it is imperative to recover the original balance between man and woman, and between humanity and nature.
An Integral Ecology for the Anthropocene
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9. Integral Ecology ~ Imaging the Logos in the Flesh and the Cosmic Christ
Every conceivable rationalization is being used to evade facing the nefarious consequences of religious patriarchy, but the bottom line is that all men and women share one and the same human nature, male and female; and integral human development, which necessarily includes worship and liturgical body language, must be integrally male and female. Beyond superficial sentimentality, how can the Church foster devotion to Mary, who is Mother of God, Mother of the Eucharist, and predecessor of the apostles, as long as baptized women are excluded from the church hierarchy? Why should the successors of the apostles, in today's world, image the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel? Why should the Christ-Church mystery be reduced to a patriarchal marriage covenant? Why should the Eucharist continue to be a phallogocentric ritual? How can a patriarchal church hierarchy image the feminine genius in Christ? Since the goal of integral human development is integration in Christ, and the ultimate goal of an integral ecology is integration into the cosmic Christ, how can the Church foster such goals without integrally imaging the Eternal Word of God in the flesh?
If there is a divine feminine genius, an everything was created through Christ and in Christ, it follows that there is a feminine genius in the Incarnate Word. Surely, the the maternal face of God is more superficially visible in Mary. But it is also present in Jesus, not only because the Word became flesh in Mary but because the divine feminine genius abides in the uncreated Word from all eternity. So how can we keep dancing around this basic incarnational reality, that is still negated by assuming that only males can be ordained to the sacramental priesthood? How can we say that integral human development entails making visible the
feminine genius only in women and the masculine genius only in men?
These questions must be faced and must be answered, and sooner rather than later, if we really want to foster integral human development and a fully integral ecology. It is time for the Church to let go of her culturally-conditioned patriarchal past. It is time to recognize that the patriarchal, phallogocentric Old Law has been superseded by the sacramental, integrally human New Law, and move forward, for the glory of God and the good of souls; else, integral human development is not based on an adequate anthropology, attaining an integral ecology is practically impossible, and the mission of evangelization is compromised. Here and now, for the new evangelization in a post-patriarchal world, we need both viri probati and feminae probatae ordained to act in persona Christi. Else, the mission of the Church is compromised and moving toward an integral ecology -- integration into the Cosmic Christ -- is impeded.
The patriarchal phase of salvation history is passing away. A radical cultural evolution, based on an adequate anthropology that rediscovers human nature in light of the signs of the times, is urgently needed. The linkage of secular/religious patriarchy and social/ecological injustice, and the path toward integral human development and an integral ecology, can be summarized as follows:
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Irresponsible parenthood by rich and poor is the main symptom
The symptom is exacerbated by excessive consumption by the rich
The patriarchal treadmill of money and power is the root cause
Secular patriarchy and religious patriarchy are inseparably coupled
Both are jointly the root cause of most social/ecological injustice
Gender balance is most conducive for integral human development
Gender balance is most conducive to an integral human ecology
Both secular and religious institutions must cease to be patriarchal
Gender balance in secular/religious governance is a moral imperative
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REFERENCES
The following list of references, with links, is limited to official teaching documents of the Roman Catholic Church, to clearly show the credibility of the sources. Inserting links for these documents every time they are mentioned in the text would detract from the flow of ideas spanning the 30 centuries of Judeo-Christian tradition. A few additional references, with links, are embedded in the text for readers who want to research other relevant sources by other researchers.
Institution of the Sacramental Priesthood of the New Law, Council of Trent, 1563.
Apostolic Constitution on the Sacrament of Order, Pius XII, 1947.
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Second Vatican Council, 1964.
EWTN Website on the Theology of the Body as they were published in L'Osservatore Romano (1979-1984).
Original Unity of Man and Woman: Catechesis on the book of Genesis, John Paul II, St Paul Editions, 1981.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, John Paul II, Liguori Publications, 1994.
The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan, John Paul II, Pauline Books & Media, 1997.
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 2004.
Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, John Paul II, translation by Michael Waldstein, Pauline Books & Media, 2006.
Encyclical Letter Laudato Si' on Care for Our Common Home, Francis, 2015.
Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia on Love and the Family, Francis, 2016.
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