Courtesy of Pexels

In mid-March, a new Vatican constitution was published that will allow women to head some Vatican offices. This was an unexpected move, not only because of the consistently conservative stances on political issues Catholicism is known for, but also because the Pope had opposed this specific action as recently as 2015. It may not come as a surprise to those who have seen research indicating that a majority of American Catholics claim that their opinions on issues such as contraception and homosexuality which directly oppose the church doctrine. While this is progress, it’s only a drop in the water as Pope Francis remains against and unwilling to take action on the ordination of women. He is, sadly and expectedly, behind the curve. Unintentionally, the Pope and other Catholic leadership, whether official or a part of prominent Catholic organizations, are contributing to the decreasing importance of religion in present society and for younger generations who find that diversity among the Church important

Pope Francis is, if compared with previous Church leadership and Church positions, fairly progressive and has received a lot of credit for those choices by more progressive Catholics despite his continued hard line stance on the ordination of women and opposition to gay marriage. Pope Francis has given positions within Vatican leadership to several women, in a stark deviation from those who held the positions previously.

What is so disappointing about the Church’s opposition to the ordination of women is the mental leaps and assumptions Catholics are asked to make in order to uphold these limits. It is the logical fallacy that the apostles were exclusively male that provides supposedly undeniable proof that Jesus believed only men could and should be ordained. Other reasoning suggests that a woman cannot be ordained because women can’t be representative of Christ since Jesus himself was a man. This deeply offending argument is debunked by the world renowned Catholic theologian Phyllis Zagano in her book “Women: Icons of Christ” as she claims this reasoning only reinforces the ugly conclusion that women are unclean and is rooted in anti-female viewpoints. There is a danger that, in the future, women won’t want to dedicate themselves to a religion that won’t allow them to fully dedicate themselves to it at all.

This all leads to a critical point, which is that the Church’s failure to create a religion that centers around welcoming all people with an equal degree of fervor will cripple it. Younger generations, while they still often inherit religious beliefs from their parents, are far more open to concepts like plurality and acceptance of differing beliefs. According to a report by PEW research, 45% of teens agree that many religions may be true. Additionally, 61% agree that it is not mandatory to believe in God to be considered moral. Younger generations, even when religious, are not willing to accept the narrow minded boundaries prescribed by their religious leadership. Going even further, overall, U.S. Catholics don’t agree with the level of political involvement Catholic churches and organizations are engaging in. 62% of Catholics agree that  U.S. churches should not involve themselves in politics. They see the Catholic church as a force of good when it does not involve itself in enforcing stances on the private lives of others.

This is not to say that there aren’t benefits to religion that, especially in such complicated times, can’t help people. Religion can bring people peace, be the support people need and can bring comfort. It is because of these benefits that the Catholic Church, its followers and other plainly exclusionary religions must consider the evolution of their beliefs. Without this evolution, without greater acceptance, without current and younger generations, the Catholic church will lose its vitality and importance.