By Albert Thyrniang
“Pull the tail of a cat and it will turn around in no time. But pull the tail of an elephant; it might turn slowly. If pulled once the elephant may not even bother to respond. If you pull it several times it may turn slowly.” These were the words of a church leader during a talk recently. He gave this analogy in the context of the demand for the greater role and involvement of women and lay people in the Catholic Church. So, he continues, “The Church is a 2000 year old big elephant. It is a 2000 year old tradition. Changes will not automatically come. Women and lay people have to continue to assert themselves for the Church to give women and lay people a greater say.”
The bishop is right. The Church has been heavily patriarchal and clerical for ages. Of course, this mindset of the Church was inherited from society. But as an agent of change, the Church should not remain enslaved to the past and to traditions. Due to the constant ‘pulling of the tail’ of the Church, particularly in recent years, things are in for a change. In May this year, Pope Francis appointed a 52-year-old French nun, Nathalie Becquart, who was a consultant since 2019, and under secretary to the Synod of Bishops with voting rights. This is for the first time that a female is selected in a position that advises the Pope on crucial issues taken up by the Church.Two other women joined the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops on Young People and Faith as consultants. Earlier women had participated in Synods and other assemblies as observers, advisers, auditors and experts but none had voting rights.The head of the Synod, Cardinal Mario Grech said that the historic decision could ‘open the doors for more women to emulate. The Vatican News, the Holy See’s official press website was picked up by the world press widely reporting that in the past numerous Synodal fathers emphasised on the need for a place and role of women in the Church. Of particular interest is that Pope Francis highlighted several times that women be more involved in the processes of discussion and decision making in the Church.
Becquart, who could be the first woman to cast a vote along with bishops and cardinals, elatedly views the news as evidence that the Church’s “clericalist mindset is changing” as more and more women assume high-level decision-making responsibilities in the Catholic hierarchy.
The Church seems to be ‘listening’ but to end the attitude of the clerical Church which has also come along with abuses -power and other kinds, is just the beginning. The ‘attitudinal’change is beginning to take shape after voices were loudly raised. The Holy See’s approved Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR)and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious(LCWR) in the United States and others have been harping of the need and importance for women’s greater role in the life of the Church. The Leadership Conference of Women Religious in Rome in 2019 called for change in this regard. In the LCWR conference in August this year its president even ‘chastised the church, its bishops’ for their ‘sinful acts’.
In India the change is even slower. Women continue to complain that they are being discriminated against by being kept out of decision making in male controlled bodies of the Church. Women have highlighted that they have little say in the policy making in liturgy, worship, theology and practices of the church, including those that affect them.
Perhaps, responding to the call for change, Pope Francis, on Oct. 10, 2021, officially opened a two-year process called Synod 2021-2023: For a “Synodal” or some term is, “a synod on synodality,” of the Church; meaning “Walking together.” ‘Synod’ is not just a ‘body of bishops’ representing the Church but it should involve the whole Church, according to the pope. Different from the other Synods (meetings of bishops) matters of consideration for this synod will come directly from every ‘baptized’ person – children, young people, the elderly, the handicapped and even those who have left the Church. Through meetings and discussions that the pope calls ‘listening’, the questions below (and more) will emerge: How synodal (together) is the Church? How much involvement and participation of every member is there in the Church? Are all the members walking together? The attractive logo of the Synod of a large tree with children, young men and women, the elders, the differently- abled, the nuns, priests and bishops underneath it says so but does it happen in reality? The patriarchal dominance, clericalist outlook, discrimination, abuses, racism and casteism and women’s right within the Church might strongly surface. This could be the best opportunity for change.
As elsewhere, a huge ‘elephant’ that is slow to turn is the tradition pertaining to participation of women in the Dorbar Shnong (village council) and other traditional bodies in Meghalaya. Recently the CEM of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), Titosstarwell Chyne (Khain?)stated that,‘ A woman as headman is an issue’ in the Khasi society. He gives his stamp on women participating in Dorbar Shnong, but was at his best in categorically emphasising that for them to be Rangbah Shnong (headmen) violates tradition and has nothing to do with gender equality and hence unacceptable. He is further quoted as saying, “There are complications and we will have to see from all angles as the duties and responsibilities of the Rangbah Shnong are not so simple; it involves a lot of hardships.”
This argument does not hold water. In other parts of India women are legally elected Sarpanches (village headmen) under the Panchayati Raj system, the counterpart of the institution of the Rangbah Shnong in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. Many female Sarpanches are doing much better than men. Please go to Google and find out how women have successfully overcome deep-seated cultural resistance to usher change as the head of village councils or gram panchayats in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, etc. where men had earlier failed. A search for “Women Sarpanch” yields the following online reports: ‘These 10 Female Sarpanches are leading a Quiet Revolution; Bhakti Sharma youngest sarpanch – best sarpanch in India, 8 women sarpanches who lead by example; Forty percent of all sarpanches across country are women, Five female sarpanches doing stellar work in their villages, Bold and promising: meet women sarpanches. These and other stories are proof of the successes of women village heads across India. Is the job of a sarpanch easy? Are their duties and responsibilities simple? Do they not face hardships? Yet women sarpanches have excelled. If women sarpanches can handle their job in other parts of this country why can’t women in Meghalaya be Rangbah Shnong? Do we mean to say that our women are less capable than women in other states of the country? Is the argument acceptable?
This is nothing but prejudice. It is just that men who are and who have been in authority ‘from time immemorial’ are not willing to part with the concentration of power from their hands. Traditions that hold back the growth and process of a society are obsolete and hence alternation is the only option. A tradition that discriminates has no place in the 21st century. Simple! Tradition should not be an excuse for the reluctance to change. Women have performed equally well, and in many cases, better than men wherever there is a level playing field. For how many years now have girls been out-performing boys in public examinations? It is certain that given a chance women will perform well as Rangbah Shnong. Some will surely outshine their male counterparts? Is that the fear for the ban on women headmen? KHADC has tabled the Khasi Inheritance of Property Bill 2021 on the first day of its current Autumn session to ensure equitable distribution of property among the children – male and female. Though a general custom for ancestral property is that it devolves on the youngest daughter, there is no law that forbids parents to bequeath their property to male children. Many men have acquired land from their parents. So where is the need for such a bill? Where is the urgency? To me, a bill for women’s greater participation in the institution of the Rangbah Shnong, Lyngdoh, Dolloi, Raid, Syiemship and Nokmaship is of more significant than the Inheritance of Property Bill.The job of a headman is difficult. Let only women who think they can do justice to it be the candidates. Don’t debar everyone based on assumptions. Women and others who think they deserve better should continue to ‘pull the tail of the elephant.’
Email: [email protected]