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Young delegate at European meeting says church sexism like racism
2003-152C
6/30/2003
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[Episcopal News Service]
European church leaders meeting in Trondheim have been challenged to consider parallels between the situation of churches under the former apartheid regime in South Africa and that of churches facing sexism today.
'We are so good at naming difficulties and knowing what should be done when the problem is far away from us, like the case with racism in South Africa' under apartheid, Gyrid Gunnes, a theology student from Oslo said on June 27 at the 12th assembly of the Conference of European Churches, meeting in Trondheim. 'But when discrimination happens due to a factor just as arbitrary as skin color, for example gender, the situation is suddenly very different,' Gunnes said. The world condemned churches in the apartheid regime for using the Bible to make color 'the only significant factor for determining a person's life,' she noted.
Gunnes, aged 24, spoke during a special youth session of the assembly.
'Church is a context where gender to a great extent will limit and extend the possibilities of your life,' she said. 'If you are a man, you may become a priest and through that you are given access to a powerful theological and liturgical tradition. If you are a male, God is talked about in your gender.' However, 'if you are a woman, you are, in many churches, deprived of access to the priesthood. If you are a woman, using your gender as a metaphor for speaking about God is controversial.'
Some of CEC's more than 120 member churches--for example, the Orthodox churches--do not ordain women as priests or pastors, and some that do ordain women, such as the (Anglican) Church of England, do not allow women to become bishops.
However, even in Norway, where the majority Lutheran church has both women priests and women bishops, gender considerations are still relevant, Gunnes told ENI. 'We've had women priests for 30 years and we have two women bishops, but still the majority of priests are men and there's a huge debate now if male priests can choose not to work with women priests,' she said. 'The issue of gender-inclusive language is also a major issue in Norway.'
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