“You’ve come a long way, baby.”

If you’re old enough to remember this was a cigarette slogan, you know a lot has changed in forty years.
But, according to some, not enough has changed in the Catholic Church. They point to the work of Pope John Paul II suspiciously. He did not advocate ordaining women, nor did he re-jigger a single word of Humanae Vitae. Is it possible to promote the dignity of women without those changes?

In 1988, twenty years after Humanae Vitae upheld the Church’s prohibition on artificial contraception, Pope John Paul II wrote this little encyclical, “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women.” (Mulieris Dignitatem) He had been thinking and writing about married sexuality since at least the early 1940’s. We can assume he understood the depth of antipathy out there on the subject. Maybe that’s why he didn’t mention Humanae Vitae in this encyclical.

I think the pope wanted to say, “I’m not your enemy. Feminine liberation is about so much more than sex.” He wanted to redefine the problem for women in terms of a shared relationship with men, and especially to affirm the responsibilities of men to bring forth the talents of women beyond La Leche League and Playboy centerfolds. 

The women’s movement did not begin with the summer of love and the birth control pill. From the beginning, the crusading women were concerned with the problems of real women – not just vocational issues. And for women, sexuality presents certain “problems.” Pregnancy and motherhood are herculean tasks that do overwhelm women physically and mentally to the point that their other talents are sometimes postponed or ignored while they raise the next generation. Heck, even menstruation presents logistical concerns that men simply do not have.

“The pope has no business in my bedroom,” proclaim many women, including many Catholic women.

Permit me to be a contrarian. What might happen if one were to permit the old geezer in the boudoir?

Shame on you. That’s not what I meant. What if the pope has something worthwhile to say?

It’s not like most Catholics don’t know what the Church teaches on contraception and abortion. Oh, they know. I converted in 1992, and I knew. Actually, until the Episcopalians started the domino chain in the early 1930’s, even most Protestants taught that contraception and abortion were sins. Comedians and pundits take every opportunity to point out how backward the Church looks on this point. “Every sperm is sacred.” Ha, ha, ha.

But Pope John Paul II does have something to say. I first read Mulieris Dignitatem as a young mother with many small children underfoot. I was deeply afraid that I would never do anything again but change diapers and adjudicate toddler tantrums. Perhaps for that reason, two sentences of that encyclical stood out for me above all the rest.

It is therefore necessary that the man be fully aware that in their shared parenthood, he owes a special debt to the woman. No program of “equal rights” between women and men is valid unless it takes this fact fully into account. (Mulieris Dignitatem, 18)

“Amen, brother!” It was my take-away, my sonar in a world where those “special debts” were clouding my vision and my ideals. In the history of the world, men have often mistreated women, physically and emotionally. There has been violence, and repression. This isn’t heaven. Even a relatively affluent suburban mom can feel like a slave. But there is hope, and God’s plan is bigger and better than we realize.

Women are right to hate sin and reject violence. The pope said so. In fact, women play a special role in that very area. To the extent that women are marginalized in society, there is a corresponding increase in the danger of inhumane and unjust actions. There was, and is, a need for women to find liberation…even from irrational toddlers.

In this series on Mulieris Dignitatem, I will explore the nature of the exact “debt” owed to women by men, and the spiritual economics of the relationship between the sexes, and the “solvency” open to Christians who embrace the payoff offered by our Lord Jesus Christ. And I invite you to join me. In these uncertain economic times, the treasure that matters remains free.