Is the Pope Catholic?: A Woman Confronts Her Church

Manning's experience as a teacher in the Catholic School system made her intimately aware of how church policies affect her students, both the boys and the girls. And beyond the classroom she watched her church practice growing hypocrisy on the world stage. On one hand it issued general affirmations of universal human rights. On the other it sought alliances with repressive Muslim regimes to fight legal equality for women around the globe. Manning traces the post-Vatican II retrenchment for defense of a separate and unequal potential for each sex. She examines the flimsy theological excuses why only males bear the likeness of Christ, why only they can speak for the Lord, why this potential is determined by biology rather than spirit, and why all this is eternally God's will. Despite insults from the clergy, both to herself and to her students, she continues teaching what she regards as the real message of her Catholic faith, that love means equal regard between souls. Manning is an excellent teacher, in the classroom, in writing, and in practicing what she preaches in her life. The book covers events between WWII and the late 1990's, but it speaks to the whole history of her Church.

As a college professor of theology I am, obviously, very interested in Joanna Manning's presentation. Humanity tends to ignore the sociological and political aspects of religion. There is no better example of this than the Roman Catholic Church. I have found that the majority of 'professed' Catholics quit their religious education after high school and either consciously or unconsciously have failed to continue a personal study and exploration of their faith. A faith that should become their own rather than a religion that was handed to them, often times without choice. It is because of such individual's blind acceptance of the Church's controlled and filtered rhetoric that the full picture that Manning provides needs to be available to Catholics. Her information is to the point and not always nice to hear. I found myself gettting angrier and angrier as I read each page. This institution (as most religious institutions) struggles to practice what it preaches. And that is understandable if we remember that it is a human institution. But the people, still manipulated out of fear of damnation, are told and required to accept that such actions are Divine. It is this sad portrayal that Manning fully uncovers.While Manning makes a good presentation of the discrimination so active in this Church, I thought she naively believes that this patriarchal institution could be righted in her lifetime. It is important that her message be shared and shouted with an on-going effort to expose such blatant discrimination. Manning's hope and belief in a re-vitalized and truly Christian Church will totally depend on John Paul II successor and the removal or retention of the current Magisterium. Food for thought: What would happen if excerpts from this book could be read to the people from the pulpit? How many people would be enlightened? How many people would be able to continue to follow this institution that claims to speak for the Divine, who is Love, in such a biased and controlling manner? I, like Manning, believe with exposure these followers might rethink this current authority's decrees.

Joanna Manning presents in a logical and well-thought-out manner how those who "lead" the Catholic church have systematically (and illogically) kept women "in their place." Nothing I could say in my comments would say it any better than Manning does throughout her book. She is not bitter or angry, and with her historical perspective, well-documented, she is easy to follow.Those of us who truly believed that the Vatican Council II would bring about positive change and an evolution of new respect for all of the People of God have watched as officials attempted to "put the toothpaste back into the tube," at least regarding the true definition of "Human Rights." Manning is hopeful that these current times (i.e., these very hard and challenging times in the church) will pass and the legacy of John Paul II will not be viewed in a favorable light. For those of us who are hanging on by a thread of slim hope, Manning reminds us that the Church is not the Vatican. This book is a bright light. You won't want to read this only one time, but the first time will be the most exhilarating. Highly recommended for women and men, Catholic or not. Would love to see it discussed in parishes throughout the U.S.

After reading Joanna Manning's book Is the Pope Catholic?, I feel as if I've made a new friend. Although I have never met Manning, my life and hers are somewhat similar. Being gay, I can easily identify with the oppressive and mean-spirited treatment women are subjected to in the Catholic Church -- this kind of treatment is often directed against gays and lesbians. The culture of patriarchy so pervasive in the Catholic Church leads many of us to feel unvalued. The church argues pointedly that women are not and cannot be Christlike simply because they are not men. In her impassioned book, Manning argues that this patriarchal culture -- the idea that God is male -- bears responsibility for many of the ills we are now experiencing in our church. Is the Pope Catholic? Examines this oppressive ideology and the bitter fruits it has come to bear. Manning gives special attention to the church's prohibition on ordaining women. The male image of God is responsible, she writes, for the misguided notion that "women are incapable of acting in persona Christ, or as a personal representative of Christ." The Vatican believes that only men can represent Christ, because, as she writes, "only a man bears a natural resemblance to the human Jesus." But what does the church mean by "natural resemblance?" Some women can look like men, and visa versa. Some women are stronger than some men. Was Jesus a Caucasian? If so, can an Asian priest represent Jesus? Can a gay man represent a straight (as we are told) Jesus? What exactly is this "natural resemblance," Manning asks. She writes that it seems to boil down to the physiological "accident" of whether or not one has a penis. "Just as the Vatican teaches that the womb makes the woman, is it the penis that makes the priest?" In Genesis, both male and female are created in the image of God. Manning believes that by placing maleness above humanness John Paul II has forced the Catholic Church "into a heretical position." Most Catholics, including myself, feel that we emulate Christ by trying to live our lives in a like manner, not by what we may or may not have dangling between our legs. As a former nun with over thirty years of teaching in Catholic schools in Canada, Manning is well positioned to delve into the devastating effects of the church's patriarchy, most notably in the Catholic school classroom, where, she writes, "the Catholic Church continues to legitimize male dominance through sexist attitudes and practices in church structure, which in turn have an impact on the school and the family." Young men are taught early on that women are second to men, a point illustrated by the indignant remarks of one of Manning's young male students. During a discussion of the effects of sexual harassment, he exclaimed, "You can't change thousands of years of attitudes by passing laws. And, anyway, you know God is a man, and the church will never ordain women, so you will never be equal."

With excellent research and writing, Joanna Manning intelligently and passionately proves that the pontificate of John Paul II is truly mysogynistic. Yet, in this spirit-filled book, she provides a lifeline to women and others among christianity's thoeologically dispossessed.