The Catholic Church’s culture problem is closer to home than Pope Leo thinks
(RNS) — Two women now head major Vatican offices, and a third will soon. But the altar rail tells another story about their progress in the church.
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Scripture connections
Passages readers commonly bring to a story like this, shown with their surrounding context.
Micah 6:8
Ethical application · WEBHe has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
A reader might connect Micah’s call to justice, mercy, and humility with questions about how the Church recognizes women’s service and evaluates its own culture. The same virtues can guide concern for persecuted Christians without turning the passage into a prediction about current events.
Read the surrounding context (Micah 6:6-8)
How shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
This interpretation is debated. Christians may agree on the verse’s moral demands while differing over what justice requires regarding women’s roles in Church leadership and worship.