Women! Caribbean Women! I came forth from a woman, nurtured at her breast, shaped by her thinking, catechized by her lived faith, taught to do theology, worked side by side in ministry, walked hand in hand, edited books togethers, and cuddled in her friendship.
“But, why are we still invisible in the Church?” remarked a colleague at a recent zoom meeting. “Why haven’t the Caribbean bishops written a pastoral letter on women’s contribution in the Church?” uttered another woman.
These remarks triggered my thinking. Our women are the cornerstone of families, societies, church and education, and yet they remain “invisible” and functional? Let me return to my opening remarks. Doesn’t these remarks represent functional roles? But, women, are not just functions. They are persons. Pope Francis reminds me in saying,
When we speak of women, we speak in a functional way: a woman is for doing this, for doing, no! First . . . she brings a richness that man and all of creation and all the animals do not have. When there is no woman, harmony is lacking. . . This is a society with a strong masculine attitude. It lacks a woman’s touch. It is just that man does not bring harmony: it is she who brings that harmony that teaches us to caress, to love tenderly, and who makes of the world something beautiful. . . this is what was missing. Woman comes to crown creation. She brings harmony to creation. (Morning Meditation, 9th February 2017).
So! Let me wheel and come again (Jamaican expression for revisiting something)! Woman! What does a woman bring to the Caribbean table? She brings the appetizer of perceptivity and objectivity. She brings the main meal of faithfulness and dedication. She brings the dessert of compassion and mercy. In some instances, she brings them all together in one big bowl of chicken foot soup.
In a post google meet chat, one female colleague recommended to other female colleagues possible themes for a potential theological paper:
- Seeing, Not seeing. The Invisibility of Caribbean Catholic Woman
- Still Cleaning the Pews: The Voicelessness of the Caribbean Catholic Woman
- Who’s that? The Non Identity of the Caribbean Catholic Female
- A Church of Mrs. Biswas: Silence and the Postcolonial Catholic Woman
- Sargassum on the Shores: Is there a place for the Catholic Caribbean Woman?
- Coming in from the Canefields: The Role of the Catholic Woman in the Caribbean Church
Beloved Reflections 
Father, I find this inspiring and thought-provoking. I am sure Catholic women have asked these questions and have made these observations – I have. I look forward to your reflections. God bless!
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Thank God there is a man who dares to speak about this ridiculous situation in the Church , it is painful for us women, I can safely say that even as a good husband and father Harold could not contribute to the family without me, together and only together we were able to provide a place for them to grow and discover themselves as human beings. The Church will only become a place of nourishment when women, created by God with all her gifts is welcomed and LOVED
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Unfortunately, our church remains with an “A man club” attitude, whilst women do the majority of the work the decision making remains the “responsibility” of men. Women are seen as being too emotional in decision making however sometimes emotion is needed to bring some practicality and reality to the situation.
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