He should consider women as equal partners in community work

I am a Lutheran, but for 40 year my professional home was Caritas and the Catholic Church and thus I met many Catholic priests as colleagues and at Mass. I do not want to write an impossible wish list no one can fulfil, regarding the priest I like to see. Often, we tend to attribute capacities to priests just because they are priests. The priest I would like to see is a deeply humane person, emphatic and humble, which transmits and helps me to understand the word of God! He should be a person that embraces everyone in a faith community, also those at the peripheries of our so-called “normal” lives. He should allow for participation and see women as partners in the community work on an equal footing. He should also promote the participation of lay men. Work in church is not just a work of lay women!

“The church is exposed to the same dangers as other communities: weaknesses of particularly vulnerable people are exploited, existing inequalities are reinforced, and power is abused.”[1]  A priest, male or female should be able to regularly reflect on his/her role and ensure renewal, accountability, and inclusion of all people of God in his/her faith community, independently of who we are and what we do. They exist! I had the privilege to work with some of this kind!

by Martina Liebsch
Currently working as the Managing Director of the Catholic Forum "Living in Illegality" and the Working Group against Trafficking in Human Beings of the German Bishops Conference based in Berlin/Germany. A Lutheran Christian who worked 40 years for Caritas at various levels and for the Catholic Church. She is a Social Worker by profession.

[1] Synodal Path Germany "Women in ministries and offices in the church", 2022, p. 8