An Italian cleric has upset the season of goodwill by praising the “obedience” of the Virgin Mary in accepting the motherhood of Jesus and suggesting it could be a lesson for feminists.
The remarks came in a homily in the cathedral of the southern town of Conversano by Archbishop Giuseppe Laterza, whose normal role is as papal representative to the Central African Republic and Chad. Laterza, who was visiting his family in Conversano for Christmas, was illustrating the virtue of the mother of Christ as demonstrated at the moment of the Annunciation, when she submitted herself to God’s will to permit the birth of the Saviour.
“Mary is truly free, free because she knows how to obey,” Laterza told the congregation in English. “You see, Mary is truly the freest person in the world because she knows how to obey. You should tell this to some feminists.”
Laterza was visiting his family in Conversano for Christmas
ALAMY
When the comment was picked up by a local news website, Oggi Conversano, it generated a torrent of criticism. Anna Maria Candela, a local journalist, wrote on the website that Laterza presented an outdated view of women, “the figure of the woman as subaltern, almost incapable of self-determination”, that failed to take account of the changes introduced at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
She said his view was a far cry from the council’s message of modernity and welcome “which would help to draw in more faithful, many more girls and boys, and not just the ‘feminists’ who in his mind, evidently, are comparable to modern witches to be subjected to the Holy Inquisition”. Their answer, she added, was: “Hands off Mary, and the courage of a woman without whom there would be no Christmas.”
Tea Dubois, a women’s rights activist from Puglia, was also indignant. She said Mary was still being used to tell women how to live and what to do with their bodies. “Mary exposes herself without guarantees, she doesn’t submit, she is the female courage that even today marks the difficulties of so many women in their self-determination,” she said.
Laterza said that by reading the entire homily it was clear that he that he was talking about Christian freedom, which came only out of a relationship with God. “If someone was offended, I humbly apologise. It wasn’t my intention to insult the role of women, still less their freedom,” the archbishop said.
“Every day I work in Africa to give dignity to the role of women on that continent, starting with the education of young girls.”