W. David Myers’ article, “Eternal Hope, Persistent Disappointment” (Vol. XXXV, No. 4), helped crystallize my own experiences as a woman in the Catholic church. As a student who is active in social justice movements, I sometimes get strange looks from my peers when I identify as both a Catholic and a feminist. To some of them, those two identities are mutually exclusive. But for me, it’s impossible to separate them.

Growing up Catholic, I heard a message of radical equality from the church. I learned that no matter what the world’s people and institutions might tell you, we are all equal. We are all able to love and to serve and to provide critical insights and vital work in our communities, including our faith communities. When I was a child, it didn’t occur to me that the same church that offered me this message would also treat me differently because of my gender. Age has taught me otherwise, but I still hold on to that message of radical equality. So many people see Pope Francis as the progressive pope we’ve been waiting for, but that article helped put his comments about women into the larger perspective of the history of the church. Thank you so much to Catholics for Choice for shedding light on this tension within our church in your last issue.

MADISON KOENIG
Student, Ohio University
Honors Tutorial College
Athens, Ohio