Interview
Teresa Forcades: ‘No theological justification’ for male-only conclaves
‘The claim that they cannot change the system, that this is beyond their power – but that sounds like an excuse.’
Teresa Forcades is a feminist theologian, physician and Benedictine nun who left the cloister for two years to campaign for Catalan independence. A new Italian edition of her Somos Todxs Diferentes (“We Are All Different”) has just appeared. One of the world’s most widely read theologians, she challenges the pharmaceutical lobby and champions gender and LGBT rights.
133 men are choosing Peter’s successor, and no woman is allowed to vote. What do you make of that?
It is a sign of the Church’s structural sexism; it is discrimination. There is no theological justification for this. Back in 1976 Paul VI asked the International Theological Commission to study women’s role in Scripture and, in particular, the issue of women’s ordination. The Commission’s final opinion was not negative. The Catechism, at point 1256, even states that in an emergency any person, including a woman, may baptize a child or an adult, and that baptism is valid for all purposes. The only reason there are no women in the conclave is because the only ones taking part are ordained priests. The hierarchy claims it lacks the power to change this, yet Paul VI’s commission and the Catechism say otherwise. So I believe that what is needed is greater courage.
Sister Forcades, why is it that many men in the Church speak of the need to “value women,” yet in practice the Church remains male-only, at least looking at its hierarchies?
The claim that they cannot change the system, that this is beyond their power – but that sounds like an excuse. I am a Benedictine nun; my rule speaks of both abbots and abbesses, each acting in persona Christi within the community. Remember that in 1970 Ludmila Javorová, a woman, was secretly ordained by a bishop of the underground Czechoslovak Church, a privilege Rome granted to a church under persecution. Such exceptions show that change is possible. Anglican churches ordain women too, though they are often sent to outlying parishes and paid less than male priests – but they are still ordinated. Because of sexism – we need to call a spade a spade – Catholic priests end up running 10 parishes at once while women are allowed to become theologians and write books. It’s good that women are doing so, but it is not enough.
If you had a vote in the next conclave, whom would you choose?
I have a trio. First, the Portuguese cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, who wrote a preface to one of my books in Portuguese years ago. He is a very interesting person because he has the features of a poet, and is unafraid to embody theology in post-modern culture. I also like his episcopal motto: “Like the lilies of the field.” Second, the English cardinal Timothy Radcliffe: he has a great sense of humor, no episcopal motto because he is not a bishop, and is a cardinal-priest of great humanity. Finally, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Pope Francis’s theologian friend, who has an episcopal motto with an important message: “In the midst of your people.” The episcopal motto is something that goes deep for each of them. It signals the direction to move in.
Christianity is in deep crisis throughout Europe. The churches are more and more empty. Is the traditional theistic model – a God up in heaven watching over the flock – still credible? What change is needed for Christianity to survive?
It must become kolpotic Christianity, not merely spermatic. In the second century, Justin Martyr developed the doctrine of the Logos spermatikos: the divine Word scattered like seed throughout humanity, enabling all to know truth. That means the entire world is imbued with God’s presence. Yet God is not only the One who fertilizes the world; God also receives from the world, has the attribute of receptivity. So God is not just the almighty ruler who governs, but also the vulnerable God who receives. Today we need a doctrine of the Logos kolpotikos. The Greek kolpos means “womb” or “vagina” and is applied to God the Father and to Jesus in John’s Gospel. As a woman’s body is adapted to receive, so is God: penetrable by love.
People say Francis has not changed doctrine. Yet we have seen a massive change in style: for instance, in his Church everyone should feel at home without being asked for their “credentials.” Several transgender people were present at his funeral. What is your view?
I recall the document Evangelii Gaudium (2013), which speaks of joy – a challenge to all who think religion demands solemnity. Then Querida Amazonia (2020), the clearest, most devastating critique of capitalism I have read from a pope. Parishes must become field hospitals, open to everyone. For instance, Francis gave financial help to trans women who were working as prostitutes on the Roman coast. That gesture was a de facto denunciation of legalism in favor of love, which always overcomes the law.
Why is Catholic sexual morality still so restrictive? Why does the Catechism still, in effect, condemn homosexuality?
There is a mismatch between the words that a number of popes have used at times about homosexual people, saying that God does not judge them and loves them as they are, yet the Catechism still speaks of an “intrinsically disordered” orientation and condemns same-sex acts. In this sense, there is an inconsistency that must be corrected.
You have spoken of “queer theology”. What does that mean?
It is a theological reflection that predates what is called Queer Theory, which developed since 1990 as a critical analysis on sex and gender. Queer theology seeks to explore human sexuality and gender identities and their relation to God. When God looks at us, God does not see nationality or sexual orientation; God sees one undivided being. That is what interests me from a theological perspective. God sees in each of us a complete, undivided person, thus an image of God that is able to reveal something unique in the realm of space and time. This is what I mean by the term “queer theology”.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/teresa-forcades-unelezione-di-soli-uomini-e-il-segno-del-sessismo-strutturale-della-chiesa on 2025-05-08