Small victories as women challenge Vatican patriarchy

France24 – AFP, 7 March 2023 

The pontiff's push for reform has seen more women given roles in administrating the
Vatican -- though they are mainly behind the scenes. © Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

Vatican City (AFP) – Once a rare sight in the Vatican's halls of power, women are increasingly being seen in senior posts under Pope Francis, but the gender battle is far from won. 

The centuries-old institution has an inherently patriarchal image, from the Swiss Guards at the gates to the cardinals seated in St Peter's Square. 

It reflects the wider Roman Catholic Church, which outlaws divorce, abortion and the ordination of women. 

Yet the pontiff's push for reform has seen more women given roles in administrating the Vatican -- even if they are mainly behind the scenes. 

From economists to secretaries, historians and archivists, 649 women worked in 2019 for the Roman Curia -- 24 percent of employees -- compared to 385 in 2010, according to the latest available figures. 

While the shift within the world's smallest state is hailed in public, around 10 women interviewed on condition of anonymity described to AFP the resistance they meet and condescension they face, especially among clerics. 

One denounced "a glass ceiling and a generally paternalistic attitude in the corridors", with a backward-looking vision of "the sensitive, gentle woman, which we find in the pope's speeches". 

"We sometimes feel they consider us as interns. There are little gestures, a hand on the shoulder, a lack of consideration, almost daily remarks about appearance and dress," she added. 

Some described feeling subject to an implicit order for female employees to be silent and docile. Others expressed frustration at being relegated to lesser roles. 

"There is still a long way to go," one woman said. 

'Macho mentality'

In 2016, the "Women in the Vatican" association was created, a network of one hundred or so members that meet every month "to enhance the role of women", its president Margherita Romanelli told AFP. 

It followed the creation just four years earlier of a monthly women's supplement by L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's official newspaper. The surprise initiative was lauded by many, but quickly ran into trouble. 

Its founder, Lucetta Scaraffia, a journalist and historian, resigned in 2019, denouncing a "climate of mistrust". 

Francis' reforms were essentially "cosmetic" and actually concealed a "macho mentality" which implied that "women must serve without asking anything in return", she told AFP. 

Scaraffia pointed to the "modern slavery" of nuns employed in the Vatican and elsewhere as "servants" in the homes of priests, bishops or cardinals, who do the "cooking, cleaning, clothes washing" and who are "underpaid". 

Critics warn of nuns employed in the Vatican and elsewhere as underpaid "servants" in the homes of priests, bishops or cardinals.

And she slammed the sexual abuse of nuns in Rome and elsewhere in the world. 

A voice

Despite these criticisms, many welcome the acceleration of a process quietly begun some twenty years ago. 

The number of women in positions of responsibility at the Vatican -- which applies strict gender wage parity -- has tripled since the election of Francis 10 years ago, from Vatican Museums director Barbara Jatta to Alessandra Smerilli, the first woman to be appointed the equivalent of a deputy minister. 

"The Vatican is late, but women have a voice today, they don't let themselves be pushed around anymore," said one official in her forties. 

The head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics has allowed women greater involvement in masses, from being readers and altar servers to taking part in the Holy Thursday foot washing ritual. 

And Francis continues to take small steps forward, including changing the rules to allow women to play a role in the appointment of bishops. 

"Ten years ago, it would not have been possible to imagine such a development," said Gudrun Sailer, an Austrian journalist with Vatican News and author of the book "Women in the Vatican". 

'A long process'

Faced with the discrepancy between these changes and the misogyny experienced in the Vatican workplace, some women wonder what strategy to adopt. 

Some female employees described feeling subjected to an implicit order for them to be silent and docile.

Some female employees described feeling subjected to an implicit order for them
to be silent and docile. © Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP

"Some feel that the truth should be told and bad behaviour should be denounced, while others think that this is counterproductive and that we should be satisfied with small steps forward," one told AFP. 

Romilda Ferrauto, a "Women in the Vatican" member, said changing mentalities was "a long process". 

"Francis' method is to make gestures and wait for them to move the lines," she said. 

The changes within the Vatican come as the global Church engages in a vast, months-long debate over its future. 

Long before the #MeToo movement, protestant churches took the lead in propelling women to the top and some theologians, such as Anne-Marie Pelletier of France, say the pope must now grasp the opportunity to move faster and more decisively. 

The ordination of women as deacons or even cardinals "would be a strong symbolic gesture to erase these stereotypes", she said.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Canada to pay Indigenous abuse survivors more than $2bn

Yahoo – AFP, 22 January 2023 

Canada will pay hundreds of Indigenous communities more than $2 billion in compensation for nearly a century of abuse suffered by children in residential schools, its government has announced. 

The Can$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) settlement, the result of a class action lawsuit by 325 Indigenous groups, will be placed in a not-for-profit trust independent of the government. 

It will be used to "revitalize Indigenous education, culture, and language -– to support survivors in healing and reconnecting with their heritage," according to a press release. 

"It has taken Canada far too long to own up to its history, own up to the genocide it committed and recognize the collective harm caused to our nations by residential schools," said Garry Feschuk, an Indigenous leader who is one of the plaintiffs in the suit. 

"It is time that Canada not only recognize this harm, but help undo it by walking with us. This settlement is a good first step," he said in the statement released Saturday. 

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada's government sent about 150,000 children into 139 residential schools mostly run by the Catholic church, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture. 

Many were physically and sexually abused, and thousands are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect. 

The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the sites of the former schools over the past two years has dragged the legacy of those institutions back into the spotlight as Canada reckons with its dark colonial past. 

More than 1,300 graves have been identified, the most recent earlier this month. 

In Lebret, Saskatchewan, ground-penetrating radar has uncovered nearly "2,000 areas of interest" that need to be thoroughly investigated, the Star Blanket Cree community said. 

A fragment of a child's jawbone dating to some 125 years ago has already been identified on the grounds of a former residential school in the western Canadian community. 

The search areas were selected near the Catholic-run residential school -- which was open until 1998 -- on the advice of former students. 

"The residential school system decimated our languages, profoundly damaged our cultures, and left a legacy of social harms. The effects go beyond my generation. It will take many generations for us to heal," said Shane Gottfriedson, another Indigenous leader and plaintiff. 

"We believe that all survivors deserve justice and the compensation to which they are owed," said Marc Miller, federal minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations in the press release. 

The precise terms for disbursing the $2.8 billion will be determined by the federal court on February 27. 

A national commission of inquiry in 2015 called the residential school system a "cultural genocide." 

Last year, Pope Francis visited Canada on a penitential trip to apologize for the "evil" perpetrated in the schools -- a gesture seen by many survivors as overwhelming, but only the beginning of a process of healing and reconciliation.

US designates Russia's Wagner military group an intl 'criminal organization'

Yahoo - AFP, January 20, 2023 

The United States on Friday designated Russia's Wagner group as a "transnational criminal organization," raising pressure on the private Russian army fighting in Ukraine. 

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Wagner, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to President Vladimir Putin, has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 80 percent of them drawn from prisons. 

Kirby showed US intelligence photographs of North Korea supplying arms to Wagner for its Ukraine operations, and said the private army has become a rival to the formal Russian military. 

The photographs, from November 18-19, show Russian rail cars entering North Korea, picking up a load of infantry rockets and missiles, and returning to Russia, he said. 

He said the US Treasury was formally designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organization, putting it in league with Italian mafia groups and Japanese and Russian organized crime. 

The designation will allow the wider application of sanctions on the group’s sprawling global network, which includes mercenary operations as well as businesses in Africa and elsewhere. 

Wagner "is a criminal organization that is committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses," Kirby said. 

"We will work relentlessly to identify, disrupt, expose and target those who are assisting Wagner," he said. 

Kirby also said the United States had presented its intelligence on Wagner's North Korean purchase to the UN Security Council's unit on North Korea sanctions. 

The arms transfers from North Korea are in direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, Kirby said. 

Kirby said there is evidence that Prigozhin's confidence in Wagner fighters' relative success in Ukraine has generated tensions in the Kremlin. 

"Wagner is becoming a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries," Kirby said. 

"Prigozhin is trying to advance his own interest in Ukraine and Wagner is making military decisions based largely on what they will generate for Prigozhin, in terms of positive publicity."

US government examining over 500 'UFO' reports

Rfi – AFP, 12 Jan 2023 

An image from of US military pilot's sighting of an "unidentified
anomalous phenomena" that some think is evidence of UFOs © Handout / DoD/AFP

Washington (AFP) – The US government is examining 510 UFO reports, over triple the number in its 2021 file, and while many were caused by drones or balloons, hundreds remain unexplained, according to a report released Thursday. 

The 2022 report by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said that 247 "unidentified anomalous phenomena" or UAP reports have been filed with it since June 2021, when it revealed that it had records of 144 sightings of suspicious aerial objects under examination. 

In addition, the report said, another 119 reports that had been buried in old records from the past 17 years had been unearthed, leaving it with 510 in total. 

Most of the new reports come from US Navy and Air Force pilots, it said. 

Of those, close to 200 had "unremarkable" explanations: they were balloons, drones or so-called aerial clutter, which covers birds, weather events and airborne plastic bags. 

But others haven't been explained according to the DNI document, an unclassified version of a report delivered to Congress. 

Those are the focus of examinations by the Pentagon, US intelligence agencies, and NASA over concerns not that they are alien spacecraft but unknown spying capabilities of rival countries. 

"UAP continue to represent a hazard to flight safety and pose a possible adversary collection threat," the report said, referring to intelligence gathering. 

"Some of these uncharacterized UAP appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and require further analysis," it said. 

The report said many of those still unexplained reports could stem from weather phenomena, faulty sensors, or erroneous analysis by humans. 

"Many reports lack enough detailed data to enable attribution of UAP with high certainty," it said. 

The report came after years of pressure from Congress for the military and intelligence community to take seriously what were formerly called UFOs, or unidentified flying objects. 

The US military is worried some of the UAPs spotted by military pilots in the past may represent technologies of strategic rivals unknown to US scientists. 

The Pentagon previously called them unidentified aerial phenomena, but has now changed it to unidentified anomalous phenomena to include air, space, and maritime domains. 

In 2020, the Pentagon released a still inexplicable video taken by navy pilots of objects moving at incredible speeds, spinning and mysteriously disappearing. 

"We take reports of incursions into our designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one," said Pentagon Spokesman Pat Ryder in a statement.