03-18 TABLE of CONTENTS:
Unclean Women
DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
QUOTE by
Dr. Agnes Wells.
Excerpt from Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven
"Though they had a long
struggle for the right to a normal burial, women who had just given birth
had to struggle even longer for the right to return to church without undergoing
a special purification. On January 13, 1199, Pope Innocent III imposed
an interdict on France because the French King was living in an invalid
marriage with his mistress Agnes of Meran. The interdict ordered all the
churches in France to be closed, and to be opened only for infant baptisms.
The Pope 'strictly' forbade women to come to church for purification, and
since they had not been 'churched,' they were also not permitted to take
part in the baptism of their children. Only after the interdict was lifted
could they be readmitted by the priest.
"The custom of purifying women after childbirth
has lasted almost up to the present. The Kirchenlexikon of Wetzer/Welte
(1886) describes 'churching' in this way: 'Like
the catechumens and penitents, the woman who has just had a child must
first stand, or kneel, outside the church door; and only when she has been
solemnly purified by sprinkling with holy water and the prayer of the priest
is she led into the church. This is similar to what stilI happens today
with catechumens and to what used to happen before with public penitents
on Holy Thursday' (Wetzer/Welte I, 1711).
"As late as the 1960s the practice
of 'churching' was still strictly adhered to. In 1987 a woman wrote me
as follows: 'I can recall how terribly ashamed my mother once was. In 1960
my younger sister was born. My mother was not allowed to be present at
the baptism because she had not yet been churched. Some time later in the
afternoon she sneaked off all by herself to church, where the paster churched
her. Only then could she attend services again.' "
-- Excerpted from Eunuchs
for the Kingdom of Heaven, by Uta Ranke-Heinemann. New York: Doubleday,
1990. ISBN 0-385-26527-1.
Dr. Ranke Heinemann was the first woman to qualify
as a university lecturer in Catholic theology. In 1970 she became a professor
of Catholic theology. She lost her academic chair in New Testament
and Ancient Church History at the University of Essen for interpreting
Mary's Virgin birth theologically and not biologically. She now hold the
chair for History of Religion at the same university.
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03-18 DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
Baptized: 03-18-1634, Madame de la Fayette, credited with writing
France's first historical novels.
B. 03-18-1891, Margaret Culkin Banning, author, raised her two
children alone on the proceeds of her writing, creating almost 40 novels.
Although not great literature, her book reflected the problems of women
of her time and class (she was Roman Catholic) had with careers, marriage,
birth control, ageism, etc.
B. 03-18-1963, Vanessa Williams, first black Miss America and
the first Miss America (1984) to have her title removed for misconduct.
She had posed for a series of explicitly sexual nude photos with another
woman. [I've seen them and they are explicit although
I don't agree that her title should have been removed. -- IS]
B. 03-18-1964, Bonnie Blair, speed skater. Born on March 18,
1964, in Cornwall, N.Y. She moved with her parents to Champaign, Ill.,
when she was 2 and began skating at that time. In 1988 Blair won the gold
medal in the 500 meters at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, and a bronze
in the 1,000 meters. In the 1992 games in Albertville, France, she won
two gold medals at the same distances, becoming the first American Woman
to win three gold medals in the Winter Olympics and in 1994 she added more.
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QUOTES DU JOUR
WELLS, AGNES:
"You'd be amazed at
the number of women who don't know they are not protected by the US Constitution."
--
Dr. Agnes Wells, emeritus dean of women, Indiana University and president
of the National Woman's Party, 1949.
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