I’ve no doubt that militant fundamentalists will be quoting from the Authorised King James translation of the Bible as to why they view Sarah Mullally’s appointment is unscriptural.
While a number of Christian denominations have remained adamant there should be no women ministers in their pulpits, other denominations and individual places of worship have appointed female clerics and pastors.
Within Protestantism, the so-called ‘Big Three’ denominations - mainstream Presbyterianism, mainstream Methodism, and the Church of Ireland - all have ordained female ministers in their ranks.
Within Catholicism, it is still my understanding that only a male priest can administer the sacraments during Holy Communion. Nuns have not yet been granted this privilege. Perhaps the new progressive administration in the Vatican under Pope Leo XIV may change matters.
However, even within mainstream Protestant denominations in Ireland, there would still be a body of opinion which would be radically opposed to the ordination of women clerics.
Growing up in the north east Ulster Bible Belt in the Sixties and Seventies, the role of women in the church was mainly two-fold - making the tea at church functions, and decorating the church for the traditional harvest services.
Hopefully in 2025, a more sensible attitude towards the role of women in the Christian Church has evolved since the latter decades of the 20th century.
Based on the experiences of my late mother, I’ve written in the past about the challenges which being a minister’s wife in that north east Ulster Bible Belt can unleash.
This link to a column outlines an horrific experience which my mother had with a woman I dubbed Mrs Lucifer, who was known for her short fuse and who on one occasion reduced my mum to tears.
However, there is a more sinister element which the Christian Churches need to address in 2025 - how to protect the mental health and well being of clerics’ wives. They can often become the target of vile congregational abuse from folk in the flocks who want rid of their preacher husbands.
A detailed survey needs to be done about the number of male ministers, clerics and pastors who have resigned from places of worship, or even left the ministry completely, because of the stresses and strains on their wives.
Indeed, how many clerics’ wives have been left with serious mental health issues because of the treatment heaped on them, simply to ‘get at’ their husbands?
Quite often, campaigns to get rid of a male cleric from a particular place of worship can involve a form of intimidation which any paramilitary group would be proud to own!
In the past, I have come across examples of this intimidatory behaviour, mainly dished out by folk who called themselves ‘Christians’ or even ‘communicant members’ of a place of worship.
This has involved phone calls in the early hours to disrupt the cleric’s sleep pattern; hate mail, verbal abuse, verbal and physical abuse of the cleric’s children, a campaign to withhold money from the weekly offering in a bid ‘to starve them out’, and even graffiti put on the cleric’s home.
Whilst the cleric himself may have the mental capacity to ‘tough out’ the mindless morons who indulge in such ‘Christian’ behaviour, the cleric’s wife may buckle mentally under the strain of the intimidation, leaving the cleric with no other option but to resign.
Is it any wonder I have called in the past for a dedicated trade union for clerics - the National Union of Clergy - to act as an arbitrary body in cases of disputes between clerics and their flocks.
However, society - and especially the Northern Ireland Assembly - needs to go much further. There has rightly been much talk about the need to do more to protect women and girls in Northern Ireland, especially in the areas of domestic abuse.
These rights and protection should also be extended to the treatment of clerics’ wives by groups or individuals within flocks, congregations or fellowships.
Intimidation campaigns, such as the activities I’ve listed above, should now be classified as domestic abuse and the police and courts should be used to hound those individuals who think its okay to drive a cleric’s wife to the verge of a nervous breakdown, simply because they disagree with the cleric’s preaching.
Unfortunately, within Christian Church circles, for many generations, such behaviour against clerics’ wives was simply viewed as part and parcel of the job; one of the hazards of the occupation! When persecution was inflicted upon the cleric, it was simply a case of ‘suck it up and say a wee prayer in the hope it stops!’
Some clerics’ wives may have been very capable about putting on a so-called brave face when in public, giving the totally false impression that they were able to handle the verbal abuse.
But when the cleric’s wife would be in the confines and privacy of her home, it would be then that she would break down in sobbing fits, or have to consume copious amounts of anti-depressants or tranquillisers. It would be then that the cleric and his children would see the real impact of the abuse being heaped on the family.
New laws on domestic abuse of clerics’ wives need to be introduced at Stormont if the Assembly is really serious about wanting to protect females.
If such domestic abuse laws are not passed to extend protection to clerics’ wives from vicious morons within flocks, then it is only a matter of time before a cleric’s wife is either committed to long-term psychiatric care, or worse still, takes her own life.
Hopefully, the appointment of Sarah Mullally will not be sidetracked by militant fundamentalists on a rant about female ministers, but will focus primarily on what help and laws must be implemented to protect clerics’ wives from the form of domestic abuse heaped on them by folks in the pews.
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
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