The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1957-11-22
Men and Women i'm the Church:
Is The Liturgy Too Feminine
For Average Male Catholic?
by Erik v. KUehneIf-L addihn


LANS TYROL. Austria The question why, in.
all countries and climates, there are more women tnan
men to be found in the churches has been debated IN
three German periodicals by authors with varying points
of view.
1t is a fact that, with the exception of a very few
regions, the women outnumber the men in Mass at
tendance and in going to the Sacraments.
In some parts of the world This amounts to . real
scandal, the women and girls forming the overWheir1-
ing majority Of the Church folk" leaving the men n 2
TINY minority. There are parts Of France and Italy tbut
not Of spain) which belongs in that category; Interest.
insly enough it is only in the circles with the highest
education that this disparity does not exist.
What conclusions should one draw from this fact?
What remedies could one propose? The symptoms are
almost universal and certainly should give cause for
reflection.
The various authors try to be strictly logical. Let
us also be scientific in our investigation. Thus we might
think about a group Of people which shuns a res1aur-
ant.
There can be three explanations for this: ts) the
restaurant does not serve the right food or does not
serve it the right way, t) the people in. question don't
desire good food and have an afroeiovs taste. and ()
the people ~boyeottins the restaurant like the food but
dislike its regular patrons.
Thus the trouble might lie with the management,
with the regular guests, or with the "boycotters'.
It is obvious that the Church, being founded by Our
Lord, gives the right food This is a point which can
not even by debated. Of course, the way the food is
served is a matter of tradition and change.
The Popes and especially Plus XII have always
thought to improve and to enrich the liturgy. Clergy
and laity alike have supported %liturgical movements.
1t could we'll be that the liturgy might be made NOR
appealing to men. Male and female tastes in almost
everything are not identical. Male piety differs from
female piety.
Then it is also theoretically possible that there is
something intrinSically wrong with the males as such.
There is a famous catch question: "Why is it that there
are more men than women in jails?" to which the flip
pant answer is: Because there are more women than
men in the churches"
Yet, since the inmates of jails come mostly from
the poorer social layers and the Lord has declared it
easier for a rope Kamilos) to get through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven, one has to
doubt this seemingly clever analysis.
Reading about the Fall and Gods judgment on
Adam and Eve, it is difficult to believe that, in the eyes
of God, woman represents the preferred sex.
Finally there is the male reluctance against an in
tensive religious practice in public, because man often
deems it feminine. In some countries the church is
for him a place which is crowded with women" and
where he feels that he does not belong. Yet, why are
these churches crowded SO exclusively with women? OBJ
viousy because the men do not go. This is what we call
a vicious circle and it has to be broken somewhere.
In the sphere Of religion it does not seem TO be ths
feminine element which attracts men most. Here in the
Tyrol we have . very male order which is particularly
successful in pastoral work among the men: the Ca
puehin Fathers, who wear sandals and boards.
They were always well known for forceful preach-
ing, very direct speech especially in confession) and
in the history of Central Europe-for a strongly crusad-
ing spirit. Besides Adreas Hofer, Father Haspinger is the
national hero of the ,Tyrol.
is . very delicate task. Many a man has been wooed
back to active religious practice by his wife, sister, or
daughter. At the same time it is also true that many q
man has been psyeholoqically prevented by the women
around him from becoming active in his Faith.
The tact, cleverness, and shrewdness of women has
only too often been exaggerated and the cases where
men have been ~entreated amidst scenes, tears, impreca-
tons, threats, menaces, and other undiplomatic mea-
sures to come to church, are legion.
The exercise of the Faith as practised by Saint
Monica, who set the finest example to all women, shows
that prayer is the best means to get a beloved man
may he be husband, brother, son, or father-nearer9 to
Christ. Men want to be moved, not pushed.