Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality and the Catholic Church

by Uta Ranke-Heinemann, Peter Heinegg (Translation)

Looks at how the Catholic Church's view on sexuality has been used as a weapon to control women, and offers suggestions on making the Church's teaching on sex more realistic

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Feminism, Christianity, Gender Studies, Philosophy

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Uta Ranke-Heinemann was a German formerly christian theologian, academic and author. She holds the (nondenominational) chair of History of Religion at University of Essen in Essen, her birthplace. She was also the daughter of the former president of Germany, Gustav Heinemann.
Having started as a Catholic theologian, she became the first female professor of Catholic theology in 1970. In 1987 she lost her missio canonica over her rejection of aspects of Catholic dogma, and in 2001 she left the Catholic Church (and Christianity) entirely by publicly rejecting the divine nature of both the Bible and Jesus.

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why, Ranke-Heinemann asks, did the church turn from forbidding priests the right to divorce their wives at the Council of Nicea (in 325), to requiring all priests to dump their families in 1074? Why did this demand arise in the Latin Church, and not in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Coptic Church, or in Judaism?

Sometime around the year 1000, the Latin Church hierarchy shifted from trying to end sex in clerical families, to a goal of ending the families period. The question of how to do this was both practical and moral. Because speaking directly on the issue of divorce, Jesus said that if a man and woman really loved each other unconditionally, they would never find reason to end their relationship. Taking these words legalistically, the Western Church had long taught that the only moral justification for divorce was adultery. And if that was their doctrine, how could the clergy justify divorcing their mainly loyal wives en masse?

When Christianity became Rome's official religion, most clergymen still believed that having wives was a good thing, and marriage helped prepare a man for religious leadership. As the Jews expected their rabbis to be married, so most Christians expected the same of their priests. If a priest was not married, most adults in the community would assume there was something wrong with him. A bachelor priest seemed immature. Marriage was a school of life, and if a man had not learned its lessons, how could he teach those who had?

Ranke-Heinemann traces the movement for enforced celibacy through an ecclesiastical struggle lasting over 700 years. Her presentation of the arguments pro and con is so revealing, that these chapters alone are well worth the price of the book. Then she documents the measures taken to enforce the great divorce - and they were horrific, including punishments of whipping, prison, banishment, or sale on the slave markets for the offending priest's wives. With their backs to the wall, many priests grew violent to defend their families. In the Paris Synod of 1074, Abbot Galter of Saint Martin demanded that the flock must follow its shepherd in celibacy. A mob of outraged priests and bishops beat him, spit on him, and threw him into the street. In the same year Archbishop John of Rouen threatened protesting priests with excommunication, and had to flee for his life under a hail of stones. In furious debate, the celibate party denounced its opponents as fornicators trying to prostitute the church. Married priests hurled accusations that their foes were sodomites, whose obvious preference for homosexuality rendered them hostile to married families. For decades church synods regularly broke into riotous fistfights, with monks and priests actually smashing each other's faces in the church aisles. In 1233, protesters murdered papal legate Conrad of Marburg, who was touring Germany partly to enforce chastity. (p. 109)

Beyond this, Ranke-Heinemann surveys the impact of this policy on the church over centuries to come, showing what it took for the parish clergy to live without wives, or what it took to train future priests, if no priest could train his son. And last she shows the history of resistance across Europe, in which love between priests and churchwomen survived despite all attempts at "sundering the commerce between the clergy and women through an eternal anathema".

Finally, this book of protest becomes a testament to the power of love, which proved stronger than all efforts to control it.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever been curious why the Catholic Church is so strange when it comes to sexuality, this is the book you want to read. Ranke-Heinemann treats the reader to a brilliant discussion of primary texts that include a merciless pinpointing of where translations were tweaked, or altogether changed to benefit a theological perspective. She consequently backs up every assertion made with the original texts which series of translations have mangled. In this way she is able to track down the changes that supported anti-sexual message, from changing Mary’s youth to virginity and changing Paul’s request of priestly wives as priestly sisters. She goes on to give a thorough analysis of Augustine’s anti-pleasure diatribe and recognizes, in him and in other Church fathers, the progression and perpetuation of the Gnostic and Stoic influence that were prevalent in early Christian thought. She continues with brilliant discussions of the beginning and progression of clerical celibacy and of the absurd regulation of the sex lives of married couples, humorously pointing out the absurdities of some of the positions taken with respect to sex. Lastly, her discussion on the impact of all of this for our perception of women and the way in which Mary is so far removed from being a woman as to be a celibate’s concoction was nothing short of amazing. This has been by far the most illuminating book when it comes to understanding the mentality, errors, arrogance and sheer absurdity of the Church’s position on all and every sexual aspects.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been on our bookshelves for eons, and I finally picked it up and plowed my way through it until I began scanning sections toward the end.

It's a densely written tome--obviously very well researched and detailed. I already knew all too well that the Roman Catholic tradition is anti-sex, anti-women, and anti-contraception. Here's what I didn't know:

--Augustine (one of the fathers of the Catholic tradition of sex and woman hating) was married and also had several lovers before he became an avowed sex hater.

--Our eldest son must have been conceived on a Sunday, because he has epilepsy. (Yes, that's what can happen if you have sex at the wrong time.)

--Not only are Sundays forbidden for sex, but also when a woman is menstruating, during Lent, 20 days before Christmas, yada, yada, yada.

--The only time it's not a sin to have sex is to procreate (already knew that) or when one's partner demands it.

--Until modern times, not only were women not supposed to approach the altar, but they were also not supposed to even sing in the choir.

This is what I did know:
"All in all, considering the repression, defamation, and demonization of women, the whole of church history adds up to one long arbitrary, narrow-minded masculine depotism over the female sex. And this despotism continues today, uninterrupted...The male church has never understood that the reality of the church is based on the shared humanity of man and woman."

Throughout the book, Ranke-Heinemann gives us a dense history of the Catholic church and its hatred for wome and sexuality. I find it mind-boggling to ponder why the Catholic church is so completely obsessed with sex and how evil it is. And how much of this attitude remains to this day. This book certainly did not give me any more fondness for the Catholic church!

I initially gave this 2 stars, but after reading that New York's Cardinal O'Connor who, without reading it, likened it to "scrawling dirty words about the church on bathroom walls," I've upgraded it to 3 stars! This is a necessary piece of work--although it needs to be updated and the writing made a bit more readable.

[Anna Wilczyńska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeśli jest jakaś książka z zakresu teologii katolickiej, którą warto przeczytać, to ta. Wyraźnie wypływająca z gniewu, poczucia absurdu, merytoryczna i bezkompromisowa we wskazywaniu, w czym bezżenni duchowni nie mają i nie powinni mieć decyzyjności. Nie dziwię się, że autorka doczekała się ekskomuniki, ale tylko szanuję ją za to bardziej.

[Jason]

All at once a history, study, philosophy and reaction, this book coherently covers a lot of ground on a very touchy subject. Ranke-Heineman goes back to the early church and the teachings of the bible, arguing how the early church which was incredibly liberal for its time (yet moreso as church doctrine evolved) started changing even back then into what was to become the catholic church's belief on women and sexuality. She studies the strong influence of gnosticism and later scholers like Thomas Aquinas in developing church doctrine from what was largely a 'don't-ask-don't-tell' practice of sex and the unspecified role of women into the rigid and invasive practice we are more familiar with. This is a well-researched and written attack on church doctrine, and also a plea for change. The material is very dense but with enough background throughout to keep the average reader, like me, on top of the argument. Highly recommended.

[Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a good book that complains about how the Catholic Church has portrayed sexuality and treated people with regard to their sexual being, especially women, and makes a convincing feminist case for a different theology.

The book doesn't give airtime to the dominant Catholic view--which I can understand, since that viewpoint has been privileged enough to be heard already, and the author needs time to make her own argument--but, as someone who's not very familiar with traditional Catholic arguments, I would have to go find additional books if I wanted a fuller understanding of what the debate was about. This leaves me wondering what might have been missing.

There was one minor flaw toward the end. It was a brief digression claiming that, during wartime, people tend to renounce contraception because they see the need to make more babies who will grow up to be soldiers. It was substantiated with only one example. This doesn't ring true; people are under all kinds of stresses during war and might not think it's the best time to start a family, on top of which it would be the better part of two decades before they got an extra soldier out of the deal. Even if government propaganda asks people to make more soldiers, probably the government's real agenda is to convince people to behave as if everything is normal. In any case, that is not what the book is about, but I felt that it's an example of a claim that wasn't made carefully, and it helps me to see why some Catholics stiffen at the name of Uta Ranke-Heinemann or feel that her books are mere screeds. I see a lot of scholarship in the book and a valuable point of view. But if I had a different worldview, I might see her as just grinding the same ax.

First read 10 years ago, and returned to it for a second go in early 2014. More posted to Dead Men Blogging.

(And actually there's not much about eunuchs in here, except for Peter Abelard and the castrati.

[CD]

Great book on the history behind the catholic church's misogyny.

[Owlseyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"hatred and scandal and malice and libel and calumny"
New York's John Cardinal O'Connor, on the book's publisher.
In: Time (magazine), December 17, 1990

"Y por lo que hace a la virgen María, afirmaba que pudo María concebir a Jesús en la virginidad pero no engendrarlo en la virginidad porque el proceso del nacimiento, el parto como hecho biológico y físico, puso fin a la virginidad física de María."
page 11


"Algunos laicos importantes y que llevaban una vida ascética se dirigieron al papa Siricio pidiendo la condena del hereje. Como consecuencia de esto, el papa condenó a Joviniano y a ocho de sus seguidores. Tenemos, pues, en Siricio muchos de los rasgos característicos del catolicismo: hostilidad hacia el placer, que condujo a la desconfianza haciael matrimonio; hostilidad hacia el matrimonio, que condujo al celibato y,consecuentemente, a la doctrina de la concepción virginal de Jesús y a la afirmación de la perpetua virginidad biológica de María. El papa Siricio ha dejado solamente siete cartas que ponen de manifiesto casi prevalentemente su pesimismo en materia sexual."
page 12

"Jesús era amigo de mujeres, el primero y, casi al mismo tiempo, también el último amigo de las mujeres en la Iglesia. Llamaba la atención porque tenía trato con las mujeres y en su derredor había «muchas mujeres» , lo cual, para un maestro judío, un rabino, era absolutamente inadecuado y sin precedentes en la historia. No solamente tuvo doce discípulos, tuvo también muchas discípulas, entre ellas, incluso, damas de la sociedad, como Juana, la esposa de un alto oficial de Herodes. A estas mujeres hoy se las llamaría «emancipadas»,..."
page 111

"Pero la mariología, es decir, la doctrina de la Iglesia sobre María, nofue elaborada por mujeres, sino por varones que —para colmo— no estaban casados; por individuos que no tenían relación alguna con el matrimonio.
page 311

"Durante demasiado tiempo fueron violentadas la razón humana y la fe cristiana por la falsa doctrina de que el sol gira alrededor de la tierra. La falsa doctrina de una concepción virginal continúa haciéndoles violencia hasta hoy."
page 317

Excellent in historical research. However, I doubt she was a "catholic" at all.
She had, truly, an issue with Mary. I mean, about Mary.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirchenkritik ist ja momenten en vogue, die Austrittszahlen zumindest der katholischen Kirche steigen seit Jahren (nicht erst seit Bekanntwerden verschiedener Missbrauchsskandale), und praktizierende Christen (und damit meine ich nicht die Fraktion, die nur an Weihnachten und zu Ostern den Gottesdienst besucht) findet man immer seltener.

Uta Ranke-Heinemann schwimmt beileibe nicht nur auf dieser Zeitgeist-Welle, im Gegenteil: Sie war die weltweit erste Frau (!), die in katholischer Theologie eine Professur innehatte – und verlor diese, weil sie sich mit der Kirche überwarf (konkret ging es darum, dass sie die Jungfrauengeburt Marias anzweifelte). Also eine (kritische) Frau vom Fach, und das merkt man in diesem Buch auf jeder Seite: Ranke-Heinemann will ergründen, wie sich die katholische Kirche in eine derartige Feindlichkeit gegenüber der menschlichen Sexualität hereinsteigern konnte, die sich zu einer Überhöhung der Keuschheit und einer wie aus der Zeit gefallenen Frauen- und Homosexuellenfeindlichkeit entwickelt hat. Dabei geht sie sehr detailreich vor und gerade am Anfang muss man als Nicht-Theologin hier und da etwas Geduld aufbringen, wenn es um Päpste und Gelehrte ferner Jahrhunderte geht. Aber das ist gar nicht als Kritik gemeint, im Gegenteil: Wer sich für die Thematik interessiert (ansonsten würde man sowas ja auch kaum lesen), findet hier viel Interessantes; oft blieb mir auch einfach die Spucke weg, wie menschen- und frauenfeindlich argumentiert wurde und wie sehr sich die Kirchenväter eigentlich von Jesus entfernten – dieser wird ja, wie Ranke-Heinemann auch betont, durchaus als Frauenfreund beschrieben.

Sowieso nimmt Ranke-Heinemann auch oft die Frauen in den Blick, die ja in der katholischen Kirche nichts zu melden haben. Sie weist sehr oft gesondert darauf hin, was bestimmte Regelungen und Meinungen speziell für Frauen bedeutet haben und immernoch bedeuten (in aller Regel nichts Gutes). Es tut mal ganz gut, das Schwarz auf Weiß zu lesen und auch festzustellen, dass mein eigenes Unbehagen über das Fehlen von Frauen in dieser immernoch wichtigen Institution auch von Fachleuten geteilt wird.

Ranke-Heinemann balanciert ihren sachlichen, faktenreichen Stil gut mit feiner Ironie und vereinzelten eigenen Anekdoten aus. Wenn sie einen Essener Bischof zitiert, der ihr Mitte der 1960er Jahre schrieb: “Ich freue mich, dass Sie als Frau und Mutter noch geistig tätig sind”, muss man erstmal schmunzeln. Dass einem kurz darauf das Lachen im Halse stecken bleibt, wenn man versteht, was für ein Weltbild dahintersteht, dafür kann Ranke-Heinemann ja nichts.

An wen richtet sich nun dieses Buch? Wer bereits kirchenkritisch eingestellt ist, findet hier einiges an Argumentationsstoff, für Praktizierende kann es Gedankenanstoß oder Diskussionsgrundlage sein (wobei ich persönlich fast nur Gläubige kenne, die selbst oft und gerne die Institution Kirche kritisieren). Ich denke, Ranke-Heinemann hatte auch gerade die Zweifelnden im Sinn – sie selbst ist ja trotz allem noch Katholikin (das sagte sie bei dem Vortrag, weil sie dort ebenfalls gefragt wurde, wieso sie denn bei aller Kritik noch nicht ausgetreten sei). Man muss nicht in allem mit ihr übereinstimmen, aber es ist immer gut, sich herausfordern zu lassen, sich vielleicht auch mal an Aussagen zu reiben und auf diese Weise die eigene Position zu prüfen. Und wenn es dann auf so scharfsinnige und oft witzige Weise geschieht wie mit diesem Buch – umso besser!

[BillLan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that reveals how the catholic church fostered and established the patriarchy that dominates western culture.

As is well known, the church demonized women (virgin birth), womanhood, to eliminate goddess cultures. This was one of the church's original sins that resonates in our society today.

The book also focuses on how the church instituted the policy of celibacy of the priesthood. At the time it was announced that priest were forbidden to wed or have children, many priest were married and had children. The church imposed celibacy to protect its wealth. It did not want church property to be divided among heirs of priests and certainly did not want the church to be responsible for caring for the offspring of deceased priest. This point is well established in the book.

The book also tracks the church's doctrine that its officials should not be subject to the laws of the countries or secular governments where they resided. It simply declared its officials exempt for responsibility for their criminal acts and civil misdeeds.

The doctrine, of course, gave rise to the ridiculous concept that the church should be exempt from taxes and has led to modern day inequities where religion is used as a way to avoid participating in programs imposed on the rest of the citizenry in democratic states.

Most dangerously, however, the author points out how the church was used as a haven for murderers and rapists who would seek shelter from prosecution by joining a monastery or becoming priests. Of course, the upshot of celibacy and a disregard for secular law is directly related to the church's mishandling of the sexual predators in the priesthood. Who really knows how many priests have committed sex crimes for hundreds of years only to be moved to another parish to exploit a new flock of alter boys and confessors.

Well worth the read!

[Bob]

Presents an effective refutation of the Catholic view of sex, founded in Augustinian teachings, including sex as sin, pleasure as sin and other confusing church views of sexuality.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

W tej książce autorka uzkazuje swoją szeroką wiedzę na temat teologii oraz podchodzi do nauk Kościoła katolickiego w sposób zdroworozsądkowy. Twierdzi ona, że Kościół interesuje się w niezdrowy sposób tym, co powinno pozostać w intymnej sferze małżonków. W logiczny sposób przedstawia to, jak zmieniało się podejście do kobiet i seksu przez wieki oraz co przyczyniało się do tej ewolucji memetycznej. Jako jeden z głównych czynników, autorka identyfikuje błędy przekładu (czy to czynione z premedytacją, czy bez niej) Pisma Świętego i przeinaczenia znaczenia w Piśmie Świętym. Ponadto, wiele wersetów można przystosować do tego, co chce się udowodnić, przez wyrwanie ich z kontekstu. Dodatkowo, wielu z myślicieli Kościoła katolickiego opierało się na "nieomylności" swoich poprzedników, co tylko przyczyniało się do powielania schematów.

Ponadto, w książce demaskowana jest hipokryzja Kościoła - dzieci nienarodzone są chronione bardziej niż żołnierze na wojnie, ponieważ istnieją tak zwane, sprawiedliwe wojny, a zapobieganie poczęciu (i usunięcie ciąży) są jednakowo i bezdyskusyjnie godne potępienia. Autorka za takie spostrzeżenia został a pozbawiona katedry teologii i ekskomunikowana.

Ciekawostka 1:
Oficjalny zakaz zawierania związków małżeńskich przez duchownych obowiązuje od 1139 roku.

Ciekawostka 2:
Żydzi byli przedstawiani jako "cieleśni", "chutliwi" i "przeklęci". Z tej przyczyny, antysemityzm w chrześcijańskiej Europie najprawdopodoibniej przyszedł z góry, od teologii, a nie od ludu.

Ciekawostka 3:
Dopiero w 374 roku, pod wpływem chrześcijaństwa, zabicie noworodka zostało uznane przez prawo za morderstwo. We wcześniejszych czasach, była to powszechna praktyka, aby pozbywać się dzieci, które urodziły się upośledzone lub słabowite.

Ciekawostka 4:
Według Pawła VI (papież w latach 21 czerwca 1963 – 6 sierpnia 1978) zapobieganie ciąży jest tak samo złe jak jej usunięcie. Ponadto, według Jana Pawła II, zarażony HIV mąż nie może odbywać do końca życia stosunków z żoną, a jeśli nie może się powstrzymać, to raczej powinien zarazić żonę HIV niż użyć prezerwatywy.

Ciekawostka 5:
Kanoniczny onanizm odnosił się do biblijnego Onana, który po śmierci brata musiał spłodzić w jego imieniu dziecko z żoną brata, aby nazwisko rodowe brata przetrwało. Onan nie chciał spłodzić dziecka w takich warunkach i stosował stosunek przerywany (początkowo onaninzm oznaczał właśnie to). Został pokarany przez Boga śmiercią za takie działania.
Dopiero po 1710 roku onanizm zaczął oznaczać masturbację.

[Bob Lundquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did, and how does, the Catholic Church treat women and sexuality? Where did views on these subjects come from? The Church has been described as a patriarchy since it is run by men, and celibate men at that. Are they qualified to make pronouncements on women and sex? What is the basis for these views? Women have only recently been given their rights as equal to men and the Church was one source of the resistance to this movement. Why did the Church have such negative attitudes towards these subjects?

This book answers these questions by going through a history of the development of the Church’s ideas on sex and women. The author notes that much of the thinking was not in the Bible but had been developed by the early Church, and magnified in the Middle Ages, and slowly changed up to the present day. The big thinkers on this were St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. For them, it all boiled down to pleasure is bad and since sex is pleasure, sex is bad. The book explains all the contradictions of this and how even at the present, these views have not changed as much as might be expected. Marriage and contraception are the major topics covered with mentions of homosexuality, abortion, and the Virgin birth. The writing is good, a little repetitive but explains well the issues involved.

[Saša Potisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Zavest o lastni duhovni večvrednosti pomaga zaobljubljenirn tzdrževati zapovedano distanco do žensk. če se kdaj spustijo na nižjo in skušajo ženski nepričakovano izreči kompliment, je komika tega nja lahko še bolj osupljiva kot običajni vsakodnevni prezir. Kar zadeva aroganco klerikov, njihovo samopoveličevanje presega podcenjevanje žensk. In še kompliment, ki mi ga je 11. maja 1964 v pismu poslal essenski škof:
'Veseli me, da ste kot ženska in mati lahko tudi duhovno tako dejavni.' "

Uta Ranke - Heinemann, najstarejša hči nekdanjega predsednika Zvezne republike Nemčije, teologinja in sošolka bodočega papeža Benedikta XVI, je bila izključena iz cerkve zaradi javnega citiranja Ratzingerjevih razpredanj o nebiološkem (nedobedesednem) tolmačenju Marijine deviškosti. V knjigi, v kateri pravi, da so ženske v krščanstvu imele enega in edinega prijatelja - Jezusa, natančno in dokumentirano razgrinja sistematično predelavo (poneverbo) izvirnih evangelijev v do žensk ponižujoče in izključujoče moškospolne celibatne cerkve, ki je v svojem sovraštvu do spolnosti povsem izgubila stik z normalnostjo. Kako sicer razumeti moralni prenos grešnosti iz polja nasilja v zakonsko spalnico in obsedenost z "deviškostjo"? Besedilo je dosledno argumentirano, prepričljivo in brutalno šokantno, zato cerkveni obračun z avtorico pravzaprav ne čudi.

[Ignacio Unamuno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se nota que Uta Ranke-Heinemann plasmó una convicción muy personal en este libro. Es su protesta en contra de la injusta prohibición que le impusieron de enseñar en universidades católicas. Por eso, aunque es un libro académico, se transparenta la pasión con que escribió estas páginas. Y eso siempre hace que un libro académico valga la pena.

Sin embargo, la furia llega a superar la argumentación. El libro está repleto de citas de “teólogos varones celibatarios” comentadas por la autora de manera burlona. Nunca se analiza las condiciones de posibilidad de las afirmaciones teológicas contrarias al placer sexual. Más bien, se dan por hecho bajo la siguiente premisa: la Iglesia católica es enemiga del placer sexual porque sus principios los forjaron teólogos, varones, celibatarios. El libro sólo es una compilación de frases de teólogos como san Agustín, san Jerónimo, santo Tomás, y muchos otros, destinada a respaldar aquella simple premisa. Por eso, Ranke-Heinemann sólo necesita dedicarse a ridiculizar, ironizar y burlarse de esas frases eruditas.

A pesar de todo, hay algunos capítulos cuyo interés hace tolerable la informalidad del libro: el primero que se presenta sobre el celibato sacerdotal, el primero sobre el aborto y el último sobre la Virgen María.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book needs to be read by all those who have wondered why the Catholic church seems to have been so obsessed with sex across the centuries. Ranke-Heinemann starts at the beginning of the church and chronicles the anti-sex influences of the Gnostics and Stoics that turned Christianity away from Judaism’s more pragmatic attitude to sex. She follows one theologian after another as they move to tighten the straight jacket of sexual commandments, particularly as they based their arguments on poor translations and misinterpretations. She pulls no punches and calls nonsense even when that nonsense is uttered by Fathers of the Church or other Saints. She takes modern theologians to task for mindlessly following dictums that are provably false and is relentless in arguing for the inclusion of non-celibate voices when discussing matters of sex or marriage. This was a thoroughly illuminating exposition of the rot at the heart of the Catholic church’s attitude to sex.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book. 30+ years old and everything that Uta Ranke-Heinemann rails against is still sadly relevant and true. She goes back to pre-christianity to show the roots of misogyny and what she deems "sexual pessimism"and how the consequences of that led to centuries of oppression and repression, all needless- with bishops spending centuries writing tomes about whether onanism is worse than incest. In a really moving, devastating final chapter she rails against the fake veneration of Mary, how it dehumanises her and creates an expectation of standards about femininity that are impossible for mortal women to meet.

This was written as a sarcastic response to John Paul II's conservative approach to sexual politics. It reads as contemporary critique of the far right repression of woman's rights in 2023. How horrible that things are getting no better for sexual and emotional liberation in the 21st Century than they were in the Middle Ages.

[Marko Čibej · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I had a rough idea about the history of the catholic church and its less than palatable past. I also thought that most of it was the past. Reading this, I was honestly shocked, not only by the abuses of the past, but the fact that they very much continue in this millennium.

Ranke is of course a scholar, and this is a scholarly monograph intended for a wider audience. In places, it can be repetitive and weighed down with footnotes and references that a non-specialist has little chance of chasing down. Even so, her message remains crystal-clear and as sharp as a razor blade.

[Yoni T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important reflections on how the obsession over expanding ecclesial property lead to clerical celibacy in the Gregorian Reforms. This book also highlights a lesser known fact about the wives and children of clerics being stripped from all inheritance and punished to a life of perpetual slavery with no hopes of being emancipated according to canon law. Terrific scholarship.

[Karen S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

A very interesting and approachable read. The author's criticism still feels very much on point.

[Peacefulbookery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.

[Mischi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erhellend, belustigend, erschreckend, mit welchen absurden, frauenverachtenden und zum Teil wahnsinnigen Gedanken zur menschlichen Sexualität sich katholische Theologen in den letzten zwei Jahrtausenden beschäftigt haben. Vieles davon war mir, der recht katholisch (Messdiener, Firmung, etc.) aufgewachsen ist, vorher nicht bekannt. Ich kann dieses Buch jedem empfehlen, der etwas über die Absurditäten religiöser Sexuallehre (in diesem Fall katholisch) lernen möchte.

[Pugalicious · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do NOT necessarily agree with the author. But it’s a very informative book. It’s provocative. And despite my disagreements with her, it’s really well written. It’s easy to follow. And I did learn a lot.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading the polemic, especially when I want to agree with it.

[Shae · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little to text book for my taste.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa!

[Artur Nowrot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Świetne omówienie podstaw i ewolucji nauki Kościoła katolickiego w zakresie seksualności – oraz wszystkich wypaczeń, które dokonały się po drodze.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved what she wrote, but hated how - with loads and loads of ironic, unprofessional comments.