Date of Award
9-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2024
Degree Name
Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL)
Director
Christopher Hadley
Abstract
Patriarchy in Igboland is putting our Christian credentials to the test. A prophetic and healthy church courageously teaches her principles and fearlessly puts them into action, for she is the portal of justice for the marginalized. Gender inequality and injustice against women have continued to thrive in many patriarchal cultures in southeastern Nigeria because of the frightening and diplomatic silence that stills the spine of the Catholic church leaders in some sensitive areas like women accused of adultery. Yet abundant resources are in the Catholic Social Teaching that can turn the painful history of discrimination against women into tomorrow’s promise of women’s liberation if the church chooses courage over complacency. In this thesis I will show that these wonderful resources, especially those dealing with gender inequality, justice, mercy and compassion are sufficient to reduce the intergenerational cycle of indignity that has made most women to shrink themselves to accommodate male ego, if the church becomes more alive to her God-given mission. Using Steven Bevans models of contextual theology, I will bring to light some discriminatory and unjust cultural practices in Enugu-Ezike and Aku and from the lens of Pope Francis the present leader of the Catholic church, I will suggest ways of creating a massive awareness of the injustices internalized and embodied in people, and then recommend ways to reduce them to the barest minimum to ensure the overall human flourishing.
Recommended Citation
Ezeh, Kevin Chinwe, "Unjust Mercy: A Narrative of Gender Inequality and Discrimination Against Women Accused of Adultery in Southeastern Nigeria" (2024). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 139.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/139
