I got into a discussion & I was wondering what does teh Church say, particularly this Pope?

-- jimbo@ask.com (jimbo@ask.com), March 10, 2005

Answers

Not women - wives. The passage isn't a description of male-female relationships in general, but of the marital relationship specifically, which is symbolic of the relationship between Christ and His Church. Obviously the Church is in submission to Christ, not in fear or degradation but in perfect love and harmony. Christ completely sacrificed Himself for the sake of the Church, and husbands are called to do the same for their wives. That's what the passage means when it says "husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church". That means allow yourself to be crucified if necessary for the needs of your wife. If a man relates to his wife that way, his wife will have no problem responding to him freely in the same love and harmony with which the Church responds to Christ.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), March 10, 2005.

You will find some things about this in the text of a 1991 papal audience and in the text of the pope's apostolic constitution on the dignity of woman. Click here and
here (and read the whole thing or search for "Ephesians").

-- (HumblyWe@dore.Thee), March 10, 2005.

Her e is a good collection of magisterial documents, with commentary by Rev. Paul N. Check.

-- Mark (aujus_1066@yahoo.com), March 10, 2005.

good collection of magisterial documents

It would probably be better to say, "page with links to some magisterial documents and some non-magisterial commentaries". I say this because there are links to works by seven or eight non-bishops -- i.e. people who have/had no "magisterium" (teaching authority), including some lay people and even one Protestant.

-- (HumblyWe@dore.Thee), March 11, 2005.

Okay, how about: the link includes magisterial documents from nine sources, together with commentary from Rev. Check on those sources and what other theologians wrote about this issue. The magisterial documents are in the chapter 2, the one entitled, "Magisterial texts."

-- Mark (aujus_1066@yahoo.com), March 11, 2005.

I once heard an elderly veteran say the following after coming out of Mass while talking with another grissled old war veteran: "I'm the man in my family and I wear the pants, what I say goes....my wife gave me permission to say this."

That struck me as both funny and pretty much the truth. Men are the head of the family...but wise men take their authority only so far and delegate alot to their partner.

-- Joe (joestong@yahoo.com), March 11, 2005.