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_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Nicaragua_______________
Government attack on Church
Report aimed to please UN officials?
In a report presented in July to a UN committee on sexual equality, the government of Nicaragua claimed that the Catholic Church perpetuates discriminatory attitudes about women, and that these attitudes stifle further progress towards justice, according to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute.
The report, intended to illustrate Nicaraguan compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), alleges:
The Church publishes messages reinforcing attitudes and values that make women subordinate to men and discriminate against women. Even when abused by her husband, a wife is obliged to live with him “until death do us part.” . . . A woman’s sexual life must be based solely on producing children, being a good wife, and looking after the family and the home.
When asked to clarify this statement, and to confirm that it represents the official Nicaraguan position on the Catholic Church, a senior member of the Nicaraguan delegation at the UN said he was unsure who wrote the report, or what it ultimately communicated about the government’s relationship to the Church. He sought to distance the current government from the criticism, claiming that it “must have been written several years ago, by the former coalition government of Violeta Chamorro.” The report, however, is dated September 9, 1999. The current government took power in 1997.
This report would suggest a significant shift in Nicaraguan policy, since in recent years the government has aligned itself very closely with the Holy See at several UN conferences.
Back to Catholic World Report October 2001 Table of Contents