Religious Affairs Office

TheThursday, 7 November of 2019 at 6.30 pm, an open round table took place among women of different spiritualities, led by the journalist Txell Bonet. This activity is the outcome of four meetings held during the summer, attended by women from different religious and cultural traditions. The activity was organised by the Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes and the Office for Religious Affairs (OAR), which is part of Barcelona City Council's Area for Culture, Education, Science and Community.

The event was attended by Khalid Ghali Bada, Barcelona City Council’s Commissioner for Intercultural Dialogue and Religious Pluralism; Anna Castellano, head conservator and director of the Royal Monastery of Pedralbes; and Anna Salvador, coordinator of the Office of Religious Affairs (OAR).

The OAR works to raise awareness of the plurality of beliefs and spiritualities that co-exist in the city, from the basis of a thorough knowledge of the different communities, organisations and faiths that make Barcelona a rich, plural city . The Monastery of Pedralbes is a place where women have traditionally experienced spirituality as the focal point of their lives; hence, it has naturally become a meeting point for women who, despite their different cultural backgrounds and diverse beliefs, live their daily lives in a spiritual way.

This summer, the two organisations joined forces to promote a project focused on a discussion among women, placing emphasis on the perspective of women, which is often disregarded. The groundwork of the project was laid in four preparatory meetings, which took place behind closed doors to enable women with different beliefs and spiritualities to share their experiences, needs, current expectations and interests. Voluntarily taking part in the project were twenty-five women with different beliefs: Brahma Kumaris, Buddhists, Catholics, Evangelic Christians, Orthodox Christians, followers of Baha’ism, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Taoists. This huge diversity of women is a reflection of the Barcelona of today, expansive and plural in terms of religions, confessions and faiths.

Taking part in this open round table discussion in representation of the women participants were, Maria Rosa Ocaña (Orthodox Christianity), Pilar Quera (Brahma Kumaris), Cristina Monteys (Catholicism), Xantal Genovart (Islam), Sofia Bengoechea (Buddhism), Adina Levin (Judaism). And among the main speakers were: Sophie Haziot (Judaism), Betsy Frascaroli (Evangelical Christianity), Ashi Devi (Hinduism), Maria Herrero (Judaism), Montse Castellà (Buddhism), Macrina Calcedo (Catholicism), Noemí Cortés (Evangelical Christianity) and Gabriela Ortiz (fe bahá’, and representing Elisabeth Lheure, who took part in the second meeting).

Txell Bonet, addressing a packed audience in the Monastery of Pedralbes auditorium, explained that “these preparatory meetings have opened a door” , placing a particular emphasis on “the humility of listening and the generosity of giving”. She went on to say that the meetings “were a testament to giving women’s voices a stage, and to hearing them.” The meetings took place on 18, 20, 27 June and 5 July.

Where are spiritual women?

Cristina Monteys asserted that “we women are on the sidelines of events, far from the epicentre of the main occurrences,” echoing a point made in the second meeting that took place on 20 June. “It is these meeting places that give us the opportunity to get in touch with each other and empower ourselves.” Maria Rosa Ocaña affirmed that “the female role in Christianity is one of servitude, but servitude understood as prioritising other things through experiencing God.”

The spiritual woman

We must pass on truths through life experiences, reject men-women stereotypes, institutions, and so on. “We have to stop being invisible to become empowered. This deep spirituality through life experience, truth and commitment to what is inside us is essential because we are silenced by everything that is outside us. Everybody must return to the soul, to the spirit, to the mystic, through beliefs and their daily practice. Who are we? We are energy, light, essence. We have to free ourselves of all that is physical that has devoured us and return to what is most essential in man and women kind”, explained Pilar Quera.

In the video summary shown at the event Wafae Moussauique, who took part in the first meeting, explained that “the social imaginary of religious, spiritual women believers shapes a submissive female image, one where women make no contribution and have no transformative aspirations, which is not the case”. “This prototype has a lot to do with the positions of power that coat everything, in Eurocentric visions and hegemonic approaches. It collides head on with a society that looks at other spiritualities. We carry preconceived ideas, typifications of what a woman believer or a spiritual woman is. Xantal Genovart claimed that what is needed is a horizontal approach made from the sidelines, an approach from sisterhood”.

Spiritual feminism and its benchmarks

Txell Bonet stated that “the media is not an ally for women, and not only from a spiritual point of view but in a much broader sense”. Sofia Bengoechea commented that “most of society lives in a certain normality, guided by a spirituality, some hierarchical establishments, and a power. But it is abnormality that enables us to see and analyse from the outside. I want figures who are benchmarks because of their ideas. I don’t want to reconstruct a hierarchy that tells me how we have to live , where what is good and bad, what is normal and abnormal is strictly established. Why can’t God be a black woman?”. Regarding role models, Adina Levin explains that “there are many leading female figures in Judaism; there are women rabbis, and the role of the mother is central”.

Texts “in the feminine form”

What also came up in several of the meetings was the phenomenon that many of the sacred and benchmark texts that have been translated or interpreted have been done so in the masculine form , dispensing entirely with feminine aspects. As Txell said, “The female presence fades away with every wash”. Adina Levin explained that “some communities have taken it upon themselves to feminise some of their texts and songs, and the women themselves are even quite shocked when they say them out loud for the first time”. “The Koran has non-sexist language”, comments Xantal. “In fact, the word of Allah has no gender or number”. Cristina Monteys talked about the importance of being able to read sacred texts on the original and “not having to have somebody tell you what they say. There are many religious and spiritual feminisms, but in a hegemonic society it is difficult to recover leading female figures and to have female role models. But these do exist in the original texts. This is why it is important to read directly, without intermediaries, and to apply what you read in your own life. The resources to be able to take the text and make it your own are essential”.

Being a feminist, left-wing and spiritual… What does “being spiritual or religious” mean?

Nowadays, and in the society of the twenty-first century, “being a feminist and left-wing seems to collide head on with incorporating religiosity in the definition of a woman. It must be underlined that feminism is about equal rights for men and women. Connecting with individuals and adding positivity to delve deeper and construct the world,” commented Xantal.

Sofia Bengoechea said that she has a spiritual side, but she does not consider herself to be a religious person. She believes that*”what is required is a critical approach based on your own individual perspective*, because there is a dark, materialistic side to this society, and this personal, critical consideration is essential so as not to end up on this dark side”.

The spiritual woman and the community

The religious community to which Adina Levin belongs is very important to her. She is not just referring to her religious community, but also to the word community in the broader sense, in the sense that “many people form part of our religious construction”.

Txell Bonet passed the word to the speakers, asking them about the role of the spiritual woman , seen from their own personal perspective:

• Sophie Haziot commented that “what I clearly remember about the meeting is what united the women, the cross-cutting values they pass on both within their community and in private, regardless of their religion”. The role of the man is known and “official”, whereas the role of the woman is maybe more subtle but just as important.
• Macrina Calcedo explained that “women are an essential part of all communities and all religious traditions. They meet to talk about their concerns and hopes, and they are slowly empowering themselves in this feminism contained within the word equality”.
• Noemí Cortés asserted that “the role of the religious woman has progressed in the Evangelical community. Women and men alike currently take part in equal opportunities. There are women pastors and women spiritual leaders. It is realities like these, among many others, that empower the spiritual woman”.
• Maria Herrero commented that having a religious faith has enabled her to pass on values and an identity to her children, “although you do not have to belong to a faith or have a spirituality to be a good person, to be in resonance with reality”.
• Betsy Frascroli explained that “the role of the young women in her church is very important. She is responsible for creative communications in her community, which is made up of people from twenty-eight different nationalities, and her work is to spread the word of her church through new technologies and social networks. She feels proud*to belong to her community and, echoing all the other participants at the meeting, she affirmed that *“we all have the same obstacles to overcome”.
• Montse Castellà remarked that “There are different dimensions to the role of the spiritual woman, whether they come from the most ancient religions that are conditioned by a masculine vision or from the most recent faiths. We have to get rid of all the patriarchal elements. But the feminine and the masculine must be seen as aspects that form part of men and women alike. We have to recover the feminine despite it being undervalued for centuries”.
• Ashi Devi announced that as from October this year, women in her community can be teachers and gurus.” She underlined that “we are not the bodies of men or women, we are spiritual souls”.
• Gabriela Ortiz explained that “the bahá’í faith promotes equality between men and women, especially through an aspect that is very important for the bahá’í community, education. We make no distinction between men and women because we refer to humanity. These discussions and conversations are the starting point to finding solutions, and future generations will benefit from their results

So we need to look to the future under an interfaith umbrella, promoting harmony among the plurality of spiritualities. Dialogue is fundamental, essential, and recognising the other is just as fundamental.

Images of the meeting.