Challenging the gender order of the Church from the ground up. The Bilbao Diocesan Assembly (1984-1987)

Abstract

The reception of the Second Vatican Council in the diocese of Bilbao was troubled because of the social and political tension produced by Franco’s dictatorship. It was during the more favourable atmosphere of the early 1980s that it became possible to consider the calling of a Diocesan Assembly. This paper aims to analyse the beginning, development and effects of the Diocesan Assembly of Bilbao (1984-1987). It will do so using a gender perspective, which will not only allow analysis of the largely underexamined majority female presence in this and other assemblies or synods held in diverse Spanish dioceses at that time, but will also enable investigation of the objections which challenged the gender order of the Catholic Church, particularly concerning issues of sexuality and equalitarian access to priesthood.