The novel about female priesthood, and why it missed the mark

By
Kate Hendrick
Published On
May 8, 2018
The novel about female priesthood, and why it missed the mark

I first heard about the book Created Equal by Roger A Brown after seeing the corresponding movie trailer being passed around on Twitter. Reactions to the trailer were what I expected from the Catholics I follow on social media: a mix of frustration and laughter at the ridiculousness.

I initially wanted to dismiss the movie altogether, but I felt that it wasn’t fair to criticize it based off the trailer. However, since there wasn’t a showing near me, I decided to read the novel on which the movie is based. Amazon describes the book as follows:

Extremely successful pro-bono lawyer Tommy Riley takes on the Catholic Church in this legal thriller. His client, Alejandra Batista, wants nothing more than to be ordained a priest with the Archdiocese of New Orleans. As the trial unfolds, a religious extremist takes matters into his own hands--kidnapping and torturing the aspiring priest. The provocative story explores the legal impact of the case, while simultaneously examining untenable core-belief systems of a traditional religion.”

I actually wanted to like this book. Other reviewers said Brown presented both sides, and Brown himself claimed this was an objective approach to the topic (though these were reviews for an older edition of the book).

I also sincerely believe we need to be honest about the struggles we face with our faith, and I think a respectful dialogue on disagreements is both healthy and necessary.

I also sincerely believe we need to be honest about the struggles we face with our faith, and I think a respectful dialogue on disagreements is both healthy and necessary. I thought putting it in a form of a novel rather than simply just a back and forth of theology was an interesting and promising approach.

I read this book with an open mind and wanted to answer two questions:

  1. Is this actually an objective approach to the topic, allowing for some leeway as these are discussions by realistically flawed characters?
  2. Points and counterpoints for female priests aside, is this a good novel?

Unfortunately, my answer to both these questions is a disappointed no.

Objective Arguments

It is very clear which side Brown takes on the issue of female priests. Watching the movie trailer would lead to one to believe this won’t be balanced at all, but the information about the novel claimed a more objective approach. To be fair, the reviews on the book were for an edition prior to this one. However, Brown says in this book “concerning the arguments for and against the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, I attempted, to the best of my ability, to portray each one in the most objective way I could.”

In my opinion, he failed at this both due to the weakness of some arguments and the characters who are presenting their points.

I understand having flawed characters, but to me, it felt like he was almost villainizing authority figures within the Catholic Church. He made sure to spend time describing the luxurious setting when the lawyer met the Monsignor and talked about the sternness and egotism of the man.

He made sure to spend time describing the luxurious setting when the lawyer met the Monsignor and talked about the sternness and egotism of the man.

Now, one could point out that he did the same thing for Tommy (the lawyer). This is a fair point, but it disregards who is really being represented in this case.

On Monsignor’s side, we have the Catholic Church which is already being criticized and is likely met with skepticism by the readers who are non-Catholics and Catholics who desire ordination of women. Therefore, the subject being represented is shown as a shady, bigoted institution. Obviously, faithful Catholics know this isn’t true, but it certainly is a troublesome portrayal.

Meanwhile, we see Tommy’s client: Allie. Allie is a hard-working, educated, prayerful nun. She is also beautiful, personable, and a dedicated, long-distance runner. She is admirable and likeablelikeble.

It doesn’t matter how objective the arguments are if the main characters portraying those arguments are clearly divided from the beginning.

Even the more likable faithful Catholics (Tommy’s mother and the priest) walk away from their conversations with Tommy making it seem like they’re either the stubborn people who can’t have a conversation or they don’t have good enough answers. Either way, it isn’t flattering.

I understand this is a work of fiction, and there needs to be an antagonist, but Brown either should’ve done a slightly better job at portraying the faithful Catholics or shouldn’t have claimed he was portraying both sides objectively.

I also think some of the arguments presented were dumb, or at least not fleshed out as adequately as they could have been. Rather than going into detail on this, I want to address the two points that I had a big issue with.

  1. Brown uses “sex” and “gender” interchangeably and fails to explore that there is much more to maleness and femaleness than genitalia beyond one short paragraph from the Archbishop in the book. Of course the whole discussion will seem ridiculous if we only talk about biological sex and fail to recognize that we are body and soul.
  2. Allie’s reason for why the Catholic Church won’t let her be a priest is absolute... bull crap. She says “The only thing - and I mean the only thing - I don’t have in the way of qualifications in the Church’s eyes is a Y chromosome. Male genitalia. Why is the presence of a penis a fundamental requirement for a celibate priesthood?” While the argument bothers me because it is incredibly stupid, the reason it really upsets me so much is that it is coming from Allie’s mouth. It is a terrible discontinuity of character. I can understand skeptical and uninformed Tommy making this argument, and he does repeatedly, but it simply doesn’t make sense with Allie’s character. How does a woman who was a valedictorian at her Catholic high school AND Jesuit university where she “earned an undergraduate degree in theology and doctorate in Trinity Studies” continue to hold such an ignorant stance? Surely this woman who supposedly loves the Church, reads the work of Christian scholars and has felt “called” to the priesthood for so long would’ve taken half an hour to find a slightly better answer as to why she can’t be a priest.

Novel

Despite my obvious displeasure with how the book presents the sides of this debate, I felt that I should still consider if this book was interesting and enjoyable otherwise. Even works of complete fiction can be enjoyable. This book, however, was not.

The book started with an intense, attention-grabbing scene which was a definite positive. There were also some interesting discussions that took place.

Otherwise, the book wasn’t that great. There was too much description on how Tommy dressed and his possessions. I felt like the book ended with a resolution for the big conflict, but left a lot of ends undone for the smaller side-stories.

I also felt the extremist side-plot was not great. While it was certainly interesting and I appreciate Brown’s clear distinction between this extremist and the Catholic Church, I felt like the plotline wasn’t fully fleshed out. To me, it read almost like an afterthought because the drama of the law might not be enough. There were some good points, but for a thriller, it was pretty unexciting.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, I wouldn’t recommend this book. Though it was interesting at points, the huge flaws in this book, even when giving it leeway because it is a work of fiction, make it a book better left on the shelf.

Criticisms of this book aside, I stand by my statement that this is a conversation we need to be having.

Criticisms of this book aside, I stand by my statement that this is a conversation we need to be having. I know Brown isn’t alone in his belief that not allowing women to be priests means the Church doesn’t think women are equal. We need to listen to women who are hurt by this teaching and be willing to converse with them. I just think this novel isn’t where people should be going for answers.

If we’re going to have productive conversations on these issues, we need to empathize with both sides, and truly understand the depth of concerns and arguments.

Latest from the Blog

‘Cabrini’ Review: Despite Its Shortcomings, ‘Cabrini’ Highlights Our Responsibility to the Poor
Blog
/
Culture

‘Cabrini’ Review: Despite Its Shortcomings, ‘Cabrini’ Highlights Our Responsibility to the Poor

Emily Claire Schmitt
FemCatholic’s Women To Watch in 2024
Blog
/
Culture

FemCatholic’s Women To Watch in 2024

Augusta D'Ambrosio
“Mean Girls” (2024) Brings Lessons on Friendship and Feminism to a New Audience
Blog
/
Culture

“Mean Girls” (2024) Brings Lessons on Friendship and Feminism to a New Audience

Emily Claire Schmitt
Giving Up Alcohol Gave Me Freedom from Fearing Others’ Judgment
Blog
/
Culture

Giving Up Alcohol Gave Me Freedom from Fearing Others’ Judgment

Vicky Wolak Freeman
"The Color Purple" (2023) Highlights the Search for God in a Broken World
Blog
/
Culture

"The Color Purple" (2023) Highlights the Search for God in a Broken World

Emily Claire Schmitt
Dear Alana: Processing the Podcast
Blog
/
Culture

Dear Alana: Processing the Podcast

FemCatholic
Someone Inside You: The Use of Women’s Bodies in Possession Horror Films
Blog
/
Culture

Someone Inside You: The Use of Women’s Bodies in Possession Horror Films

Emily Claire Schmitt
5 Things That Need to Change for Our Country to be More Welcoming to New Life
Blog
/
Culture

5 Things That Need to Change for Our Country to be More Welcoming to New Life

Kelly Sankowski

I first heard about the book Created Equal by Roger A Brown after seeing the corresponding movie trailer being passed around on Twitter. Reactions to the trailer were what I expected from the Catholics I follow on social media: a mix of frustration and laughter at the ridiculousness.

I initially wanted to dismiss the movie altogether, but I felt that it wasn’t fair to criticize it based off the trailer. However, since there wasn’t a showing near me, I decided to read the novel on which the movie is based. Amazon describes the book as follows:

Extremely successful pro-bono lawyer Tommy Riley takes on the Catholic Church in this legal thriller. His client, Alejandra Batista, wants nothing more than to be ordained a priest with the Archdiocese of New Orleans. As the trial unfolds, a religious extremist takes matters into his own hands--kidnapping and torturing the aspiring priest. The provocative story explores the legal impact of the case, while simultaneously examining untenable core-belief systems of a traditional religion.”

I actually wanted to like this book. Other reviewers said Brown presented both sides, and Brown himself claimed this was an objective approach to the topic (though these were reviews for an older edition of the book).

I also sincerely believe we need to be honest about the struggles we face with our faith, and I think a respectful dialogue on disagreements is both healthy and necessary.

I also sincerely believe we need to be honest about the struggles we face with our faith, and I think a respectful dialogue on disagreements is both healthy and necessary. I thought putting it in a form of a novel rather than simply just a back and forth of theology was an interesting and promising approach.

I read this book with an open mind and wanted to answer two questions:

  1. Is this actually an objective approach to the topic, allowing for some leeway as these are discussions by realistically flawed characters?
  2. Points and counterpoints for female priests aside, is this a good novel?

Unfortunately, my answer to both these questions is a disappointed no.

Objective Arguments

It is very clear which side Brown takes on the issue of female priests. Watching the movie trailer would lead to one to believe this won’t be balanced at all, but the information about the novel claimed a more objective approach. To be fair, the reviews on the book were for an edition prior to this one. However, Brown says in this book “concerning the arguments for and against the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, I attempted, to the best of my ability, to portray each one in the most objective way I could.”

In my opinion, he failed at this both due to the weakness of some arguments and the characters who are presenting their points.

I understand having flawed characters, but to me, it felt like he was almost villainizing authority figures within the Catholic Church. He made sure to spend time describing the luxurious setting when the lawyer met the Monsignor and talked about the sternness and egotism of the man.

He made sure to spend time describing the luxurious setting when the lawyer met the Monsignor and talked about the sternness and egotism of the man.

Now, one could point out that he did the same thing for Tommy (the lawyer). This is a fair point, but it disregards who is really being represented in this case.

On Monsignor’s side, we have the Catholic Church which is already being criticized and is likely met with skepticism by the readers who are non-Catholics and Catholics who desire ordination of women. Therefore, the subject being represented is shown as a shady, bigoted institution. Obviously, faithful Catholics know this isn’t true, but it certainly is a troublesome portrayal.

Meanwhile, we see Tommy’s client: Allie. Allie is a hard-working, educated, prayerful nun. She is also beautiful, personable, and a dedicated, long-distance runner. She is admirable and likeablelikeble.

It doesn’t matter how objective the arguments are if the main characters portraying those arguments are clearly divided from the beginning.

Even the more likable faithful Catholics (Tommy’s mother and the priest) walk away from their conversations with Tommy making it seem like they’re either the stubborn people who can’t have a conversation or they don’t have good enough answers. Either way, it isn’t flattering.

I understand this is a work of fiction, and there needs to be an antagonist, but Brown either should’ve done a slightly better job at portraying the faithful Catholics or shouldn’t have claimed he was portraying both sides objectively.

I also think some of the arguments presented were dumb, or at least not fleshed out as adequately as they could have been. Rather than going into detail on this, I want to address the two points that I had a big issue with.

  1. Brown uses “sex” and “gender” interchangeably and fails to explore that there is much more to maleness and femaleness than genitalia beyond one short paragraph from the Archbishop in the book. Of course the whole discussion will seem ridiculous if we only talk about biological sex and fail to recognize that we are body and soul.
  2. Allie’s reason for why the Catholic Church won’t let her be a priest is absolute... bull crap. She says “The only thing - and I mean the only thing - I don’t have in the way of qualifications in the Church’s eyes is a Y chromosome. Male genitalia. Why is the presence of a penis a fundamental requirement for a celibate priesthood?” While the argument bothers me because it is incredibly stupid, the reason it really upsets me so much is that it is coming from Allie’s mouth. It is a terrible discontinuity of character. I can understand skeptical and uninformed Tommy making this argument, and he does repeatedly, but it simply doesn’t make sense with Allie’s character. How does a woman who was a valedictorian at her Catholic high school AND Jesuit university where she “earned an undergraduate degree in theology and doctorate in Trinity Studies” continue to hold such an ignorant stance? Surely this woman who supposedly loves the Church, reads the work of Christian scholars and has felt “called” to the priesthood for so long would’ve taken half an hour to find a slightly better answer as to why she can’t be a priest.

Novel

Despite my obvious displeasure with how the book presents the sides of this debate, I felt that I should still consider if this book was interesting and enjoyable otherwise. Even works of complete fiction can be enjoyable. This book, however, was not.

The book started with an intense, attention-grabbing scene which was a definite positive. There were also some interesting discussions that took place.

Otherwise, the book wasn’t that great. There was too much description on how Tommy dressed and his possessions. I felt like the book ended with a resolution for the big conflict, but left a lot of ends undone for the smaller side-stories.

I also felt the extremist side-plot was not great. While it was certainly interesting and I appreciate Brown’s clear distinction between this extremist and the Catholic Church, I felt like the plotline wasn’t fully fleshed out. To me, it read almost like an afterthought because the drama of the law might not be enough. There were some good points, but for a thriller, it was pretty unexciting.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, I wouldn’t recommend this book. Though it was interesting at points, the huge flaws in this book, even when giving it leeway because it is a work of fiction, make it a book better left on the shelf.

Criticisms of this book aside, I stand by my statement that this is a conversation we need to be having.

Criticisms of this book aside, I stand by my statement that this is a conversation we need to be having. I know Brown isn’t alone in his belief that not allowing women to be priests means the Church doesn’t think women are equal. We need to listen to women who are hurt by this teaching and be willing to converse with them. I just think this novel isn’t where people should be going for answers.

If we’re going to have productive conversations on these issues, we need to empathize with both sides, and truly understand the depth of concerns and arguments.

Want to see more in-depth content?

Explore Our Courses

Kate Hendrick

Kate Hendrick lives in Wisconsin with her husband and works full-time as a process engineer. Though Kate is a “cradle Catholic” she didn’t fully embrace the Catholic faith until mid-college. She discusses the challenges she and other young adults face as they try to live authentically Catholic lives on her blog Stumbling Toward Sainthood. You can also find her on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.