A week for women.

Last week saw not only the Queen's birthday and Mother's Day in Thailand but also, as elsewhere in the universal Church, the celebration of the Assumption of Mary.  The cathedral in Bangkok is named Assumption Cathedral and so Friday 15th featured the annual cathedral celebrations with high mass led by the Archbishop and a Marian procession.  It was all quite impressive.  The Thais know how to run a ceremony with their strong sense of hierarchy and respect for roles. 

While we spent a week in Thailand rightfully celebrating women and upholding their dignity, I know that this does not mean that women are any better off here nor that they hold their rightful place in society.  In a Thai and Buddhist hierarchy, women are down the ladder.  I see how they are used and abused here, just as happens elsewhere. 

In this picture, you see the Sisters leading the procession with the statue of Mary and the relics of Jonh XXIII and John Paul II out of the cathedral.  You may think they are at the head of the show.  What you don't see is the clergy and bishops.  We are standing outside the front of the cathedral watching and waiting so as to take our place at the end of the procession.  I wonder just where the position of women lies in reality.  As with everything here, it is not always what it seems.