Vatican claims God cannot be feminine

London, March 1: The Vatican has ruled out all forms of feminist theology of the liturgy in Catholicism, saying that God must always be recognised as "Our Father."

To counter the spread of gender-neutral phrases, the Holy See said that anyone baptised using alternative terms, such as "Creator", "Redeemer" and "Sanctifier" would have to be re-baptised using the traditional ceremony, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Feminist theology is a movement, generally in Christianity and Judaism, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of their religion from a feminist perspective. Reinterpretation of male-dominated imagery and language about God is one of the important aspects of feminist theology.

The use of alternative phrases during baptism originated in North America and started to become popular only in the past few years.

"These variations arise from so-called feminist theology and are an attempt to avoid using the words ‘Father’ and ‘Son’, which are held to be chauvinistic," the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith said. The traditional form of "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" had to be respected, it added.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the modern name for what used to be the Holy Office of the Inquisition, oversees Catholic doctrine.

Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote the latest ruling, has been a strong opponent of feminism in the Catholic Church.

The Vatican said anyone baptised under the feminist terms could invalidate their marriage. Cardinal Urbano Navarrete, who wrote a formal commentary on the ruling, warned that anyone who attempted to baptise someone with a gender-neutral form would be penalised. "It is seriously illegitimate and unjust," he said.

The new phrases are particularly popular in the Church of England, which has major differences with the Vatican over feminist issues.

In his book, The Ratzinger Report, Pope Benedict XVI has written: "I am, in fact, convinced that what feminism promotes in its radical form is no longer the Christianity that we know; it is another religion."