The Catholic Church made no formal, dogmatic pronouncement against women’s suffrage in the early 20th century, but Pope St. Pius X and numerous other members of the hierarchy spoke out against it.
“‘THE theory that demands equal rights between the two sexes must be denied absolutely,’ said Most Rev. S. G. Messmer, Archbishop of the Milwaukee diocese, in his address on ‘Woman’s Rights’ at the opening of the Western Catholic Chautauqua at Spring Bank.
“’It is a mistake to say equal rights instead of similar rights, for woman have certain rights that men have not, and men have certain rights that women have not.
“’In regard to the question of politics, why should women claim equal rights? What does politics mean? Politics means the ruling of nations, and no one who understands this would demand equal rights.’”
—- The Anti-Suffragist, September, 1910
Source: These Noble Ladies, A Study of the Anti-Suffrage Movement by Rev. Christopher Hunter, SSPX
