Women and the Catholic Priesthood

This question is frequently asked today and seems more urgent when, as other denominations have women ministers. There is also today there is a stronger sense that every opportunity should be available to everyone.

The most immediate answer as to why the Church does not ordain to the priesthood is that the Church cannot do so. Sometimes we think today that our Church is free to do whatever she wants. But the fact is that the Church is bound to hand on what she has received. When Jesus established the priesthood he chose from all his many disciples (which included many prominent women) twelve men whom he named "Apostles." This call of the Apostles is the origin of the priesthood. Jesus called only men to this office. It is hard to argue, as some do, that Jesus had to comply with the norms of his day and thus had no real choice. The fact is that Jesus broke many conventions of his time and exhibited considerable freedom in interpreting the Law. He was more than willing to engage in controversy where necessary. Jesus himself established the priesthood calling only men and thus the Church in fact has no authority to over-rule Jesus, Sacred Scripture or the established Apostolic Tradition in this regard. Both John Paul II and Paul VI indicated this very clearly. Here is What Pope John Paul wrote in 1994: Therefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful. (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, 4). So, the Church must hand on what we have received from Christ and the Apostles even if this teaching is not currently popular with all or in conformity with other modern practices.

As to the question of fairness, it is possible to observe differences in regard to roles in the Church without an indication of inequality. Whatever role individuals serve in the Church, nevertheless, all are equally baptized, equally children of the Father and equal in dignity. Is this not what Paul wrote: in First Corinthians 12:Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body….If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be….The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!"

I know that many Catholics continue to reject Catholic teaching on the all-male priesthood and certainly cannot articulate the Church's reasons for the teaching, much less defend it.In opposition to their church's teaching, a number of Catholic scholars (for example Father Robert W. Hovda, Professor Robert J. Karris, and Damien Casey) have written in favor of ordaining women. Furthermore, 12 groups have been founded throughout the world advocating for women's ordination in the Catholic Church. Women's Ordination Worldwide, founded in 1996 in Austria, is a network of national and international groups whose primary mission is the admission of Roman Catholic women to all ordained ministries, including but not limited to Catholic Women's Ordination (founded in March 1993 in the United Kingdom ), Roman Catholic Womenpriests (founded in 2002 in America ), Women's Ordination Conference (founded in 1975 in America ), and others.

Regarding the ban on women priests in Inter Insigniores and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, the "fundamental reasons"are articulated versus the "theological reasons" .those who advocate for women in the priesthood are too preoccupied with the theological arguments and do not sufficiently appreciate or understand the "fundamental reasons" for the Church's position. However, it should be noted that Inter Insigniores does not actually use the language of "fundamental reasons" and "theological reasons." Instead the document explains the Church's position and follows that explanation with theological arguments. I will show that there is more of an overlap between these two approaches to the doctrine

The "fundamental reasons" in Inter Insigniores begin with a statement that the Church does not believe she has the authority to admit women to the ministerial priesthood. The Church is bound to follow an original gesture of Christ when he established the sacrament of Holy Orders. This is at once a christological and an ecclesiological issue. When Christ called only men to the company of the Twelve, we are confronted by the will of Christ himself. The apostles themselves were faithful to the expression of Christ's will. The all-male priesthood begins with Christ, is continued by the apostles and is part of the unbroken tradition of the Church. As the document explains, "The Church intends to remain faithful to the type of ordained ministry willed by the Lord Jesus Christ and carefully maintained by the apostles." Many who reject these reasons argue that Christ's manner of acting, his will indeed, was subject to the historical conditions of the times. In other words, Christ was not free to act any differently than he did, as he was under cultural constraints to deny women liturgical leadership in the Church. But now that times have changed, the Church is free to abandon a practice that discriminates against women. But..

Inter Insigniores and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis both insist on Christ's sovereign freedom in his choice of male apostles. And this is an enormously important point. Indeed, much of the legitimacy of the "fundamental reasons" is based on the fact that, not only did Christ act in a certain way, thus setting up a permanent norm, but that Christ acted in freedom. History does not constrain him, culture is not a barrier, history is not a force that may dictate to Christ his choices. Christ is the Lord of history, he is the Lord of his Church.