women priests

Well said!

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"Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of Thy power and the image of Thy goodness."

Name that man.
.

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"The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder"
- Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, par. 58

"Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites." -Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, par. 36

I personally don't have any problem with women taking part in the ordained ministry. I know that as with the Orthodox, the church has decreed (mostly on the grounds of tradition) that it has no authority or power to ordain women, and this was endorsed by John Paul II. Because of this, many Catholics feel the matter has been settled for all time. On the other hand, it is clear both in the scriptures and also in the history of the church that women have been important, both in salvation history and also as ministers in the church. Unfortunately though, there has been strong prejudice against women in the church down the ages, and that can be seen also today in some of the more hysterical rantings of conservatives in various churches who seem to really despise the idea of women doing anything much at all and would prefer that women 'be silent and not teach' as the author of the Epistle of Timothy urged.

There are many examples of great women in the church. Mary is perhaps the prime example of a great woman but there have also been many great women saints in the church (i.e. Julian of Norwich, Metchild of Magdeburg, Joan of Arc, Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Jesus, Benedicta of the Cross, Mary McKillop, etc) whose lives have been examples of holiness and authentic life in Christ without them being ordained to the priesthood. Today of course we have many women who do positive lay roles in the church, or who are religious, or teach theology. I think the church should, if it feels it cannot ordain women, do more to encourage lay women to participate more in various ministries of the church, particularly in light of the serious priest shortage.

Ultimately it is a decision each church has to make. Even so, women used to be excluded from most professions and also from university education. The fact we have accepted women as corporate CEO's, scientists, university chancellors, judges and leaders of nations in my view also means that we should not exclude women from the roles of highest importance and power in the spheres of religious leadership.

no....the keys are to the authority of Jesus, given to the church...the Pope cannot do anything that contradicts the bible or the sacred tradition laid down by the fathers....

the binding and loosing is to enforce the law laid down by Jesus to bind people to the truth, and to loose them from the power of darkness ....Jesus who went about healing all who were oppressed by the devil....type of thing...not for Peter or one of his descendants to rewrite canon law or church precepts, because gloria steinem said so....

All of them?

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"Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of Thy power and the image of Thy goodness."

Well since Jesus contradicted both Scripture and Tradition, and reminded us that they are for man, not the other way around, I would assume that we can follow HIS example.

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"Look with the eyes of Thy love upon our manifold imperfections and pardon all our shortcomings, that we may be filled with the brightness of the everlasting light and become the unspotted mirror of Thy power and the image of Thy goodness."

I wouldn't have anything against women catholic priestesses. I see no fundamental reasons why there cannot be. But it doesn't bother me that much that there aren't... I think the Catholic Church can do what it wants with the religious orders and rules, it's not a big deal.

And regarding with the foundation of the Church, of course "that man" is Jesus. He founded the Church, but it didn't certainly make it "infallible". St.Peter himself was often wrong (both in actions such as when he refused to recognize Jesus three times, and in ideas when he was corrected by St.Paul) but that didn't make him less Saint. But the most important thing is that Jesus warned everyone, and in particular the apostles, not to call themselves or anyone "father" because the only Father is in heaven, and not to call themselves or anyone "master" because the only Master is Jesus Christ. That is very much a strong warning against the vanity of thinking yourself "infallible".

The Church remains Saint even if it makes a mistake... the Church is Holy but it's human, and indeed you need to be human to be a Saint!

I find it amusing that in a discussion about women ordination, there is only one post actually written by a woman.

But since men make most of the decisions regarding what is and is not acceptable for women in society anyway, why should this not spill over into religious life.

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My Baby Boy - 26/08/08 - VBAC!! (In loving memory of my mother b. 16/10/52 d. 26/08/03 - Miss you mum!)
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