Though I of course respect the Church's authority to decide whether we have women priests or not, I have never heard an arguement against them that I have found convincing. I would therefore welcome women priests if the Church did ever to decide it could and would ordain them (which I'm quite sure won't be in my lifetime anyway).
I agree that the arguments that people put forward are weak. I think that it fundamentally comes down to the fear of acknowledging that things have ever been different and that things can change.
"Wherefore, 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." -Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
Hope this helps. .
__________________ "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
If the Church has no authority to confer ordination on women, by what authority does it confer ordination on men?
__________________ "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 guess what Rome does is simply a non-issue for me. While I know many Roman Catholic women who I believe would be great priests what Rome does or doesn't do doesn't effect me much, if at all.
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Just a Christian
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If the Church has no authority to confer ordination on women, by what authority does it confer ordination on men?
By the authority of Christ and His example of ordaining men. The Church only has the authority to do as Christ did when He taught the apostles what to do, how to do it, and who to do it to. If Jesus would have wanted women to be priests He would have ordained His mother first of all since she was more holy than all of the apostles. But He didn't. Priesthood is a calling, not a right. .
__________________ "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
Last edited by LivingWordUnity; 15th July 2009 at 03:49 AM.
Though I of course respect the Church's authority to decide whether we have women priests or not, I have never heard an arguement against them that I have found convincing. I would therefore welcome women priests if the Church did ever to decide it could and would ordain them (which I'm quite sure won't be in my lifetime anyway).
What do others think?
From A Jewish Rabbi:
I think these churches are correct to outlaw women clergy and thereby remain faithful to the traditions of Jesus. I only wish they would be more scrupulous about it.
For example, all of the Apostles were Jews. Jesus had no Christian Apostles, so neither should the church have Christian clergy. This could open a whole new career path for Jewish men, and I am all for it.
Similarly, Jesus preferred fishermen for apostles, and so the church should require that clergy learn to fish. All of Jesus’ apostles ate raw corn, so this too ought to be a requirement for clerical positions. To the man, the Twelve were incapable of staying awake with Jesus or standing by his side when he was arrested, beaten, and crucified, so cowardliness ought to be another criteria for clergy. All apostles wore sandals, so shoe wearers have no place at the altars of the church. And they wore robes, so pant-wearing men are also out. None of the Twelve brushed their teeth, took baths on a daily basis, used toilet paper (or toilets for that matter), or vaccinated themselves against any communicable diseases. Not one apostle read the New Testament or observed Christmas or Easter, so these practices should be off limits to clergy as well.
I could go on, but I suspect the point is made. If we are going to appoint clergy based on the choices Jesus made in choosing his apostles we must restrict ourselves to Jewish fishermen with bad breath and itchy anuses. Maybe if the churches were more traditional in this way more men would get involved. I’m sure fewer women would.
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By the authority of Christ and His example of ordaining men. The Church only has the authority to do as Christ did when He taught the apostles what to do, how to do it, and who to do it to. If Jesus would have wanted women to be priests He would have ordained His mother first of all since she was more holy than all of the apostles. But He didn't. Priesthood is a calling, not a right. .
This is weak sauce. It doesn't even try to make an argument about why women can't be priests and leans heavily on a supposedly implied instruction about the priesthood, an institution whose structure went through a lot of development during the first century.
This is weak sauce. It doesn't even try to make an argument about why women can't be priests and leans heavily on a supposedly implied instruction about the priesthood, an institution whose structure went through a lot of development during the first century.
Yes, clearly the priesthood has developed significantly since the Church in Acts where it seems clear that bishops must be married according to the Douay-Rheims translation of 1 Timothy 3:2 "It behoveth therefore a bishop to be blameless, the husband of one wife".
I have to say that "the Church can't change the rules" argument carries little weight with me as it seems that if the Church has the will to change the rules then it can and will.
When Christ gave St Peter the Keys of the Kingdom, with the power to "loose and bind" that certainly means that The Church can adjust anything it deems necessary.
__________________ "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."
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