- Feb 5, 2002
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COMMENTARY: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had the answer to the recent question of the president of the Central Committee of German Catholics on women’s role in the Church.
Nowhere in the Bible or Catholic Church teaching will one find that priests and bishops are the greatest in heaven. Nowhere. And, yet, when it comes to talking about roles in the Church, the conversations keep coming back to the question of who can be ordained, particularly whether women can be ordained. In light of what we know about our ultimate goal, that we are called to be saints whatever our vocation, that makes little sense.
The recent report on the remarks of Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the lay Central Committee of German Catholics, included her comments when addressing the question of ordained ministry and how she asked, “How do you explain the multiple gifts and vocations of women in the Catholic Church worldwide if the Holy Spirit did not want it? I would like an honest answer to that.”
In 1977, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, wrote an article for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, looking precisely at the question of women and the priesthood, and he spoke of a “woman’s right to be herself.”
To my mind, we fall into two traps when considering women’s ordination. First, we clericalize women. Clericalism seems one of the few things that opposing camps in the Church agree upon. Some give too much deference to the priest immediately, as in not questioning anything said or done by a priest.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Nowhere in the Bible or Catholic Church teaching will one find that priests and bishops are the greatest in heaven. Nowhere. And, yet, when it comes to talking about roles in the Church, the conversations keep coming back to the question of who can be ordained, particularly whether women can be ordained. In light of what we know about our ultimate goal, that we are called to be saints whatever our vocation, that makes little sense.
The recent report on the remarks of Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the lay Central Committee of German Catholics, included her comments when addressing the question of ordained ministry and how she asked, “How do you explain the multiple gifts and vocations of women in the Catholic Church worldwide if the Holy Spirit did not want it? I would like an honest answer to that.”
In 1977, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, wrote an article for the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, looking precisely at the question of women and the priesthood, and he spoke of a “woman’s right to be herself.”
To my mind, we fall into two traps when considering women’s ordination. First, we clericalize women. Clericalism seems one of the few things that opposing camps in the Church agree upon. Some give too much deference to the priest immediately, as in not questioning anything said or done by a priest.
Continued below.
Addressing the Women’s Ordination Conundrum
COMMENTARY: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had the answer to the recent question of the president of the Central Committee of German Catholics on women’s role in the Church.
