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Fr Thomas Reese S.J has suggested that the upcoming synod can change church teaching on women’s ordination to the diaconate and priesthood. It’s worth examining this claim by reviewing the history of this divisive proposal.
The campaign for women’s ordination began in the Lutheran and Anglican churches in the post war period. C.S.Lewis wrote an excellent essay on the topic. If you’re interested to read the whole thing go here.
Lewis goes through some of the arguments for women priests and grants the strength of them. When I was a priest in the Church of England the debate went on loud and long. Through the debate I came to accept and understand that there are good reasons for saying “yes” to women’s ordination. It is worth listening to those arguments and it is really worth listening to the voices of women who really do feel God has called them to the priestly office.
I will mention Lewis’ main point in a moment, and then outline my own bottom line position, but first I should point out that, although the advocates of women’s ordination do have some strong arguments, they consistently downplayed or ignored those strong points. Instead the voiced three main types or argument which, logically speaking, are not their strongest points.
First, their arguments were largely pragmatic. They were along the lines of…”Sally is a super person. She is well educated, a good speaker, compassionate and caring. She can do the job just as well as any man. Furthermore, we have a shortage of priests why are we excluding half of the human race? Also, we now know women can be doctors, politicians, executives, soldiers and virtually every other job and profession. Why not priests?”
Continued below.
dwightlongenecker.com
The campaign for women’s ordination began in the Lutheran and Anglican churches in the post war period. C.S.Lewis wrote an excellent essay on the topic. If you’re interested to read the whole thing go here.
Lewis goes through some of the arguments for women priests and grants the strength of them. When I was a priest in the Church of England the debate went on loud and long. Through the debate I came to accept and understand that there are good reasons for saying “yes” to women’s ordination. It is worth listening to those arguments and it is really worth listening to the voices of women who really do feel God has called them to the priestly office.
I will mention Lewis’ main point in a moment, and then outline my own bottom line position, but first I should point out that, although the advocates of women’s ordination do have some strong arguments, they consistently downplayed or ignored those strong points. Instead the voiced three main types or argument which, logically speaking, are not their strongest points.
First, their arguments were largely pragmatic. They were along the lines of…”Sally is a super person. She is well educated, a good speaker, compassionate and caring. She can do the job just as well as any man. Furthermore, we have a shortage of priests why are we excluding half of the human race? Also, we now know women can be doctors, politicians, executives, soldiers and virtually every other job and profession. Why not priests?”
Continued below.
C.S.Lewis and Women Priests | Fr. Dwight Longenecker
Fr Thomas Reese S.J has suggested that the upcoming synod can change church teaching on women's ordination to the diaconate and priesthood. It's worth examining this claim by reviewing the history of this divisive proposal. The campaign for women's ordination began in the Lutheran and Anglican...
dwightlongenecker.com
