Women's Ordination 1

Rebecca Koval
COR115C
3 December 2010

A Case Against Women's Ordination in the Catholic Church

It would simply be heretical for women to be ordained as Catholic priests. Despite

the many challenges to official Church teachings that began in the late 1960’s with the

advent of the second wave of feminism (Ruther, p. 81), the Church has remained

grounded in its practice of only ordaining men to the ministerial priesthood. After

inquiring into this controversial issue by looking for answers in the New Testament

Scriptures, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith legitimately concluded

in the 1976 declaration Inter Insigniores (or "Declaration on the Admission of Women to

the Ministerial Priesthood"), that the priesthood is not a role Christ intended for women.

According to this official document, the Church aspires to maintain its “fidelity” (sec. 4,

par. 6) to Christ in all its activity; therefore, this strict adherence to the Church’s

“constant tradition” (sec. 1) is most certainly not without reason. If the Church is to

remain loyal to the wishes of its founder and consequently to God, the ordination of

women can never happen under any circumstance; indeed, it is impossible.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II stated in his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, (or

“Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone”) that the Church, “has no authority

whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be held by

all the Church’s faithful” (sec. 4, par. 2). However, despite this clear and definitive

message, there currently exists a growing worldwide movement for women’s ordination,

a movement that is being spearheaded by organizations such as Roman Catholic

Womenpriests and the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC). Roman Catholic

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Womenpriests (2010) claims to have ordained over 100 women in their own ceremonies,

often with the help of established priests and bishops who are sympathetic to their

mission such as Fr. Roy Bourgeois, who was excommunicated when he refused to repent

for participating in some of these ordinations (National Catholic Register, 2008). The

Women's Ordination Conference (2010) advocates for reform through grassroots efforts

as well as offering support to women who feel the need to answer “their call” to the

priesthood. Though these organizations have crafted many arguments in order to justify

their actions, the Church has remained steadfast in its position, even going so far as to

add the ordination of women to its list of grave crimes in 2010 (Normae de gravioribus

delictis, art.5). Needless to say, Vatican officials and local archbishops alike have been

warning laity to disregard these feminist organizations and their “ordinations” of “women

priests” (National Catholic Register, 2005).

According to scholar Elizabeth Gossmann (1998), Pope Benedict XVI stated in a

1993 interview that the Church must remain obedient to its tradition; therefore, there is

no way a woman’s ordination can be considered valid, even after it has been performed

(pp. 70-71). Though feminist theologians such as Marian Ronann and Rosemary Radford

Ruther make the argument that Catholic tradition regarding this teaching is rooted in a

staunchly hierarchical and archaic worldview (Ronann, p. 157;Ruther, p. 79), there is

ample evidence to support the opposite; that the Church in fact, holds women in high

esteem (Mulieris Dignitatem, sec. 10 & 11) and that valid theological reasons exist for

continuing to maintain the practice of an exclusively male priesthood (Inter Insigniores,

sec. 6).

This study will examine the Church’s theology with regards to women’s
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ordination by looking at three official documents issued by the Vatican: the 1976

declaration Inter Insigniores, as well as two encyclicals written by Pope John Paul II,

Mulieris Dignitatem (or "On the Dignity and Vocation of Women") (1988) and Ordinatio

Sacerdotalis (1994). This study will examine three general topics that typically arise

when the issue of women's ordination is examined: apostolic succession, the metaphor of

the bride/bridegroom, and last but not least, the role of the priest during Mass. Scholarly

thought on the matter will also be presented.

Apostolic Succession

At the last supper, Jesus sat with his apostles and acting as priest performed the

first Eucharistic celebration where he "ritually offered himself as victim" (Egan, p. 20).

At this meal, Christ served bread and wine to the Twelve:

"...Jesus took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples
said, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave
it to them saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 22:26-28).

This final and somber meal was meant to symbolize Christ's impending sacrifice.

However, this act also laid the foundation for the creation of the Church that would

continue after Christ's death (Egan, p. 20). In choosing the Twelve to be present at the

first ritual of the Eucharistic meal, Christ was conferring his own priesthood onto his

apostles, so that they, in turn, might carry on his legacy and purpose (Inter Insigniores,

art. 4, par. 5). Clearly, Jesus wanted his faithful to continue to celebrate this sacrifice after

he was gone; for as he was breaking bread he gave the Twelve specific instructions to

"...do this in memory of me" (Lk 22:19).

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Therefore, the Catholic Church, wishing to remain faithful to the original

intentions of Christ at the last supper, practices "apostolic succession", meaning that in

order for one to legitimately be ordained as a priest, ordination must be conferred in a

line that stems directly back to the first ordained priests: the Apostles (Egan, p. 20). For

the Twelve:

"...did not in fact receive only a function which could thereafter be

exercised by any member of the Church; rather they were specifically and
intimately associated in the mission of the Incarnate Word himself" (Ordinatio
Sacerdotalis, sec. 2, par. 3).

In other words, the Church believes that since Jesus chose only men to serve as his

intimate associates and future priests, ordination must always remain reserved for men

alone (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, sec. 2, par. 2).

It seems unlikely that Jesus called only men to be apart of the Twelve arbitrarily,

since his "...attitude towards women was quite different from that of his milieu, and he

deliberately and courageously broke with it" (Inter Insigniores, art. 2, par. 1). Examples

abound throughout the Gospels of Jesus defying traditional patriarchal Jewish culture: for

instance, he intervenes in the stoning of an adulteress even though the common

punishment for adultery in his day was death by stoning (Jn 8:1-11). Yet another example

of this is in when Jesus is resting near a well, waiting for his apostles, when a Samaritan

woman walks by to fetch water. Jesus asks the woman to give him a drink to which she

replies, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" for at the time

Samaritan women were regarded by Jews as being ritually impure. However, Jesus didn't

care, for he replied "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a

drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water". When
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Jesus' apostles found him speaking with this woman, they are shocked as it was against

the custom for a man to speak to a woman in public (Jn 4:7-27).

Much controversy exists over Jesus' choice of having only male apostles; for it is

unclear as to what extent Jesus was influenced by social constraints. Fr. Richard

Viladesau makes the argument that it is impossible to know to what extent Jesus was

influenced by "societally conditioned attitudes regarding women" (p. 8) and that it would

be foolish to simply assume that he was always able to transcend his humanity. There is

ample evidence throughout the Gospels that Jesus paid no heed to the laws and "position

of men" (Mt 22:16) in both his thoughts and actions; therefore, it seems odd that he

would then exclude women from being apart of the Twelve simply due to the cultural

norms of his day (Inter Insigniores, art. 2, par. 4). When taking all of this into

consideration, it appears as though his choice was most likely an intentional one

(Mulieris Dignitatem, art. 26, par. 1).

The Bridegroom and the Bride

In his 1988 encyclical Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope John Paul II references Paul’s

Letter to the Ephesians in which the saint explains the dedication that Christ has to the

Church he established: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave

himself up for her…”(Eph 5:25-32). Throughout the tradition of the Catholic Church, this

metaphor of Christ the bridegroom who ministers to the bride Church has been constantly

used, not only as an image to meditate upon, but as a way of making understandable the

mysterious and “unfathomable” union between Christ and the congregation that he

established on earth (Inter Insigniores, sec. 5, par. 5).

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The Covenant made between God and humans first took the "form of nuptial

mystery" in the Old Testament where the land of Israel is seen as God's "ardently loved

spouse" where his "Chosen People" reside (Inter Insigniores, sec. 5, par. 5). The prophet

Hosea likens the land of Israel to a "harlot wife" who is betrothed to God; however,

instead of letting her go, God chooses to chastise the faithless spouse so as to show her

that she can have no other husband:

"...I shall hedge in her way with thorns and erect a wall against her, so that
she cannot find her paths. If she runs after her lovers, she shall not overtake
them; if she looks for them she shall not find them" (Hos 2:8-9).

Once Israel comes to understand that her behavior towards her husband was thankless

and cruel, God will then show her forgiveness:

"...I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart...I will
espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and justice, in love and
mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord" (Hos 2:16,
2:21-22).

This metaphor is also expounded upon further in the Bible, especially in the Song of

Songs, where the love that exists between God and his people is described through a

parable about the love between a bride and a bridegroom.

This "spousal love" (Mulieris Dignitatem, art. 25, par. 1) extends to Christ's

relationship with the Church as well, for Christ died so that the people of God could one

day experience eternal life; indeed, he is "the Bridegroom who has given himself" (par.

3). For Christ's "death will gather together again the scattered children of God; from his

pierced side will be born the Church, as Eve was born from Adam's side" (Inter

Insigniores, art. 5, par. 5). This connection between Christ and his Church is meant to

mirror and indeed is “rooted in the biblical reality of human beings as male and female”

according to Pope John Paul (Mulieris Dignitatem, sec. 23, par. 2). In other words,
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Christ, who was male, loves and is eternally unified with his Church. As a response to

Christ's love, the members of the Church gather in celebration to form the Body of Christ,

in so doing taking on a receptive, feminine attitude and role with regards to Jesus (Butler,

p. 511), who is and forever will be the "Lord of the Church" (Viladesau, p. 15).

One could very well argue that a metaphor such as this need not be carried over

into the practices and daily life of the modern Church. For according to Fr. Richard

Viladesau, whenever a particular metaphor "is implicitly thought to encompass every

aspect of human-divine relationship" in the Church, "one ends up...absolutizing certain

aspects of that relationship while losing others" (p. 15-16). However, "this mystery is a

profound one" (Butler, p. 510), and is deeply imbedded in Catholic tradition, so much so,

that the perpetuation of the priesthood as we know it depends upon it.

"In Persona Christi"

The metaphor of the bride and bridegroom is important not only to the

relationship between Christ and his Church, but also to the relationship between men and

women within the Church and what role each gender is able to play. According to Pope

John Paul, masculinity and femininity are "eternal" truths that are "immutably fixed in

human experience" (Mulieris Dignitatem, art. 2, par. 2), for "sexual difference is willed

by God" (Butler, p. 503). These differences between the sexes are complimentary, and

highlight the "fundamental equality" (art. 10, par. 1) that exists between men and women.

This equality stems precisely from men and women's complimentary natures as both

genders possess qualities that the other lacks; for example, women are able to fulfill the

function of motherhood, a role that men will never be able to understand or experience
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(Mulieris Dignitatem, art. 19, par. 3).

Likewise, the priesthood is an office that only men can legitimately fulfill. At

Mass, when the Eucharistic celebration that is performed, the priest acts "in persona

Christi", meaning that throughout this ritual he wears the mask of Christ, thus

symbolizing and enacting Christ's image "...by whose power he pronounces the words of

consecration" (Butler, p. 501). Scholar and theologian Sarah Butler argues that the priest

acts as "a sacramental sign of Christ, who is male"; hence:

"The question of women's access to ordained priesthood is not addressed in terms

of their suitability for spiritual office in the Church but in terms of their ability to
symbolize Christ" (p. 505).

In other words, the Church does not exclude women from the priesthood based on the

idea that they are inferior to men; rather it simply does not make sense for a woman to

fulfill the role of Christ, who is both male and bridegroom.

However, not all Catholics necessarily trust that the Church's teaching of

complementarity ensures that women will be treated with the same amount of dignity and

respect as men. Some opponents of an exclusively male priesthood, such as Catholic

feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruther, believe that requiring separate but equal

gender roles within the Church is simply a cover-up for excluding women from higher

level decision-making roles within the hierarchy (Ruther, p. 79-80). Ruther questions

whether or not the Church's stance is just by asking, "If Jesus made social justice central

to his definition of good news, can we do less" (p. 62)? She argues that at this point in

history both men and women should be "recognized as images of God and representatives

of Christ...we must bring women's gifts of ministry into the church for the first time" (p.

7). However, what Ruther fails to realize is that even though women possess many gifts,
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God owes no grace to anyone and that the pursuit of priestly ordination is not anyone's

fundamental right (Egan, p. 15).

Despite the fact that many women may feel "called" to enter the priesthood, the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explains that:

"Such an attraction, however noble and understandable, still does not suffice for a
genuine vocation. In fact, a vocation cannot be reduced to a mere personal
attraction, which can remain purely subjective". (Inter Insigniores, sec. 6)

Indeed, the Congregation states that, “…the priestly office cannot become the goal of

social advancement, no merely human progress of society…can itself give access to it: it

is of another order” (sec. 5). In other words, even though there is a certain amount of

authority and responsibility connected with the priesthood, it is a holy and sacred office;

therefore, it is a mistake to assume that a priest’s position can be compared to that of a

politician or civil servant. In its fight to remain authentic to its tradition in the twenty-first

century, the Church must continue on its chosen path. The priesthood is not and never

will be open to the same kind of equal gender representation that has come to be more

commonplace in secular vocations.

The Future of Women's Ordination

It seems very unlikely the Catholic Church will ever accept women as priests. As

Archbishop of Toronto, Anthony Meagher stated in 2005 with regards to a women's

ordination ceremony taking place in his region, "...to attempt an ordination in this way is

to step outside the Church" (National Catholic Register). Indeed, it seems that no matter

how hard self-proclaimed "womenpriests" try to gain recognition, they will most

certainly never succeed in getting it from the Catholic Church- in fact, according to new
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norms issued by the Vatican in May 2010, a woman excommunicates herself

automatically by becoming ordained (Normae de gravioribus delictis, art. 5). It remains

to be seen whether these women will break off from the Roman Catholic Church and

form their own denomination once they eventually realize that their hope for recognition

within the Church is futile.

When the Church goes against popular opinion regarding women's expanding

roles, it does so not out of a desire to oppress women, but out of "fidelity" (Inter

Insigniores, art. 4, par. 6) to Christ. The Church will continue to refuse to adapt to

changing "civilizations and times" if these adaptations mean that it must "abolish...the

sacramental reference to constitutive events of Christianity and Christ himself" (par. 5),

for the Church maintains that:

"...beneath all changes there are many realities which do not change and which
have their ultimate foundation in Christ, who is the same yesterday and
today...and forever" (Mulieris Dignitatem, art. 28, par. 1)

The Church's stance in no way implies that women are incapable of becoming

priests due to any defect in their character; it simply holds the belief that it has "no

authority to confer priestly ordination on women" (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, art. 4, par. 2)

since the Church has concluded that there exists no substantial evidence in the Gospels

that Jesus intended women to become priests. However, there does exist, as this study

briefly examined, convincing evidence that ordaining women would run contrary to the

intentions of Christ and the foundations of the Church he established. Therefore, although

many progressive Catholics (and feminists) may disagree with the Church's teachings on

women's ordination, there is currently no sign that it will ever fail to "...remain faithful to

the type of ordained ministry willed by the Lord Jesus Christ..." (Inter Insigniores, art. 1,
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par. 1).

References

Apsotolic Letter Mulieris Dignnitatem. August 15, 1988. Retreived on October 21, 2010
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from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_

Jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html

Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. May 24, 1994. Retrieved on October 21, 2010

from http://www.vatican.va.holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_

jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html

Butler, S. (1992). The priest as sacrament of Christ the bridegroom. Worship, 66(6), 498-

517. Retrieved from ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials database.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (1976, October 15). Declaration inter

insigniores on the question of the admission of women to the ministerial

priesthood. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.ewtn.com/library.curia/

cdfinsicd.htm

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (2010, May 21). Normae de gravioribus

delictis. Retrieved October 21, 2010, from http://www.vatican.va/resources

_norme_en.html

Egan, R. (1994). Why Women Cannot Be Priests. The Homiletic and Pastroral Review,

(94). 14-23.

Gossmann, E. (1998). Women's Ordination and the Vatican. Feminist Theology: The

Journal of the Britain & Ireland School of Feminist Theology, (18), 67. 67-86.

Retrieved from Women's Studies International Database.

Maryknoll priest "excommunicated": spokeswoman says order is "saddened" by

events(2008). National Catholic Register. 84(50).

Roman Catholic Womenpriests. (2010). Retrieved on October, 21, 2010 from

http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
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Ronan, M. (2007). Ethical Challenges Confronting the Roman Catholic Women's

Ordination Movement in the Twenty-First Century. Journal of Feminist Studies

in Religion, 23(2), 149-169. Retrieved from Women's Studies International database.

Rosemary, R.R. (2008). Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican. New York, NY: The New

Press.

Viladesau, R.R. (1992). Could jesus have ordained women? Reflections on

mulieris dignitatem. Thought, 67(264), 5-19.

Women’s Ordination Conference. (2010). Retrieved on October 21, 2010 from

http://www.womensordination.org/content/view/10/41/

Women's ordination won't be valid, bishop says. (2005). National Catholic Register.

81(25).
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