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Women's Ordination - Part 1

  • FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS

This past August, the Washington Post Magazine had an article about a man in a Georgetown parish raising a protest supporting the increased role of women in the Church and the ordination of women priests. Some of my Protestant friends asked me about the article. I thought that issue had been settled by the Pope a couple of years ago. Will you please present the Church's teaching on this issue so that I can tell my Protestant friends?


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In our politically charged world, the debate over the restriction of ordination to men alone often focuses more on the political than the theological. The Washington Post Magazine article made that very clear. Moreover, how some people receive the Church's teaching also seems to focus on a political framework rather than a theological. Concerning the political sphere, we must remember that because of our theological foundation, the Church has condemned discrimination based on sex: "Forms of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design" (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, No. 29).

However, to understand the Church's position for reserving the Sacrament of Holy Orders and thereby the ordination of deacons, priests, and bishops to men only (cf. Code of Canon Law, No. 1024), we must turn to our theological foundation. Here we remember that by definition a sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace . First, Christ instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders. According to His plan, He called 12 men as His apostles. Nowhere in the gospel do we find evidence of Jesus giving "orders" to women to anoint the sick, to confect the Holy Eucharist, or to forgive sins as He did to the apostles.

Some might respond, "But in Jewish society at that time, women were not considered equal to men. Women were seen in a second class way, and that is why Jesus only chose men as apostles." To some extent, this statement is true. However, Jesus was not constricted by such social custom. Even His adversaries stated, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and teach God's way sincerely. You court no one's favor and do not act out of human respect" (Matthew 22:16). While Jewish law allowed men to divorce their wives but not vice versa, Jesus spoke of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman as two equals made in God's image and likeness (Matthew 19:3ff). He spoke with the Samaritan woman, a public sinner, whom "good" rabbis would have avoided (John 4:4ff). He acknowledged the presence of Mary Magdalene and forgave her sins although she was considered "untouchable" by other religious leaders (Luke 7:36ff). Many women did follow our Lord during His public ministry, and witnessed His crucifixion and burial. On Easter, women were the first to discover the empty tomb and Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord. Moreover, Jesus clearly honored His blessed Mother, Mary, at whose request He even performed His first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana even though His time had not yet come. Clearly, Jesus did not omit calling women as apostles because of some social or political convention. Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem stated, "In calling only men as His apostles, Christ acted in a completely free and sovereign manner. In doing so, He exercised the same freedom with which, in all His behavior, He emphasized the dignity and the vocation of women, without conforming to the prevailing customs and to the traditions sanctioned by the legislation of the time" (No. 26).

Moreover, there is no indication in the history of the Church of women being called to Holy Orders. For instance, although women, including our Blessed Mother, were with the apostles in the "upper room" after the ascension (Acts 1:14), St. Peter addressed the "brothers" concerning the selection of a replacement for Judas, and the Eleven apostles chose Matthias, one of two men nominated (Acts 1:15ff). If we examine the Didache (the first manual of doctrine, morality, and spirituality of the Church written about AD 80 and attributed to the apostles) or to survey the writings of the Church Fathers, such as St. Clement (d. 101) and St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. 110) to name just two, we find clear testimony that men were chosen as bishops, priests and deacons. I remember Bishop Fulton Sheen once said, "If our Lord would have ordained women, He would have definitely ordained His own Blessed Mother, free of sin, but He did not." Therefore, the Church remains faithful to the type of ordained ministry willed by Christ and maintained by the apostles. The Catechism asserts, "The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself. For this reason, the ordination of women is not possible" (No. 1577). We will continue this answer next week examining the sacramental perspective.

This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.

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Acknowledgement

Saunders, Rev. William. "Women's Ordination - Part 1." Arlington Catholic Herald.

This article is reprinted with permission from Arlington Catholic Herald.

The Author

saunders1saundersFather William Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope parish in Potomac Falls, Virginia. He is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College. The above article is a "Straight Answers" column he wrote for the Arlington Catholic Herald. Father Saunders is the author of Straight Answers, a book based on 100 of his columns, and Straight Answers II.

Copyright © 2003 Arlington Catholic Herald