Why does the Church say that only men can be Catholic Priests?
Thank you for your question. I know that there is a lot of sadness from some women who would love to be Priests within the Catholic Church, as well as a false sense that the Church is a place where women are not seen as equals.
To begin with, then, let's be very clear that all Christians should see women and men as created equal by God. In Genesis we read how God searched amongst all creatures for a suitable companion for Adam, the first man, but did not find any of them to be suitable. So while Adam slept God created Eve from the very flesh and bones of Adam, so that when he awoke he could say "At last [a suitable companion]"! (Genesis 2:15-24). Eve is truly equal to Adam - "flesh of my flesh, bones of my bones."
Women also have a very important role in the life of Jesus: Mary, of course, without whom Jesus could not have been born. Then many, many encounters with women where Jesus shocked the people of his time by treating them as equals. Think of the way he met the Samaritan woman by the well (John 4:5-42), or the women caught in adultery who the men wanted to stone (John 8:1-11). We are told specifically (Luke 8:1-3, for example) that lots of women accompanied Jesus on his travels as he taught and preached.
However, there is a difference between a disciple and an apostle. Jesus had many hundreds of disciples - people who followed him. But from all of those he chose just twelve to be the ones with whom he shared the last supper, just twelve to be his closest followers, called by name. We cannot change the simple fact that all twelve were men. Sometimes people argue that Jesus was just following the conventions of his time, and that things are different now; that if Jesus was alive today he would choose men and women. The problem with that argument is that Jesus did challenge so many other things that were features of his time: he did challenge the oppression by the high priests, and by the Roman empire; he did challenge racial hatred and all sorts of prejudice; he did in fact - in the examples I have mentioned above, and many others - challenge a lot of prejudice against women. But when it came to the Twelve Apostles, he chose men.
That is the single main reason why the Catholic Church only has male Priests. Then there is the fact that in the earliest church we read of women serving in important ways, but never as Priests. So throughout the last 2,000 years the Church has never had women as Priests. To change now would be extremely unusual, because what the Church tries to do is to keep as strong a sense of continuity as possible with what has gone before. This can be a great strength: it means the Church stays constant even when there are changing fashions and trends in society.
In 1997 Pope John Paul II did close off debate on this issue, saying that only men should be ordained as priests, for all the reasons just given, and that was an end to it. The Code of Canon Law (all the rules of the church) says that only a baptized male may be validly ordained (Canon 1024). However, others argue that there should still be more discussion and openness. J. Winjnaards says, "Excluding women from the ministry of the Church is a clear form of ecclesiastical discrimination. It is my view, shared by other Scripture scholars and theologians, that the theological reasons given to support the exclusion of women from the priesthood are basically an attempt to justify the status quo and rest on a mistaken interpretation of the New Testament message. However disconcerting it may be to some, the discussion must therefore be continued until the truth in its totality is recognised and accepted".
Having said all of this, I return to the first point: the Church respects - just as Jesus did - the equality of men and women. No one is to be treated differently because of their gender, just as no-one is to be treated differently because of their colour, race, language or physical appearance. This does not mean, though, that we are all to do - or to be - exactly the same. We all have different, personal, vocations in life, and who we are does depend in part on whether we are male or female. Pope John Paul II wrote a letter specifically on this point in 1988. The letter was called Mulieris Dignitatem, "On the dignity and vocation of women," and you can read it by following this link to the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html
Finally, it is important to note that there are women with vital roles at the very highest levels of the Church. Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard Law Professor, now heads the Vatican department focussed on human rights. Whenever there is a meeting of world leaders on this issue it is Mary Ann Glendon and her team who go to represent the Pope. It is fair to say that the Church has some way to go to ensure that there are more women with key roles, but that would also be true in the whole of society. My own recent experience as a Priest has made it very clear to me that in the Diocese our church would fall apart without the number of committed women who are very, very involved, above all in youth ministry as teachers and catechists. I know the Youth Service team would be completely different without the women who I work with, and whose ideas I am glad about every single day!
Article Written: 24th April 2005
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