Female Catholic Priests?

Question

Whether or not it is fair... what is the reasoning behind the Church not having females in the priesthood?

Answer 1

Pastor Billy says the same reason why men can't be mothers God did not make it that way.

I think you should look up the doctrine of persona Christi. The priest is male because Jesus was male. When the priesthood celebrate the sacraments they do so in the stead of Jesus Christ.

I have to ask you why do females want to be priests? Women can teach in the Church can be lectors, can run many other apostulates (ministries) and service in many other functions.

Basically all the functions performed by woman in communities outside of Catholicism are performed by them in the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is unique and so is the Catholic priesthood which is led by the man Jesus.


I suggest you read this article
http://www.crisismagazine.com/march2002/feature4.htm

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese is the author of Feminism Is Not the Story of My Life and Eleonore Raoul Professor of the Humanities at Emory University. Asked about the notion that Christ's maleness was "accidental," Fox-Genovese found the idea to be "errant nonsense."

"The essence of Catholicism lies in the Eucharist, specifically the real presence in the Eucharist," she noted. "To argue that Jesus was only 'accidentally' male is precisely to attack that real presence and hence strike a dagger at the heart of the faith. But then, I strongly suspect (not to be uncharitable) that that is the whole point. One of the great beauties and strengths of the Catholic faith-in addition to its being Truth-lies in its insistence upon embodiment (an insistence that it shares with Judaism, but not Protestantism). We are both body and soul, and everything turns upon the interrelation and interdependence of the two. Thus, 'the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us'; we believe in the resurrection of the body; we believe in the real presence in the Eucharist. Arguments for women's ordination implicitly-and often explicitly-necessarily attack the foundations of Catholicism because they take the Protestant turn of arguing for the significance of symbolism over substance (or reality). This path rapidly leads away from the understanding of Christ as both God and man; it completely does away with the Blessed Mother as the Theotokis (the mother of God); and, of course, it points toward the denial of the authority of the Magisterium."



"Critics of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis question whether proper use of authority was used by the Vatican in formulating the Church's official position on women's ordination. But this line of assault is ultimately impotent, as many dissenters themselves concede. Orthodoxy recognizes that in this matter, as in others, the Church exercises a wisdom that goes well beyond the impoverished political categories of the present age. Those who would homogenize both human sexuality and ministerial roles in search of a putative "equality" and "empowerment" for women are missing the point. By sanitizing the sacrament of holy orders to make it fit the agenda of secular feminism, advocates of women's ordination would wreck the very prize they pretend to covet. The priesthood they seem to want may not be a priesthood worth having."

Answer 2

Jesus chose 12 male apostles. It is not that the Catholic church doesn't want to ordain women, its just that the church can't because God didn't give us the power. Jesus chose the first bishops, the apsotles, all of whom were men. Jesus ignored many social norms of his day, which is why the argument about saying he was simply following his time is unfounded, many cultures of the day had priestesess.

The apostles in turn chose male successors, reinforing Catholic belief. If you want biblical sources try Acts 2:21-26, and Acts 6:1-7.

The Catholic church does teach that all are part of a holy priesthood to the extant that all can worhsip God, but you are reffering to men specifically reffered to as priests. These men are ordained by the successors of the apostles, and carry out Christ's work here on earth by performing the sacraments. That is there role, lay people have the role of bringing God's word to places the priest can't or won't go by living a Christian life.

Nuns, who are actually the female version of monks not priests, often perform charitable work like many monks and lay brothers do. Cloistered nuns typically produce communion hosts in order to give them an integral part in the greater life of the church.

Everyone has a role, Jesus never suggests in the Bible that anyone is better than anyone, but it does add credence ot the idea that everyone has different roles in society. The Bible even mentions Episkapos (Bishops), Presbyters (Priests) and Deacons in several places in the new testament, but I can't remember the exact verses sorry. It seems that people automatically link different roles with different importance, I guess it is probibly more like the real world, but that is not what is/was intended.

Hope this helps, the Vatican issued a document explaining this a little over 2 years? ago, you could probibly find it at their website or on google.

Answer 3

Priests are called to act "in persona Christi" ... in the place of ... and like the very person ... of Christ.

Jesus is a man. Jesus was celibate. Jesus gave his life for his friends. Jesus offered his body and blood to his Father in heaven, for the forgiveness of sins.

Priests are called to do all of these things and more, and the fact remains that Jesus never called any females to the ministerial priesthood, nor did the apostles, or any of the popes.

If Jesus had wanted to ordain women as priests, he could have included women in the original group of the apostles, or he could at least have had a female Levitical priest, in ancient times.

He did neither.

If anything, his own mother Mary would have made a great priest. She was certainly holy enough for the job, yet she was not invited to the priesthood.

For all the reasons above and more, the church does not believe it has the authority to ordain women as priests.

Women are included in the "royal priesthood" of all believers though, just like every other Christian.

Answer 4

There are a quantity of motives no longer the least is that the Roman Catholic culture is in appeasement to Jesus's Crucifixion ! It may be good recognized Mary Magdalene used to be an performing Priestess. Also within the historical religions ladies outnumbered the guys in priesthood due to the fact that of the logo of fertility and of the earth growing and due to the fact that just a lady can produce in nature and abundantly. When the historical religions had been denounced by means of the concept of a one and just one Godhead the present dominate buildings of male armies and male corporations desired and select guys as symbols of the brand new priesthood. Women had been notion to be regulated to a supportive position and records of any lady gambling a authoritative position used to be suppressed, St.Catharine of Sienna is regarded a ordinary illustration. This didn't quit ladies from fitting Saints or ordained for Sainthood regardless that.

Answer 5

Pope Paul VI, quoted by Pope John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, wrote, "[The Church] holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."

i'm quoting not agreeing....

Answer 6

Because Jesus and all the Apostles were male. Only the Apostles received the Holy Spirit to forgive sins, no women did.

"Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination." The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry....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.

Answer 7

The Catechism of the Catholic Church currently states:

The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry.

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.

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

Some churches, not many but some, go by an outdated text book referred to as the bible. I like to read it sometimes and should you wish to do so it would have text given the expectations of the woman and different roles in this life - true many modern changes have taken place and therefore many feel these churches are outdated.

Answer 9

Gen. 3:15; Luke 1:26-55; John 19:26; Rev. 12:1- Mary is God's greatest creation, was the closest person to Jesus, and yet Jesus did not choose her to become a priest. God chose only men to be priests to reflect the complimentarity of the sexes. Just as the man (the royal priest) gives natural life to the woman in the marital covenant, the ministerial priest gives supernatural life in the New Covenant sacraments.

Judges 17:10; 18:19 – fatherhood and priesthood are synonymous terms. Micah says, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest.” Fathers/priests give life, and mothers receive and nurture life. This reflects God our Father who gives the life of grace through the Priesthood of His Divine Son, and Mother Church who receives the life of grace and nourishes her children. In summary, women cannot be priests because women cannot be fathers.

Mark 16:9; Luke 7: 37-50; John 8:3-11 - Jesus allowed women to uniquely join in His mission, exalting them above cultural norms. His decision not to ordain women had nothing to do with culture. The Gospel writers are also clear that women participated in Jesus' ministry and, unlike men, never betrayed Jesus. Women have always been held with the highest regard in the Church (e.g., the Church's greatest saint and model of faith is a woman; the Church's constant teaching on the dignity of motherhood; the Church's understanding of humanity as being the Bride united to Christ, etc.).

Mark 14:17,20; Luke 22:14 - the language "the twelve" and "apostles" shows Jesus commissioned the Eucharistic priesthood by giving holy orders only to men.

Gen. 14:10; Heb. 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:15,17 - Jesus, the Son of God, is both priest and King after the priest-king Melchizedek. Jesus' priesthood embodies both Kingship and Sonship.

Gen. 22:9-13 - as foreshadowed, God chose our redemption to be secured by the sacrificial love that the Son gives to the Father.

Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19 - because the priest acts in persona Christi in the offering to the Father, the priest cannot be a woman.

Mark 3:13 - Jesus selected the apostles "as He desired," according to His will, and not according to the demands of His culture. Because Jesus acted according to His will which was perfectly united to that of the Father, one cannot criticize Jesus' selection of men to be His priests without criticizing God.

John 20:22 - Jesus only breathed on the male apostles, the first bishops, giving them the authority to forgive and retain sins. In fact, the male priesthood of Christianity was a distinction from the priestesses of paganism that existed during these times. A female priesthood would be a reversion to non-Christian practices. The sacred tradition of a male priesthood has existed uncompromised in the Church for 2,000 years.

1 Cor. 14:34-35 - Paul says a woman is not permitted to preach the word of God in the Church. It has always been the tradition of the Church for the priest or deacon alone (an ordained male) to read and preach the Gospel.

1 Tim. 2:12 - Paul also says that a woman is not permitted to hold teaching authority in the Church. Can you imagine how much Mary, the Mother of God, would have been able to teach Christians about Jesus her Son in the Church? Yet, she was not permitted to hold such teaching authority in the Church.

Rom. 16:1-2 - while many Protestants point to this verse denounce the Church's tradition of a male priesthood, deaconesses, like Phoebe, were helpers to the priests (for example, preparing women for naked baptism so as to prevent scandal). But these helpers were never ordained.

Luke 2:36-37 - prophetesses, like Anna, were women who consecrated themselves to religious life, but were not ordained.

Isaiah 3:12 – Isaiah complains that the priests of ancient Israel were having their authority usurped by women, and this was at the height of Israel’s covenant apostasy.

Answer 10

I believe a woman can preach,teach,and be a prophet of the word of God but not be a pastor of a church that would be upsurp of authority.Lets go to Galatians: 3:27&28 it reads For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ.28, Thereis neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.