Catholics,why can't you have women priests, are men "better" or closer to god than women?

Question

Just a tiny bit sexist don't you think?But you love Mary right?

Answer 1

No, it's very very sexist, not just a tiny bit.

When you come down to it, the reason we don't have female priests is because the Church is run by a bunch of very conservative old men who don't want women priests. They say they are speaking for God, but as a practicing Catholic, I have the right to say that my conscience says "That's bull shift."

And yes, I love Mary as much as I love all my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Answer 2

It isn't a superiority of personage or function, it is simply tradition.

Centuries ago, when the RCC was formed into the layers we have today (deacons, elders, priests, nuns, monks, etc) there was a great debate on how the church should "look". What should the jobs be, and how should they be filled? One brother (Origen was his name, I think) argued that the priesthood should be modeled on the Old Testament Priesthood, which God had established for the nation of Isreal. One High Priest would rule over a system of priests, who it turn would perform various religious services.

One of the things that "crossed over" from Judaism into Christianity was the tradition of male-only priests. There were no "priestesses" in Judaism, never had been, never would be, so there are none in Roman Catholicism. It isn't that women are "less important" or "further away from God", or anything like that, it is just a different function based on gender.

Women may certainly do many things in the church. They just can't be priests. No big deal. There are many things that men can not do also, they just don't get as much press!

Being a priest is not like taking a political office, contrary to popular belief. And women DO have a voice in the Church.

For more information, try logging on to www.newadvent.org the official Catholic encyclopedia online.

Answer 3

Quite the opposite, actually.

Women are ESTEEMED byt he Church. The laws regarding marriage and sexuality ALL protect women and children.

There are no women priests because that's the way JESUS made it. He could have chosen men for the priesthood. Social norms at the time had nothing to do with it- he violated them all the time.

It also makes sense. Catholics believe the priest acts in persona Christi ( in the person of Christ)- Jesus was a man. In Ephesians, Paul compares the relationship of Christ and the Church to a marriage, and refers the the Church as the Bride of Christ ( the comparison exists elsewher in scripture, too). It makes no sense that a priest be anything but MALE so he may take the Church as His Bride, also.

Answer 4

Its sexist only because of "todays" reasoning. Christians (early 1st century and true ones today) consider it a "loving and caring" response to the females of our race.

The Bible says that Eve was created as a Helpmate to Adam, someone to help me, but was 'different' from him. While according to the Bible, Adam gave the 'seed of life' the female gave the Life "form" while carrying it in her womb for 9 months. So, from that perspective alone, man gave life, while women gave form to life.

Then when the Early Christian Church (circa 35 B.C.E.) was being formed and the new rules were being laid down (after all, before this EVERYONE WAS JEWISH, NOW GENTILES (NON-JEWS) were allowed into this NEW Sect of Judaism that was not yet BIG ENOUGH to be called a religion. So, the Church Elders and Apostles were writing to each others, laying down new rules (and at the same time creating our Bible Books!) about how to worship as a Christian and not just a Jew, but a "spiritual jew who was circumscised of the heart and not of the flesh." So, now even the Jews no longer had to be circumscised, because Christianity didn't call for it, it was your heart and attitude and the 'way you lived your life as an example for others' that made you a Christian.

The Early Church was called "THE BRIDE OF CHRIST" in the Bible. The Bible even states that "as God is the Head of Christ, so Christ is the Head of His Bride (the church) and the Elder's and Wise men are head of the Congregation, and the Husband is head of the home, etc. This is a true LOVING relationship where the husband should be ready to LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS WIFE IN THE SAME MANNER CHRIST DID FOR HIS BRIDE! How loving is that? ALSO, it says that while teaching in front of a true christian brother a woman should cover her head (to show TRUE HUMILITY to God's organization and how he has it set up IN FRONT OF THE ANGELS! - Corinthians 11:10 in Greek: "Therefore the woman shall have exousia [right, power, authority] on her head for the sake of the angels.") THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT A WOMAN IS ANY LESS IMPORTANT THAN A MAN!!! IN NO WAY! What IT DOES MEAN is that it takes 2, both MAN AND WOMAN, here ON EARTH as part of the Christs' Bride (the Church) and that each one plays a different part.

NOTICE = the woman IS TEACHING when she covers her HEAD! So, therefore we cannot say that she does not have the right to teach! Just that there are 'otherworldly' creatures, such as Demons, Angels and Fallen Angels ALL WATCHING how we act in God's Organization.

Answer 5

To be exalted approach to turn out to be a God or Goddess and feature all that God has. While this entails the capacity to have kids for the duration of eternity, this doesn't suggest that guys or females shall be re-effective paintings-horses. What does God do? That's what exalted beings shall be doing. We do not know all that God does for paintings or enjoyement in heaven however something else there's, we will be able to experience it too. Exaltation is approximately everlasting benefits and happiness for all that qualify. So something all we will be able to be doing in heaven we wont be depressing. We'll be fulfilled and completely satisfied past description.

Answer 6

Yeah, we love Mary. Women always have and always will be an integral part of the Catholic faith. Among the "Doctors of the Church" (people whose inspirational writings help lead the Church), there are women. Among the leadership of all Catholic ministries, there are women. Among the saints, there are *many* women.

The role of the priesthood is to act "in persona Christi" or "in the person of Christ." Christ is male -- for whatever reason, God chose to bring Him to earth as male. His maleness is an important part of His humanity. (And if Christ had been female, her femaleness would have been just as important.) So the people acting "in persona Christi" need to reflect that maleness.

Suppose some great filmmaker was making a movie about Abraham Lincoln and they wanted to cast a very fine actor in the role. Suppose they cast Meryl Streep? She's a wonderful actor, among the best ever in the business. But casting her to play Abe Lincoln in a major motion picture would be saying something about him! It would be saying either that he wasn't really a man or that his manhood didn't matter. It would be rather appalling -- and it wouldn't be a slight to Meryl Streep to say so.

So it is with those who are acting "in persona Christi." To put a woman in this role is to make a statement that either Christ isn't male or that it's okay to strip Him of His manhood, and thus His humanity. I think it's an insult to Him to do either one.

Furthermore, the most important part of the Sacraments (any of them) is to be able to RECEIVE them. It doesn't really matter who is administrating them, because that person has died to self and lives for Christ. The most important part is being able to receive, and men and women can receive the Sacraments equally (with the minor caveat that Holy Orders are vocations to the priesthood for men only, and vocations to the religious life for women as well as men.)

A woman complaining that she can't be a priest is like the woman invited to a splendid wedding banquet complaining that she can't be one of the banquet waiters. Rather silly, isn't it?

Answer 7

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 8

The Catholic Church currently teaches:

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.

For more information see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 1577: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt3.htm#1577

With love in Christ.

Answer 9

I admit that I am not qualified to answer this question as I am no Catholic, therefore I will offer only opinion. I think there are a lot of items regarding the Catholic church that are in need of reformation. Did they honestly believe they could receive forgiveness for their sins by payment of currency? And what is the real difference between annulment and divorce, except for payment to the church?

Answer 10

I'm not a catholic, but just because something may appear sexist does not mean it is wrong. There were (supposedly) no females within the twelve disciples, and the priesthood is supposed to be direct lineage from them.