Catholics: Is my RCIA teacher teaching something heretical?

Question

Okay so I was in my RCIA course and the teacher was talking about women and their role and whatnot and then he said that he felt that anybody who says that a woman can't be an ordained minsiter or priest or deacon or whatnot was a damn heretic. Of course he actually put God before the words damn heretic. And he went on to say that even the Orthodox churches are letting women become deacons, and ministers and priests and whatnot. He aslo went on to say that Paul wrote to some letters to women preachers in his day and that Jesus says that what you shall bind on earth you bind in Heaven and what you set loose on Earth you set loose in Heaven. Anyway my response to what he said was that the church's stance on the matter is due to the fact that jesus only picked men to be his apostles to which he replied then if that's the case then their should be Jewish men who are circumisized who should be priests in the church as that's all that Jesus selected to which I had absolutely no reply.

Oh and about the Paul thing he said that Pual had absolutlely no problem with women as preachers in his time. My question is this is my RCIA teacher teaching anything heretical? By the way this isn't the only time he has said something about the church as he has said in the past that he also finds it heretical that the priests of the Roman church can't get married while they are allowed to do so in the Orthodox churches. By the way this is a Roman Catholiuc Church in which I am doing my RCIA course.

Well Cathy I'm sorry that you feel my psot is so long but there was a lot that needed to be said. And by the way I'm not tattle taling i'm just asking for people's opinions. Unfortunately you don't seem to be able to differentiate betweenm the two.

Answer 1

your rcia teacher is a heretic and is a wolve among lambs. tell him to go with you to the priest and express the same sentiments,if he refuses he knows he is a heretic and that the priest will refute all his claims. i highly recommend you stop attending rcia with this person, talk to your priest as to why,you can't let this person keep teaching you let alone others, all he is teaching is lies and falsehoods.

i don't even know where to begin in correcting his false teachings, can he provide proof for these letters to women from paul? can he find any document from the early church fathers,the first christians to back up this claim? ignore his comments and take action a.s.a.p

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/
this is a great site that will cover most if not all the topics you mentioned, try also www.askmeaboutgod.org
yuo can e mail this question there and receive an expert answer if you like.

jesus hand picked 12 apostles,all male from this the church assumes that because christ could have well included women or even a woman among his choosen group of "priests" but deliberatly decided not to is the way he wished it to be.
jesus certainly had a deep love and concern for women throughout his ministry but evidently he felt that these precious and faith filled disciples should serve the chhurch in other extremly crucial roles besides ordained ministry.

again talk to your priest,this is very serious i am glad you had the sense to be aware of it. god bless.

Answer 2

I would not go as so far as to say it is heretical but I think it is a view that would not find favor among even the most liberal theologians. First of all, women played a role as deaconesses in the church but if you read Acts 6 there were basically the ones that took over the duties of what the laity would today , while the apostles attended to the ministering to the word of God. There is no instance in the Scriptures where women held any ecclesiastical duties as you can see that in the first half of 1 Corinthians 11 where as could be a way the Church was run or at least the Church of Corinth at the time. As for a woman cannot being a priest, deacon etc that is an opinion of his and calling someone a heretic concerning this would have to be considered a faith and morals question and this is not. Your instructor to me is quite mistaken. In this case , everyone is entitled to their opinion and neither are heretical but your teacher should learn up a little on what is heretical or not before spouting off something to those who are trying to learn their faith before being accepted in the Church.

Answer 3

If your teacher was an RCIA teacher, then that person represents the Church and should have taught the Church's line. That person is also a poor representative of the Church for taking God's name in vain and for cursing. I recommend you talk to your pastor about it.
Besides that, I agree with the RCIA teacher, except for calling people a heretic. There is no reason why women should not be able to be ordained a deacon or a Priest for the reasons you cited. I just do not agree with how this person presented them-self to your group.

Answer 4

An RC teacher teaching truth instead of Roman Dogma.

In the eyes of the Roman Church he would be considered a heretic.
In the eyes of right thinking people he would be considered a hero for standing up for truth over dogma.

Timothy tells us that to be a bishop you must have an adult family of good standing in the community. This meant that priests had to be married, like they were in the jewish religion. Also Jesus never condemned jewish female priest which were around in his day.

Priests are celebate because the pagan priests of the temple of Vester were not allowed to touch women.

Paul was in fact into little boys like many of todays priests.

The Roman Church and its docrines bare little resemblance to the origional christian church.

Images were forbiden in places of worship. Until the introduction of the Isis statues to apeese the sun worshipers. The little round bread comes from the same pagan religion, and has just been renamed so it could be incorperated without too much fuss.

Answer 5

I'm in RCIA as well right now! And last week the priest (he's teaching it) also talked a little on the subject you mentioned... he said that he doesn't have a problem with a woman becoming a priest or priests being married etc. but some people are opposed to it, one woman (my sponsor) spoke up and said that she didn't think women should become priests. We talked only a little while about it and went back to a subject closer to Jesus. It was about humility. I mentioned how I think that without humility it is impossible to connect to God and His divine presence because pride gets in the way. I personally think that women should be able to be priests too, (Jesus was always trying to get people to see that women and men are the same in God's eyes) although as a Christian, I'm required to take after Jesus and humble myself under all authority as He did. Saints are better at this than many priests, pastors, bishops, cardinals... etc. (I guess because, as someone mentioned in class: "absolute power corrupts absolutely") So, I'd try and focus on Jesus and the saints... whether I was clergy or a lay person. To the person who said that thing about absolute power (in my class), I said that It doesn't have to be that way. God had/has absolute power, yet He humbled Himself through the person of Jesus... not that He had to, of course... and that God's people should do the same. Without humility our right-ness, our righteousness, our wisdom... etc. is nothing, they become like filthy rags. But when we humble ourselves before God, then all those things will remain and shine through.

Answer 6

Pope Benedict even said that Women could become Priests, but that the Roman Catholic Church doesn't have the power to ordain a Woman Priest. If, for instance, the Anglican (still a Catholic Church) and the Roman Catholic Churches were to be reconnected, there would be women priests. (at least for a time)

Answer 7

I think he is a bit dangerous. I agree with the others. Report him to the parish priest or if necessary to the bishop. I think he should not be allowed to teach against the teachings of the Catholic Church. I don't know if he is heretical but I think an investigation is in order and fraternal correction should be made. Maybe he could be in error. He can be corrected or reoriented but if he teaches dangerous doctrines he should be stopped. To err is human and to forgive divine. Forgive but be careful he may be leading people astray with his questionable example.

Answer 8

Your RCIA teacher should be reported to the Parish Priest immediately, if for no other reason than for using God's name in vain in front of a group of people. That's absolutely scandalous. RCIA is not a pulpit for personal opinions. It is designed to teach the basics of the Catholic faith to people aspiring to join the Church. I have been involved in RCIA a number of times. I know that this kind of behaviour would not be tolerated anywhere. Speak up about it, Please!

VB8

Answer 9

nicely, harm thoughts has greater to do with the way you tell the message, fairly than the message itself. RCIA, for a teenager drawing close affirmation, continues to be a decision. I knew a guy in my RCIA classification in severe college who refused affirmation as a results of fact he did no longer have self belief in a Triune God. it relatively is his decision, and the Church won't verify somebody who would not have self belief what's taught interior the Catechism. it relatively is like marrying somebody who would not settle for Catholic wedding ceremony vows, basically would not artwork. clarify your reasoning on your RCIA instructor. anticipate your instructor to a minimum of ask you questions approximately it, if no longer implore you to think of roughly it slightly greater heavily and maybe attempt to chat you back into this methodology. people who coach RCIA have self belief what they coach, and so a refusal would be respected yet no longer gently nor extremely. throughout the time of all of it, clarify it as your decision and proceed to be calm and non-shielding. If the instructor starts to get insulting, walk away. there is not any rationalization for that. at an identical time as i don't have self belief you would be responsive to each thing at sixteen, you're relatively able to rational thought and be responsive to-how severe reasoning.

Answer 10

You might want to take this to your RCIA teacher:

Women in the Priesthood
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.