Catholics, what do you think of the thing that says no women can be priests?

Question

This really isn't a Catholic bashing thing at all. I'm a Christian, but not Catholic, and I wanted to know.

Answer 1

i dont think it is right.
god says all people are equal.
women and men can both be pure.
i dont understand why the rule is there.

Answer 2

As a Catholic woman, I'm perfectly okay with the fact that women are not priests. Women have many other roles in the Church, and women are treated as equals in the Catholic Church (something I could not always say when I was an evangelical protestant).

Women have been named saints and "doctors of the church" (meaning they write great theology that is helpful for all Catholics to study). At Mass, the most important thing is being able to RECEIVE the Holy Eucharist, which men and women do equally. Complaining about not being in the priesthood is equivalent to a woman who is invited to a wedding banquet complaining that she can't be one of the waiters. It's quite silly.

Answer 3

Personally, I have no problems with that. But the Catholic may change that in the future considering the shortage of priests and the change in times.

Women, however, are not allowed to be priests in the Catholic church simply because Canon Law specifies that a male is the only valid Matter for Holy Orders . This is based in the lack of authority for the Church to change what Christ established by choosing 12 males as His apostles. Females may go outside of the church and teach and preach, but she cannot be ordained.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2002/0201sbs.asp

Answer 4

I'm fine with it. There are many things women do in the Church, they do not need to be priests any more then men need to be nuns.

St. Paul tells us we are all one body of Christ and each body part has a particular purpose. But a foot cannot be a hand...nor vice versa. Each of us has a purpose in God's will and we do best fulfilling that particular purpose. We should not try to be something we are not called to be.

Jesus called all men to be his Apostles. Everything Jesus did and said had significance. You cannot just attribute it to the "time" in which he lived. He was God incarnate and would have had insight into all of time...therefore his selection of men was also significant.

It is silly for women to feel this is some how an insult...it's not. Men cannot do all the things women do, nor are they as good at some of the things women are good at. Each of us should seek God as we are, and in our place within the body of Christ. We are best suited to our calling.

This is not a rule of the Catholic church but a rule of God that the Church has no ability to change. The Church cannot change the laws and words of God, that is not her place anymore than a woman's place is in the priesthood.

Answer 5

Nothing actually says women cannot be priests they have just never ordained any women. Going by tradition, but nothing has ever been said No, they just have not said yes.

And to the guy above who said Cathlics are ok with it, it that is far from the truth.

And so you are aware 90% of ministry within the Catholic Church is done by lay (non priest) ministers. 80% done by women lay minister most certified and educated with Masters degrees in Theology.

Almost all ministry beyond the Mass is done by women. And alot of women do conduct communion services many places where Mass cannot be held. A communion Service done by a woman completely fulfills your Sunday obligation.

Answer 6

I'm a Catholic, but an admittedly liberal one, and don't see the reason for the continued ban on female priests. I know that opinion won't make me popular with some of my fellow Catholics, but that's too bad. I have a friend who's a female Episcopal priest, and she does a fine job. I've attended many services with female pastors, and never had a problem with it. I know all the standard arguments against female clergy, but honestly, they never made much sense to me.

Answer 7

It actually doesn't bother me. As a woman who has been catholic my whole life I have come to realize there are things about the catholic church that have just been traditions. Could it be changed and updated, yes. However, I when I go I can't say that it bothers me. It doesn't make me think that women are less able to preach the word of the Lord. I don't believe that your position in the church hierarchy will differentiate your love of spreading the word of the Lord.

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

God set up that a woman cannot preach or have authority over men.


But the Bible says that all believers are priests and kings. So that is women too

Answer 10

It is their religion. Religion sets rules and tradition and woman are not preist. So someone orchestrated the Catholic denomination so it is so it shall be. Why? They like it that way.

You invite yourself into drama,when you ask questions about a existing monopoly of religions.

Answer 11

At some point they are going to have to allow women to be ordained or there will be no priests at all.

They are already becoming more liberal by allowing widowers to be ordained and allowing girls to be altar servers.

A female priest would be just fine with me. She would bring a different perspective, as does a man who was once married and knows firsthand the dynamics within a family.