SA’s woman priest

Predictably the ordination to the priesthood of a South African nun has stirred controversy in the local Church.

It must be understood clearly that this act of ordination was illicit and illegal in canon law. Sr Patricia Fresen’s priestly faculties are considered invalid in the Roman Catholic Church. As one of South Africa’s leading theologians
– one who has taught many of our priests – she will have been aware of the penalties she might incur by breaking canon law. This may very well be the ultimate penalty the Church can apply: excommunication.

Whether or not one agrees with Dr Fresen’s action or the reasoning behind it, one should not dispute that her decision must have been an agonising one, reached after much introspection
soul searching. By accepting ordination, Dr Fresen has effectively divorced herself from the Church she served loyally for many decades, and from the order she belonged to for 44 years. At the age of 62, she has taken a step that will doubtlessly alienate her from much of what hitherto has defined her life. She would also have understood that her actions would be distressing to her
fellow Dominican sisters.

It would be fatuous, therefore, to diminish her ordination as being an ill-considered and immature act of rebellion. Dr Fresen knew what she was doing. Presumably she discerned no alternative answer to what she felt was a call from God.

As Christians we are called to be compassionate. Whatever our feelings about the ordination of women, we may not lose sight of this central element of our faith
While excommunication seems inevitable, one may pray that an alternative resolution may present itself, unlikely though this seems.

Meanwhile, the local Church will have to come to terms with having lost the service of one of its most acute intellects.

Invariably, the debate about women’s ordination will now intensify. Her ordination, and some of the reaction to it, show that for sections in the Church the issue is not settled. While Pope John Paul in Ordinatio sacertodalis (1994) ruled out women’s ordination unequivocally and definitively, the underlying arguments have failed to persuade its critics.

As far as the theory is concerned, the discourse will inevitably continue. In practice, however, there is virtually no prospect of the pope, or his successors, altering the doctrine governing the ordination of women.

It would be unhelpful to accuse the pope of discrimination against women in barring them from the priesthood. More than one commentator has suggested that Pope John Paul never said that he didn’t want to ordain women, but stated that he can’t do so. Indeed, it does not seem implausible that in his heart Pope John Paul would like to include women in Holy Orders if only he
saw a way to do so.

Likewise, nothing is to be gained by disparaging those who believe that there is a cogent rationale for conferring holy orders on women.

Only mature and reasoned dialogue about the possibility of women priests can produce a convincing set of propositions that might finally settle the question definitively to the satisfaction of all Catholics.