The women priests debate

by Editor · July 2, 2008

The Vatican�s statement last month reiterating that Catholic women who are ordained to the priesthood, and those ordaining them, are automatically excommunicated, has reanimated the debate about women priests.

Opponents of the ordination of women to the priesthood believe that this debate was closed with Pope John Paul II�s 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which outlined why the Church does not regard itself competent to permit the ordination of women, citing theological justifications for its position. In the debate on women priests, this is crucial: the absence of a conclusive theological basis in support of women in the ministerial priesthood.

Invariably the discussion becomes clouded by reference to patriarchalism, or even personal preference. The experience of the Anglican and Lutheran churches, which have women pastors (and the latter even bishops), shows that women are at least as competent as men in providing the pastoral care required of their ministry. There is no reason to believe that women would be any less qualified than men in carrying out the priestly functions in the Catholic Church, if this was permissible.

Arguments against women priests, such as those that refer to hormonal mood swings, are not only superficial but entirely irrelevant. The practical pros and cons of women priests � be it personal attributes or a shortage of priestly vocations � do not matter.

The debate on women priests can be rooted only in theology. And here�s the crunch: while Ordinatio Sacerdotalis seems to communicate that the theological inquest can go no further and is therefore closed (hence its release in first place), there are those who believe that this conclusion was premature. More than that, some will argue that the theological inquest into themes where neither divine revelation nor historical documentation has provided absolute clarity, as opposed to conjecture, can never be concluded. One such question, they will argue, concerns the role of women in holy orders.

It is for this reason that outside the hierarchy the debate on women priests has not been put to rest. The theological investigation will continue to explore subjects such as the nature and role of Catholic tradition in the Church�s teachings, gender politics in the Church throughout history, exegesis of ancient texts, and so on.

This need not be a divisive endeavour; indeed, on-going and sincere theological study is necessary for the Church�s health�in support or in repudiation of the present teaching. There is no dissent in trying to discern or test the truth.
Whatever merits the theological arguments for the ordination of women may have, however, it would be unwise for the Church to countenance a change in its teaching without having first arrived at a definitive theological solution.

Pope John Paul�s statement in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that �the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church�s faithful� cannot preclude further theological inquest. Indeed, that statement leaves open the possibility for new insights, even as the rest of the apostolic letter expresses little hope that these might be procured.

One day God may reveal, through the medium of theology, his wish that the ministerial priesthood be conferred upon women. Until then, we must indeed hold that the Church has no authority to ordain women, and that those women who in Church law are illicitly ordained, cannot exercise their vocation within the Catholic Church.