Church and Society: The Laurence J. McGinley Lectures, 1988-2007

15. Priesthood and Gender: April 10, 1996

15 Priesthood and Gender April ,  T he most controversial statement that has come from the Holy See during the pontificate of John Paul II concerns the priestly ordination of women. On Pentecost Sunday, 1994, Pope John Paul II issued a brief letter, Ordinatio sacerdotalis, which concluded with the words, ‘‘In order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare 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.’’1 The Convergent Argument On October 28, 1995, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, in a document approved by the pope, responded to a question put to it about whether the teaching of Ordinatio sacerdotalis was to be understood as belonging to the deposit of the faith. After replying in the affirmative, the Congregation added that the doctrine, founded on the written word of God, had been constantly held in the tradition of the Church, and has been infallibly set forth by the ordinary and universal magisterium. In his apostolic letter, therefore, the pope was not making the teaching infallible but confirming a teaching that was already infallible for the reasons stated. Ordinatio sacerdotalis is the culmination of a long series of documents issued under Paul VI and John Paul II since 1975. In these documents the 205 206 兩 Church and Society case against women’s ordination is made under four principal headings: Bible, tradition, theological reasoning, and magisterial authority. These components are not to be taken in isolation but in convergence, since none of them is an independent authority. According to Vatican II, ‘‘Sacred tradition, sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together, each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls’’ (DV 10). The biblical component in the argument is twofold: first, that Christ did not call women to the apostolic ministry, since he selected only men as members of the Twelve; and second, that the apostles themselves, faithful to the practice of Christ, chose only men for priestly offices, those of bishop, presbyter, and their equivalents. The argument from tradition is that the Catholic bishops have always observed the norm of conferring sacred orders only on men, whereas sects that ordained women to the priesthood, or permitted them to perform priestly functions, were denounced as heretical. The fathers of the early centuries and the theologians of the Middle Ages regarded the question as settled.2 Since the sixteenth century Catholic theologians have regularly characterized the Church’s practice as grounded in divine law and have judged the opposed position as heretical or at least verging on heresy.3 The theological reasoning is to the effect that the ministerial priest shares in a representative way in the office of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church, and must therefore be, like Christ, of the male sex. A woman could not suitably represent Christ in this particular capacity. The teaching of the magisterium, as the fourth component, has likewise been constant. In the early centuries many bishops and a few popes spoke to the question, and over the past twenty years or more, explicit statements from the Holy See have made it clear that the hierarchical magisterium is unwavering in holding that the ministerial priesthood cannot be exercised by women. Impressive though this convergent argument is, it has not dispelled all doubt. Since about 1970 a number of voices have been raised, even in the Catholic Church, favoring the admission of women to priestly orders. Although many of the faithful have been convinced by the official pronouncements of recent years, others have responded negatively. The critics include theologians of acknowledged professional competence. The Priesthood and Gender 兩 207 objections they have raised to the standard arguments cannot be written off as merely flippant. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has itself acknowledged, in another context, that the difficulties raised against magisterial teaching can sometimes ‘‘contribute to real doctrinal progress and provide a stimulus to the magisterium to...