Justice in the Church: Gender and Participation by Benedict M. Ashley, O.P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 323 what is being taught in our schools: well over half of the states mandate the incorporation of environmental concepts into virtually every subject at every grade in grammar and high schools. Often what is at stake is not only an economic system but biblically based faith itself. Because the future of the Church in this country may hinge on the present struggle for authentic Catholic teaching in our colleges and universities, Fr. Fortin's essays on education are probably the timeliest in this collection. A notion of their range can be gathered from some of the titles: "Christian Education and Modern Democracy," "Rome and the Theologians," and-my favorite because it sets John Tracy Eilis's essay on American Catholics and intellectuality in proper perspective-"Do We Need Catholic Universities?", which he wrote for the quarterly of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. Concordia University ofWisconsin Mequon, Wisconsin PATRICKG. D. RILEY Justice in the Church: Gender and Participation. By BENEDICT M. AsHLEY, 0.P. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1996. Pp. 234. $39.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8132-0857-2 (cloth), 0-8132-0858-0 (paper). Fr. Benedict Ashley has followed the debate on the women's ordination closely, and in these pages he offers a well-reasoned defense of the tradition in dialogue with the questions people are really asking: How can the Church preach justice and not practice it? How can it proclaim the equality of women and men and then deny women the possibility of priestly ordination, and thus of equal participation in ecclesial decision making? Why should maleness be a qualification for priesthood in the Catholic Church? Why should masculine symbols be privileged in Christian discourse about God? What is the basis for male "headship" and female "subordination" in the family, and how can this be reconciled with contemporary teaching on women's equality with men? How can women's equal dignity be made visible in the Church? To each ofthese Ashley gives straightforward, often unpopular, answers. He tackles this topic by way of "a theoretical theological solution" (68), and relegates to appendix 1 his detailed response-a tour de force!-to the usual objections put to the Magisterium's arguments from Scripture, Tradition, and the analogy of faith. He comments on the authoritative status of Ordinatio sacerdotalis in appendix 3. 324 BOOK REVIEWS Ashley grasps the force of the feminist critique and recognizes the justice of women's demand for equal participation in the life of the Church. Nevertheless , he takes issue with many of the premises and conclusions of feminist theology. (His extended dialogue with Elizabeth Johnson's She Who Is in appendix 2 makes this clear.) He is convinced that androcentric, patriarchal bias and abuse can be corrected without overthrowing the fundamental principles by which society is ordered and without rejecting universal, natural human symbols. Thus, he defends hierarchy, the complementary symbolism of male-female, and the male headship role in the family. In addition, he believes that sexism within the Church can be corrected without abandoning the male-only priesthood, dismissing maleness as theologically irrelevant to the revelation of God in Christ, or eliminating male-gendered language for God. This is a bold book! It is also fascinating, as Ashley, who in many respects follows Aquinas, is forthright in dealing with the chief counterclaims to his position. The argument is laid out in four chapters: "Equal and Unequal Disciples," "Passive and Active Laity," "Men and Hierarchy," and "Women and Worship." The recapitulation in the conclusion, "Justice in the Church," is somewhat sketchy. The full force of his case is revealed only by reading the appendices. A seasoned moral theologian, Ashley takes the "justice question" with utter seriousness. He first discusses "justice" and "equality" in terms of political philosophy; these are matters that pertain to the right ordering of any human community. From the outset he is concerned with persons as they coexist in human communities-the family, the state, the Church. By considering ecclesial justice in the larger context of the natural law and politics, Ashley makes a genuinely new contribution to this debate. In chapter 1 he argues that the "functional inequality...