Consecrated virgins - why only females?

[wkj_123]

Exactly. Which is why I sincerely ask you to stop spamming this thread- no one’s mind will be changed through this.

I can assure you that I have knowledge of the subject. I studied for a long time before RCIA. I went through RCIA. I “am” Catholic. Do you assume the only way people can reject the church is to be ignorant of her teachings? Hardly.

 

[Anicette]

Likewise only such physical virgins can be consecrated as such.

I don’t think it is always the case nowdays.

It is mandatory that a woman who is a candidate for the order of consecrated virgins had never been married or live maritaly. But the question of physical virginity seems no longer a requirement.

 

[OsculeturMeOsculo]

It seems like today’s culture is ignorant of most religious beliefs so that’s probably why people assume.

 

[semper_catholicus]

Priests are consecrated, and they’re also (hopefully) virgins. Technically they’re consecrated virgins. Haha.

 

[Maximilian75]

That’s exactly what I was trying to tell Rose.

I don’t think your mind can be changed through some thread on an Internet forum, no offense.

 

[PetraG]

I can assure you that I have knowledge of the subject. I studied for a long time before RCIA. I went through RCIA. I “am” Catholic. Do you assume the only way people can reject the church is to be ignorant of her teachings? Hardly.

When someone seeks to be received into the Church as an adult, they are asked by name:
[Name], of your own free will you have asked to be received into the full communion of the
Catholic Church. You have made your decision after careful thought under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit. I now invite you to come forward with your sponsors and in the presence of this
community to profess the Catholic faith. In this faith you will he one with us for the first time
at the eucharistic table of the Lord Jesus, the sign of the Church’s unity.

The candidate replies:
I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be
revealed by God.

It would be a sacrilege to say that and not mean it, although it is of course possible to have the desire to understand and fully accept all that one knows to be true without yet feeling that one has one’s head wrapped around it. The fullness of the faith is beyond our capacity to fully understand, after all.

It is possible to intellectually understand the teachings and not have the grace to accept them, and in that way to be invincibly ignorant (understanding that “invincible” is not the same as "permanent…) It is also possible, however, to understand the teachings and to pridefully take it upon oneself to reject them as beneath one’s own superior wisdom. Both reasons for rejecting the teachings of the Church are possible. It is a rejection of the faith, though. It is wrong. It may be a mistake made in good faith or it may be a sinful act of disobedience, but it is incorrect. Wrong.

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

In the traditional Catholic use of the term, a virgin is a woman who has never been physically penetrated.

Going by that definition, we would also have to exclude any girl/woman who has ever used a tampon, diva cup, or had a pap smear. See how that really doesn’t work?

Men cannot be virgins in this sense of the word.

Oh, you sweet summer child…

 

[twf]

Men can NOT be virgins in “that” sense of the word. This has nothing to do with a man’s sexual purity or lack thereof. I specifically referenced the Roman Martyrology. The official category of a sainted Virgin only applies to women who meet the criteria. The traditional understanding of the term, in this sense, refers to women who have not physically had sexual intercourse.

 

[TheAmazingGrace]

The traditional understanding of the term, in this sense, refers to women who have not physically had sexual intercourse.

Well, yeah. That’s the definition.

Men can NOT be virgins in “that” sense of the word.

Yeah they can.

 

[guanophore]

I “am” Catholic.

How curious. Why does your profile claim you are an atheist? Do you think someone has tampered with your account?

Do you assume the only way people can reject the church is to be ignorant of her teachings? Hardly.

While this is the most common reason, of course you are right that some people become hostile toward God for other reasons besides ignorance.

People who claim that they “know”, yet continue to reject God will be judged with greater strictness than the hapless ignorant.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. John 9:31

 

[guanophore]

No it’s a job I can assure you. Again you can call it a very important job, but a priest performs work for compensation.

You have claimed that you understand Catholic faith, but this is clearly not the case. You demonstrate by writing this that you do not understand the gifts and call of God whatsoever.

Perhaps you are resentful that you were not able to become a priest? Perhaps you need to discredit the nature of a vocation because you wanted one, but don’t have it?

I disagree. Men physically can’t have babies. We see women priests all the time in other religions.

I don’t know about “all the time”, but you are right, there are women priestesses in some other religions. This is not the case in Christianity. The sacrament of Holy Orders requires proper form, matter, and intention. Only a male is proper “matter”.

I promise you a woman could perform step by step every thing a priest does all day.

Forgive me, but your “promise” really holds little value in this matter. If a non-ordained person pretends to do the work of Holy Orders, they commit a sacrilege. They can do this “all day long”, and it will not make it valid.

All you can say is " yeah she can but God won’t recognize it.

On the contrary, I am sure that God recognizes such sacrilege fully. Those who do such things will have their blood upon their own heads.

God won’t allow a woman to confect the Eucharist or validly hear confession, even though she did all the steps

This is a testimony to the fact that it is not just a series of “steps”.

All your left with is God is now performing the discrimination. Please though don’t belittle women by saying there is some “natural” reason women can’t handle being a priest. Hogwash. The only thing holding a woman back from that role is God and the church, nothing else.

The inability for a woman to become a priest is not any more demeaning to her that it demeans a man not to be able to become pregnant. Perhaps you feel demeaned because you wanted to become a priest, and could not?

 

[guanophore]

Your not making sense. A priest is a man who gets up in the morning and performs work for the church. The church pays him a salary for the work he performs. It’s a job. You can call it a super important, even the most important job in the world if you feel so inclined, but it’s a job.

Actually, you are the one who is not making sense. Priests are not assigned to any duties until they are ordained, and may be removed from duties for various reasons. This does not make them unconsecrated with Holy Orders.

As much as you claim to have some “expertise” about the Catholic faith, you don’t seem to now anything about priests that take vows of poverty, and retain no income or goods for their service. The existence of priests who are members of religious orders completely invalidates your argument here.

You have demonstrated that you do not understand the call to vocation.

 

[OsculeturMeOsculo]

I thought wkj_123 was boy.

 

[guanophore]

I thought wkj_123 was boy.

I thought so too, but a person can harbor a resentment because they can’t enter the priesthood if they are a male or a female.

 

[Gingersnaps4]

Even if you put a woman through an ordination ceremony, it wouldn’t DO anything. It’s not a JOB it’s a sacrament that puts an indelible mark on those who receive it. And think about it this way. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to protect the church, and promised it would. There’s no way there would have been an INFALLIBLE teaching on women and holy orders if it weren’t the truth. So, those that are mad about this are really just mad at God. His ways are not our ways. yes, it is hard to understand sometimes. He obviously thought there are things about the nature of men that would be better suited for the role of our shepherds.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

But the question of physical virginity seems no longer a requirement.

It’s still required, the exception is a victim of rape.

 

[Cruciferi]

The only thing holding a woman back from that role is God and the church, nothing else.

And I’m fine with it

 

[Roseeurekacross]

i think well before I post, and you are still atheist, regardless. I stand by my conclusions.

You prove them true by applying modern secular thinking to religious tradition.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

there are also consecrated widows. I have a friend who is a consecrated widow.

 

[AdamP88]

In reading about the Vatican’s new rules relating to consecrated virgins, I was surprised to discover that the vocation is only open to women.

Why are men excluded?

In the Tradition of the Church, only women were honoured as virgins.