Do women have no voice in church teaching?

  • Thread starter Thread starter HeWillProvide
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

HeWillProvide

Guest
Is it accurate to say that since women cannot be bishops, popes, archbishops, or anyone else in the church hierarchy, they have no voice when it comes to deciding church policy and doctrine?
 
HeWillProvide said:
Is it accurate to say that since women cannot be bishops, popes, archbishops, or anyone else in the church hierarchy, they have no voice when it comes to deciding church policy and doctrine?
Click to expand...
You are really asking two questions. I’ll start by answer that women hold a prominent role within the Church and certainly have a voice within the Church. For one reacent example one only has to look towards Mother Teresa. She had/has a voice in the Church. Of the thirty three “Doctors of the Church” I believe that three are women. That’s quite a voice. And, let’s certainly not forget that the only person (now Saint) for whom we have hyperdulia is the Blessed Virgin Mary, a woman! I think some could argue that the most influential power in the Church, besides the trinity, is Jesus’s mother!

Now having said that, ultimately, doctrine is determined by God. Bishops, Priests, Sisters, Brothers, and the rest of us are just the vehicles that are used to transmit what God has already established.
 
HeWillProvide said:
Is it accurate to say that since women cannot be bishops, popes, archbishops, or anyone else in the church hierarchy, they have no voice when it comes to deciding church policy and doctrine?
Click to expand...
The only one who has a voice is the Holy Spirit.
 
The Pope, Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, prelatical priests, priests and deacons do not make up Church teaching. God makes the laws and those especially entrusted to do so (bishops) interpret, teach, and implement His teachings.

For example, God made Mary Assume to Heaven. God did it. Pope Pius XII just wrote the document, Munificentissimus Deus, in 1950, to declare it as binding on all Catholics.

And if you think about it, this isn’t about having power or prestige or anything. In a way of thinking, the Pope is the servant–one of his titles is Servus Servorum Dei, that is, Servant of the Servants of God–of all Christians in this manner.
 
As others have said, Church doctrine is not something that is voted on by priests and bishops. We receive what was first handed down to us.

That said, it seems your larger question is regarding the role of women in the Church. Not only do we have the great female saints of history, even today there are many women who work tirelessly for the Church – whether in Catholic universities, Catholic hospitals, Diocesan offices, parishes, etc., etc.

Just go to a religious ed conference and count the number of men vs. women. I guarantee you will find a much higher percentage of women at such events than the average.

But of course, it is not a competition. We all ought to be about building up the Church in any way we can. And we all (whether man or woman) have countless avenues available for us to do just that.
 
HeWillProvide said:
Is it accurate to say that since women cannot be bishops, popes, archbishops, or anyone else in the church hierarchy, they have no voice when it comes to deciding church policy and doctrine?
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure Saint Theresa of Avalia has answered your question.
 
I don’t have my printed copy in front of me, but I recall there being a number of women in the Catechism’s index cross referenced to various teachings.
 
I’m glad to see everyone saying the same thing: men do not have a voice in Church teaching, only the Holy Spirit does.
 
HeWillProvide said:
Is it accurate to say that since women cannot be bishops, popes, archbishops, or anyone else in the church hierarchy, they have no voice when it comes to deciding church policy and doctrine?
Click to expand...
No.
May God bless all who visit CAF. Amen.
 
YoungTradCath said:
The Pope, Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, prelatical priests, priests and deacons do not make up Church teaching. God makes the laws and those especially entrusted to do so (bishops) interpret, teach, and implement His teachings.

For example, God made Mary Assume to Heaven. God did it. Pope Pius XII just wrote the document, Munificentissimus Deus, in 1950, to declare it as binding on all Catholics.

And if you think about it, this isn’t about having power or prestige or anything. In a way of thinking, the Pope is the servant–one of his titles is Servus Servorum Dei, that is, Servant of the Servants of God–of all Christians in this manner.
Click to expand...
Very well said!
 
estesbob said:
The only one who has a voice is the Holy Spirit.
Click to expand...
I was ready to give this answer a thumbs up a few minutes ago 👍 but after thinking about it, I believe the voice or “Word” of God is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus. It is true that the Holy Spirit guides the Church in Truth. However, it is through the Word of God, Jesus, that we follow what He has established here on earth.
 
zab said:
I was ready to give this answer a thumbs up a few minutes ago 👍 but after thinking about it, I believe the voice or “Word” of God is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus. It is true that the Holy Spirit guides the Church in Truth. However, it is through the Word of God, Jesus, that we follow what He has established here on earth.
Click to expand...
You worded it better than I would have. Tradition is the teaching of Jesus as given directly to the Apostles.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has come into being. What came into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.[John 1:1-4]
The teachings of Christ, the doctrine of the Church, were entrusted to the Apostles and their descendents, the magisterium of the Church. The magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church, comprised of the pope and bishops. The magisterium is guided by the Holy Spirit, ensuring that through all generations we receive the same teachings, the Tradition, as the Apostles. In time, these teachings were written down.
…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 and each in its own way under the action of the Holy Spirit contribute to the salvation of souls [Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Ch 2:10]

What Saints, throughout the ages, both male and female, have done is show us how to live the Gospel message that we received. They have taught by example how to put the teachings of Christ into action within our own lives.
 
St. Teresa of Ávila

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

These three women sure had a lot to say.
 
Lapey said:
St. Teresa of Ávila

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

These three women sure had a lot to say.
Click to expand...
And if the Pope in particular had listened to St Catherine then we would be a lot better off.

These Saints have a lot to say about some things, but they have no real say on the important issues of church structure, church practices and many other important day to day issues that are not doctrines. Only Christ, through the Holy Spirit has any say on doctrines, but the vast majority of decisions by the Bishops and the Pope are not related to doctrine.

Not that I think that any individual women has the right to be a Bishop or priest, etc. Nor do I think that any individual woman, or collection of women is discriminated against. (It is a privilege not a right) Nor do I think that women as a whole have that much different of an opinion than men or that the Church would be that different with women priests and bishops.

But it is a powerful symbol not to have a single woman as a temporal leader in the Church. It is my belief that the Church has paid a high price for this symbol and that the price will continue to get higher. There are plenty of things that the Church can do to get women in positions of leadership even without having women priests and bishops.
 
*Of the thirty three “Doctors of the Church” I believe that three are women. That’s quite a voice. *

I just disagree - really, three out of THIRTY THREE? That’s hardly a voice (in my opinion).

Just whenever things are decided within the Vatican, I picture only men doing it.
 
YoungTradCath said:
The Pope, Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, prelatical priests, priests and deacons do not make up Church teaching. God makes the laws and those especially entrusted to do so (bishops) interpret, teach, and implement His teachings.
Click to expand...
But basically it’s only men who are able to interpret what laws God wants us to follow.*
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top