French female theologian applying for position of archbishop

[Polak]

novenanews.com

So I have seen a few stories on French theologian Anne Soupa wanting to become the archbishop of Lyon over the past few months. Apparently she has a lot of support.

This might sound obvious but I am missing something? Woman can’t be priests. They can’t even be deacons. Why is she applying for the role of a bishop? Even lay men can’t do that. It’s one thing to bring up the ‘should women clergy be allowed’ debate, but since they’re not, it seems this move if no more than a publicity stunt. I find it annoying that she is getting media attention for it.

 

[Dr_Meinheimer]

I didn’t realize one could apply to be a Bishop. I checked monster.com and hotjobs.com, and didn’t see any openings.

The fact that she thinks she could be an archbishop runs counter to the notion that she is a theologian. Please. It’s like a dentist recommending you brush your teeth with caramel syrup.

 

[MNathaniel]

French female theologian applying for position of archbishop

I laughed out loud when I saw this headline.

This article reads as satirical. But I guess it’s not?

“We think you would be an Archbishop with a fresh approach”, ‘Be the Change’ told Soupa, adding that “we feel you have the knowledge and experience to become Archbishop of Lyon”.

It’s a genuinely entertaining read, actually.

Soupa’s throwing her hat in the ring in the race to succeed Cardinal Barbarin has already inspired similar bids from other women in France who in July submitted applications to the nuncio in Paris to serve in the roles of lay preacher, deacon, priest, bishop and even papal ambassador.

It’s a race, guys! Open bidding! Shout now to become papal ambassador!

 

[dochawk]

I didn’t realize one could apply to be a Bishop

Yeah, that. I’ve never heard of “applying” to e a bishop.

The fact that she thinks she could be an archbishop runs counter to the notion that she is a theologian.

It just shows that she isn’t a good one . . .

Kind of like a flat earther applying to be chairman of the geography department . . .

 

[tuscany]

Too bad Rod Serling died before he could see that the whole world has become the real “Twilight Zone” he could only imagine…

 

[Zach]

The thread title is a great Onion headline.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

Shout now to become papal ambassador!

I know that by custom apostolic nuncios are almost invariably archbishops, but is this an inviolable rule? Is there any reason why a layman or a woman could not become an apostolic nuncio? I appreciate that there are positions in the Catholic Church for which women are not eligible, but the role of apostolic nuncio would seem to be one which is closed to women (and to laymen) by convention rather than due to a theological reason. If the pope wanted to give the laity and women a higher profile in the Church, would it be entirely ridiculous to imagine that he could begin appointing laypeople to be apostolic nuncios?

 

[TMC]

I believe women could be nuncios. Women can also be Cardinals - Cardinals are almost always bishops, but technically they need not be. There has not been a lay Cardinal in a long time, as far as I know, but there have been lay Cardinals so a female Cardinal remains a possibility.

 

[Horton]

I know that by custom apostolic nuncios are almost invariably archbishops, but is this an inviolable rule? Is there any reason why a layman or a woman could not become an apostolic nuncio? I appreciate that there are positions in the Catholic Church for which women are not eligible, but the role of apostolic nuncio would seem to be one which is closed to women (and to laymen) by convention rather than due to a theological reason. If the pope wanted to give the laity and women a higher profile in the Church, would it be entirely ridiculous to imagine that he could begin appointing laypeople to be apostolic nuncios?

The one thing all bishops, Arch or not, have in common is they are all priests. The Pope is a priest, the cardinals are priests. Women cannot be ordained priests by the will of God, so no a woman cannot be a bishop.

There has not been a lay Cardinal in a long time, as far as I know, but there have been lay Cardinals so a female Cardinal remains a possibility.

Do you know when the last one was?

 

[Glennon_P]

Yeah, that . I’ve never heard of “applying” to e a bishop.

So that’s why my resume on Zip Recruiter hasn’t generated any leads for me…who knew?

 

[Dovekin]

TMC:

There has not been a lay Cardinal in a long time, as far as I know, but there have been lay Cardinals so a female Cardinal remains a possibility.

Do you know when the last one was?

Wikipedia says, and I have no reason to doubt:

Teodolfo Mertel, a lawyer and layman, was named cardinal by Pope Pius IX in 1858. He was not a lay cardinal for long, as he received ordination to the diaconate the same year. When he died in 1899 he was the last non-priest cardinal.[4](Giacomo Antonelli, who died in 1876 as Pius IX’s Cardinal Secretary of State, remained a deacon when named cardinal in 1847.)

The 1917 Code of Canon Law made it obligatory for a cardinal to be a priest. St John XXIII required any one chosen to be a Cardinal be made a bishop. St Paul VI named Jacques Maritain to be a Cardinal, but he declined the honor. The same would probably happen if another layman were named, but a laywoman might accept it if it was the Pope’s desire.

 

[TMC]

Do you know when the last one was?

Paul VI was going to create one (a lay Cardinal) in the 60’s, but the person he had in mind turned it down. I don’t know who was the last before that.

Edit - oops, just saw that Dovekin answered this already.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

The one thing all bishops, Arch or not, have in common is they are all priests. The Pope is a priest, the cardinals are priests. Women cannot be ordained priests by the will of God, so no a woman cannot be a bishop.

Yes, I appreciate that a woman cannot be an archbishop. However, my point was that as I understand it, apostolic nuncios are only appointed to titular archbishoprics by custom. Is there any reason why the Holy See could not begin selecting nuncios from the among the ranks of qualified laypeople instead? It isn’t obvious to me why a cleric would be more suited to serving as a diplomat than a layperson would be. Note that I was not addressing the original point about a woman applying to become an archbishop, but a subsequent point somebody raised about a woman applying to become an apostolic nuncio. I agreed that a woman couldn’t become an archbishop, but I couldn’t see the problem with a woman becoming an apostolic nuncio, except that by convention nuncios are archbishops and hence chosen from the ranks of the clergy.

In general, it seems a little odd to me that so many administrative posts in the Catholic Church are filled by clergy. Especially since there is a shortage of clergy now, it would seem to make more sense to deploy the clergy in the roles to which they are called and for which they are trained, such as being parish priests and chaplains, and to fill administrative roles with talented laypeople whose skills are best suited to those roles. This would go some way towards tackling issues that I understand have been objectives in the Church for many decades, e.g. promoting the role of the laity, promoting the role of women, and ending a culture of careerism among the clergy.