You will find over the course of Church history that there have been bishops who have gone counter to Church teaching. The bishop’s participation in the Magisterium of the Church requires that they are in union with the college of bishops, and the pope (who is the head of the college). One that comes to mind was Archbishop Lefebvre, who ended up getting excommunicated by Pope JP2.
Perhaps a good analogy (but not perfect) would be to think of the judges and the supreme court. A judge might have very solid credentials, but still get his opinion overturned by the Supreme Court. It really doesn’t matter anymore what that judge’s legal opinion was on the topic, all that matters to the citizens is what is settled law, as decided by the highest legal authority, the Supreme Court.
A key difference between the Supreme Court being the final authority on matters of US law, and the magisterium being the final authority on matters of faith and morals is that a number of the teachings are infallible / final / unchangeable. Pope JP2 made the matter of women’s ordination, that they cannot be ordained, an infallible / final / unchangeable decision. That is what it means when we are required to “definitively hold” what he taught on the subject.
It makes no difference what a priest, bishop or archbishop says. It is a closed and dead topic.
Anyone who rejects an infallible teaching of the Church not only commits a mortal sin but also commits heresy.
I don’t care what individuals say. It is not improbable that a woman can become a priest, it is IMPOSSIBLE!
Your observations should be focussed on what the Church actually teaches rather than listening to individuals who have opinions that contradict Church teaching.
As many have pointed out, there have been many in Church hierarchy over the years who cast doubt and say or do things contrary to what the Church teaches. We have a sitting Cardinal who wrote a book in which he casts doubt on, and describes many of the gospel miracle stories as legendary. Among them, the stilling of the storm, the transfiguration, Jesus’ walking on the lake, the feeding of the four (or five) thousand and the miraculous draught of fishes. We have bishops right now who are proposing changes to Church teaching on homosexuality. So why should I be surprised that some of them want women priests?
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