Roman Catholic Women Priests (RCWP)?

[jmcrae]

Someone once told me that there were woman priest in the early catholic church

I didn’t want to start a fight so I didn’t ask for proof…Has anyone ever heard of this claim before?

Yes, I have heard it. The evidence itself is inconclusive, and the fact that later generations had never heard of the practice means that either it was extremely rare, or didn’t really happen.

There were strong female leaders in the Early Church, but it’s not clear that they were ordained to the priesthood.

They seem to have spent most of their time doing street evangelism, public penances, and good works for the poor - all of which things lay people are perfectly capable of doing, and certainly permitted to do.

They also sometimes baptized people, but as I understand it, the practice of the Early Church was to have women baptize other women, since apparently back in those days, people got baptized naked, by full immersion. So it makes sense that they would have had women to do this.

In modern times, lay people, including women, and typically it would be nurses working in hospitals, are permitted to baptize in case of emergency - that is, if someone who is on the verge of dying requests to be baptized, or if a premature/sick baby is born to a Christian mother, and it seems as though the baby is going to die, the nurse will baptize the baby before he or she dies.

 

[allhers]

Someone once told me that there were woman priest in the early catholic church

I didn’t want to start a fight so I didn’t ask for proof…Has anyone ever heard of this claim before?

The fundamental flaw in the Pope Joan legend and why any serious historian would reject it is that there is no “gap” in the actual traceable historical record where “Pope Joan” would have served if the legend were true. The legend places Pope Joan in the papacy from 855 to 857, elected as “John Anglicus.” But Pope Leo IV, who died in June 855, was immediately succeeded by Pope Benedict III. We know this because Benedict’s election was not without controversy. The Byzantine Emperor tried to have his son installed as pope in his place. Rome was invaded and Benedict imprisoned. When the Romans objected to this, Benedict was freed from prison that September. There was simply no historical time gap when an imaginary pope could have served.

Of equal importance to historians is the absence of any record, mention, or reference to a “Pope Joan” until nearly 400 years after her election. As Blondel realized, it would have been impossible for such an event to have taken place, or for a papacy to have existed for nearly three years without some contemporary record from those years. And even when some versions push the date forward, a gap of centuries before she is first mentioned remains, and the historical record of the existing popes at those times is irrefutable.

So there was clearly no Pope Joan. Two questions remain: Where did the legend first arise and why are we still dealing with it today?
catholic.com/thisrock/2008/0801tbt.asp

As to the current “legends” that women can become Priests, that case is closed, they can’t and John Paul II said that even if he wanted to change that, (which he didn’t) that he couldn’t. They might think or believe they are Priests, but they aren’t. Lord have mercy! I like what Fr. Corapi had to say about it once, "If you ever go to a Catholic Church and they have a woman “Priest” there-RUN, far, far away. I would!!

 

[Spiller]

One of those “roman catholic woman priests” used to be part of my Catholic parish. She was a catechist, reader and EMHC. Soon enough she became a super-duper reader and EMHC – a “captain.” She would conduct communion services back when we had a young pastor who believed the priesthood should fit into 15-20 hours/week.

Slowly she started to wear a “scarf” (which look a lot like a priest’s stole) with her alb (which looked a lot like a chasuble) and give “homilies” (I’m quoting her now.) She was encouraged to move on and she did to another local parish that was even more dissenting. She got booted from there too (actually she was told by the diocese not to take part in any liturgical ministries) due to hr shenanigans.

Then she opened her own “spiritual direction ministry.” I think it was called the Stuffed Olive. Sadly it was “stuffed” with toxic (to the faith) stuff and it failed. Then and only then did she become a “roman catholic woman priest.”

I don’t know if this particular woman has psychological issues or if Satan really has her in his grasp, but something is clearly broken. That’s likely the case to varying degrees for most of the “roman catholic woman priests.”

This may sound exceedingly naive but take a close look at the “roman catholic woman priests.” Not a single one looks healthy and serene. I think there might be something to that…

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

Everyone, please keep her in prayer. She desperately needs them
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

 

[allhers]

Everyone, please keep her in prayer. She desperately needs them
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

Great idea. How this woman hopes to feed anyone with disobediance is beyond me. She’d be better off just feeding the physically hungry around her.

 

[rpp]

Someone once told me that there were woman priest in the early catholic church

I didn’t want to start a fight so I didn’t ask for proof…Has anyone ever heard of this claim before?

There is absolutely no evidence for this except in heretical groups.

It is a popular myth that there were female priestesses in the early Catholic Church. However there is another my that has much more credibility than this one and considerably more supporting evidence. That myth is the myth of the Easter Bunny.

 

[jonkknox]

this thread title is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as a Catholic woman priest.

My friends and I like to write it as “Roman Catholic Womynpriests ™” so as to avoid anyone thinking that we actually believe they’ve been ordained. They think they own the priesthood, or have some right to it. Very sad.

 

[redrosetea]

How can they serve God in the spirit of disobedience to the Holy Father?

 

[rpp]

How can they serve God in the spirit of disobedience to the Holy Father?

Because it is “prophetic disobedience”.

Or some similar drivel.

It does not matter anyway. they do not serve God. God will not call a woman to be a priestess. So if they are being called, it is not by God.

 

[dessert]

I know we could possibly anyone fall into the wrong crowd, male or female. I certainly know I have been deceived so we must all use the discernment God gives us.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

How can they serve God in the spirit of disobedience to the Holy Father?

They can’t
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B