Why Male Only Priests and Bishops?

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Charlemagne_II

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****I know the answer to my question will be found in Corinthians 14 by some.

“Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says.”

The argument from authority aside, what other reasons might there be why to this day the Church refuses to ordain women? ****
 
Why all the bold-face type? Looks like shouting.

If you haven’t done so, you may want to read:

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II (1994)

Inter Insignores, Declaration of the CDF (1976)

It’s not that the Church “refuses” to ordain women; it doesn’t have the power to do so.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
****I know the answer to my question will be found in Corinthians 14 by some.

“Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says.”

The argument from authority aside, what other reasons might there be why to this day the Church refuses to ordain women? ****
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That isn’t an argument from authority. It is an argument from scripture.

And it has nothing to do with women priests. It has to do with the problem of disorder in the Church.

Anyone who actually reads the letters to the Corinthians knows that the Church in that city had many problems. Paul addresses seven distinct problems in his letters to the Corinthians including disorder. Disorder is the subject of that verse. Women priests was not one of the problems Paul addressed in his letters to the Corinthians.

That verse has nothing to do with women priests.

-Tim-
 
Part of the theology is that priests and bishops receive the sacrament of holy orders and operate in the person of Christ, especially at the Liturgy. A sacrament demands the natural resemblance to that which it signifies. i.e. Baptism requires water to communicate the “washing.” Anointing requires oil to convey the “healing.” And the priesthood requires a male to convey Christ, the male bridegroom. See also Christ, the bridegroom (why a priest must be male). 😉 It includes the above links and some others, too, which you might examine.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
****I know the answer to my question will be found in Corinthians 14 by some.

“Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says.”

The argument from authority aside, what other reasons might there be why to this day the Church refuses to ordain women? ****
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Because the role of priest and bishop is that of a spiritual father. It would be very awkward to call a female priest ‘Father.’ Agreed?
 
**Ad

Why all the bold-face type? Looks like shouting.**

Sorry. I have cataracts in both eyes and find it difficult to read these posts unless they are in bold. If I was shouting, I would use much larger type AND bold, believe me! 😉

**I guess this forum is not for me. So long. **
 
Because of Persona Maria. Women do not play an inferior role in bringing souls to Christ, they are uniquely gifted to bring souls to Christ. Motherhood whether it is by physically being a mother or by being a spiritual mother and Mary plays both roles, Mother of the King spiritual Mother to the Living we as women should imitate her. This whole women need to be priests is all about power and never about love. God doesn’t ask all of us to do the same thing, some people are asked to do big things for Him and some people are asked to do smaller things but both are necessary, the more important thing is that you are doing whatever it is God is asking you to do out of love. If baking something for the parish bake sale so the kids can go to World Youth Day is beneath you, then the problem is with you not the task, you are not looking at the bigger picture that God sees - the kids from your parish are at World Youth Day with their brothers and sisters from all over the world learning and celebrating the fact they Catholic.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
**Ad

Why all the bold-face type? Looks like shouting.**

Sorry. I have cataracts in both eyes and find it difficult to read these posts unless they are in bold. If I was shouting, I would use much larger type AND bold, believe me! 😉

**I guess this forum is not for me. So long. **
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Is it possible that your problem with 'fairness" is not with the Church, but with Christ Himself?

Something to ponder.
 
Charlemagne_II said:
**Ad

Why all the bold-face type? Looks like shouting.**

Sorry. I have cataracts in both eyes and find it difficult to read these posts unless they are in bold. If I was shouting, I would use much larger type AND bold, believe me! 😉

**I guess this forum is not for me. So long. **
Click to expand...
Most the Protestant denominations have women pastors, but there again, none of them celebrate Mass, the Orthodox would also be of no use as they have the same rules as us Catholics, or you could start your own Church, as Catholics we have to obey what has been handed down by the Apostles, and the Church Fathers, and of course the Church itself as taught by Jesus, His Will is more important than the Church conforming to the current culture.

Have you read the Church Fathers, ie. Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr etc.?
 
It may be based on the Jewish roots of the Church, where prophets were male and female, the priesthood was a male only vocation.
 
We are actually following Christ. He had the 12 apostles, none of which were women. We follow his example.
 
**Further, it’s my understanding that one thing that sets both Judaism, and Christianity, apart was that they had priests, not priestesses, as some other faiths around had at the time. **
 
Celtic_Maiden said:
As a Jewish Convert you are correct. 👍🙂
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If you don’t mind me asking, what were some of he things that led you to Catholicism, one of my good friends is Jewish and I would love any advice you could give if you are willing to share?
 
Charlemagne_II said:
****I know the answer to my question will be found in Corinthians 14 by some.

“Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says.”

The argument from authority aside, what other reasons might there be why to this day the Church refuses to ordain women? ****
Click to expand...
In the simplest way to answer this question…

The priests and bishops act “in persona cristi” meaning “in the person of Christ” during the consecration and confession and probably other times. Jesus was male and selected only males for his apostles and so we do today as well.
 
If they let priests get married, they should let women be priests - open the floodgates. Personally i would rather confess to a woman.
 
Joy2day said:
If they let priests get married, they should let women be priests - open the floodgates. Personally i would rather confess to a woman.
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Two simple points, priests will not be allowed to get married, only with dispensation from Rome can a married permanent deacon be remarried if his wife dies and this is hardly if ever granted. Not will married men be ordained, yes and to a small degree already with Anglican priests coming into the Church.

Women will never be ordained to the priesthood. Women are mothers, men are fathers; this is not negotiable. John Paul II reiterated that the door is closed to female ordination and the Church has no authority to change this as this was established by Divine hands, Jesus’ hands.

This argument is getting old; I will never understand why we have to “fix” everything to match our own ideas. Nothing personal against you or anyone else, it just seems there is a new thread everyday asking the same dead questions.
 
The priesthood is male only BECAUSE God is fair and just.

In Cathlolic terms, a human person is a union of body and soul ( Corpre and Animus Unis). It is not a Soul occuping a body, like Plato once suggested, but what defines the human person is a soul in union with the body. Neither is complete without the other, neither is greater than the other in terms of our human ‘completeness’

We also see in God that His greatest desire is for us to spend Eternity with Him. In other words, to have Saints in Heaven with Him.

Since the human person has two realities, the biological and the ontological, we see the sexual experience in both.

The woman brings forth the biological, or more specifically, has the greater role in bringing forth the biological aspect of humanity. The priest enhances the ontological. Both operating together are what produce a saint.

We see that reality in the biological sense, where the man and the woman together, but with the woman’s unique biology, bring forth physical life.

In the Sacraments, we see the man, with his unique ontology, bring forth spiritual life. Since the body is the Form of the Soul (thanks to St. Thomas Aquinas), we know that the souls of each person are not only unique, but the souls of men and women differ as well.

Now a Platonist, who views the spiritual elements of humanity to be greater than the biological, would therefore hold that the priest has the greater role in making a saint. Not so with a Catholic. As I mentioned, we are not Platonic dualists. We are Ontologically Unitists.

Nor are we Protestants, who view the priesthood as a simply a presider role, who simply leads a congregation. In our priesthood, the priest brings forth the Sacrament of the Eucharist, an ontological reality that requires a soul that is changed and configured for exactly that purpose, as in the same way, a woman’s body is both changed and configured to bring forth biological life

We therefore see God dividing the role of the participation of His creation of new Saints to be equally and fairly divided between the sexes. And equality and fairness is a good think, right?
 
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