Why women cant be Catholic Priests

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ratio1 said:
How do you define this?
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If it cannot be clearly defined then there is doubt as to the person’s genetic male identity. I would think that where there is doubt, the Church would not ordain.
 
simpleas said:
A man, therefore is most fully a man when he is a husband and father. A woman is most fully a woman when she is a wife and mother.

What a bizarre statement.
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Well, a priest is both of those things, isn’t he? Not in the biological sense, of course, but in the spiritual sense.
 
Sugabee43 said:
Correct. This is such an old, tired subject for me. I grew up in the Episcopal Church, and have heard ALL the arguments for decades.
The fact of the matter is that God decided to come to us here on Earth as a man. The priest in the capacity of celebrant at the Holy Mass is in persona Christi. Jesus is the BrideGROOM of the Church. He spiritually marries His Bride.
If women in the Catholic Church want to be “priests”, they can trot on over to the Episcopal church and have at it. They even have all the seven “sacraments”.
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I wonder what the reaction in those times would have been had God come as a woman. But in regard to women trotting over to TEC, many have. I even know one who trotted over to the UCC.
 
Read the article. Not buying it. But then again, I am agnostic.

No one can ever explain to me why so much in the Catholic Church always goes to being based on sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. The Church seems completely obsessed with it.

Jesus never said anything about priests needing to be male. He never implied it through any of his actions. He lived in a time when picking females for his apostles could have had disastrous results, for many. This “policy” is man-made. And yes, I do mean “man” made. No female (name removed by moderator)ut whatsoever.

I guess with a position like the Church has regarding the place of women within the hierarchy, there can’t be complaining aboutt a shortage of priests.

I really do want to understand. I am educated about the teachings. There just doesn’t seem to be a path of understanding, but rather blind obedience (which is also something I don’t understand).

Sorry for my rant. But not really sorry. I think it is important for Catholics to understand why most find this rule so objectionable.
 
Sy_Noe said:
I wonder what the reaction in those times would have been had God come as a woman.
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I don’t think it would have mattered, men (esp pagans) were accustomed to goddesses.

I think the reason God appears as a man has to do with fact (that for whatever reason) kids, both sons and daughters, tend to take their religious queues from their father far more than from their mothers. While mothers, of course, have an affect, Fathers (statistically) have a greater effect on their child’s religious future.

There have been a number of studies that show this, and I’ve heard it discussed a number of times at Catholic Men’s conferences.

God Bless
 
phil19034 said:
There have been a number of studies that show this, and I’ve heard it discussed a number of times at Catholic Men’s conferences.
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The only studies I have ever seen are biased, conducted by religious organizations.
 
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QwertyGirl said:
Jesus never said anything about priests needing to be male. He never implied it through any of his actions. He lived in a time when picking females for his apostles could have had disastrous results, for many. This “policy” is man-made. And yes, I do mean “man” made. No female (name removed by moderator)ut whatsoever.
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Mother Angelica illustrated (not directly) one of main reasons when someone had a woman play the role of Jesus in front of Pope John Paul II in Denver.

Mother went off. Among other things, she said “How dare you present our Lord as a woman. He is a man!”

When the priest acts in persona Christi, he literally becomes Christ at that moment. The theology says that because Jesus is a man, the priest must be a man too.

Also, according to Hebrews 7:13-17, Jesus set up the Priesthood in the Order of Melchizedek. The Melchizedek Priests were men only. So when Jesus said he was creating priest in the Order of Melchizedek, he didn’t say “but I’m also allowing women to be priests.”

Furthermore, Jesus didn’t make Mary a Priest or Bishop, and until her death, the Apostles often turned to her for advise. So an all male priesthood would have been with Mary’s consent.

Finally, if Jesus wanted female priests, he would have simply appointed them. Jesus was NOT afraid of challenging societal norms. And God was not limited to coming 2000 years ago. He could have come at a different time if He wanted women (assuming He needed to do select female priests at a different time).

Point is, the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Church of the East all teach they they do not have the authority to ordain women, and that they are following Jesus’s example by selecting only men for the sacrificial priesthood.

God Bless
 
QwertyGirl said:
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phil19034:
There have been a number of studies that show this, and I’ve heard it discussed a number of times at Catholic Men’s conferences.
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The only studies I have ever seen are biased, conducted by religious organizatiins.
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Why would that automatically make them biased? The Southern Baptist apparently hired a professional polling company to poll people because they were curious about what was leading to today’s youth to leave faith compared to generations past.
 
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Adam was given the role of teaching Eve in matters spiritual.
It is a manly profession.
 
@QwertyGirl,
The most succinct way for you to truly understand is to study Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body”. Start with the book, “Theology of the Body for Beginners” by Christopher West. There’s a theological reason women aren’t priests. If you’re agnostic, then it may be difficult for you to open your heart to the teaching. The Cross has been described as the marriage bed of the Bridegroom. The Mass is where heaven and earth meet, and Jesus gives Himself to the Church (His people).
I promise you, Jesus’ reasoning had nothing to do with social mores of the time- He broke barriers constantly while here on Earth. Everything He did (and does!) is for a purpose; including naming men as His Apostles.
Mary is the most elevated human being on the planet- she is above and beyond any man. That alone shows that God holds women in the highest esteem. Mary did what no man can ever do.
 
phil19034 said:
Why would that automatically make them biased? The Southern Baptist apparently hired a professional polling company to poll people because they were curious about what was leading to today’s youth to leave faith compared to generations past.
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I can think of at least a few issues that might also be a part of their agenda in conducting this type of study. Can you?
 
@sugabee, I assure you I am well versed on the teachings and understand them. To be quite frank, I believe many of the Church 's teachings on human sexuality are perverted (and i am being kind here). Therefore, when it incorporates these teachings on human sexuality into issues like denying today’s women a place within the hierarchy of the Church, it loses me and people like me. I won’t go into everything I find wrong here, but suffice it to say there is a lot.

Apologies for being so blunt. I am feeling rather salty today for some reason, and this issue always gets my blood going. Lol.
 
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Then I will again re-state that those women who are under the notion that being a priest or bishop denotes some kind of superiority ought to join one of the many denominations that allow it, and leave the Catholic and Orthodox Churches alone. They need to go find something that will bend to their wishes instead of ones that only bend to God’s.
I’m rather salty on this subject because I’ve seen the devastation wreaked upon ECUSA because they chose (by the narrowest of margins) to eschew canon law, and they’re paying for it in dwindling numbers.
Also, it’s the world that’s perverted sexuality, not the Church.
 
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Sugabee43 said:
Then I will again re-state that those women who are under the notion that being a priest or bishop denotes some kind of superiority ought to join one of the many denominations that allow it, and leave the Catholic and Orthodox Churches alone
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I don’t think it has anything to do with superiority. It has to do with wanting equal representation within the hierarchy of the church. As you will be the first to agree, I am sure, women are quite different than men in a lot of ways.
 
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The majority of parishes are run by women. Parish councils, liturgical and social ministries, youth and adult formation- all of the parishes in which I’ve been involved- are run by a majority of females. Just because they don’t have “Reverend “ in front of their name doesn’t mean they don’t have authority.
 
simpleas said:
A man, therefore is most fully a man when he is a husband and father. A woman is most fully a woman when she is a wife and mother.
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I have a lot of respect for Fr Longnecker and I get that he is upholding the vocation of marriage, but this statement is not really complete.

A man is most fully a man when he is…most fully a man. Likewise a woman.
Being human is not primarily about doing, it is about being.
Remember…God self-identifes as “I Am”, and we are made in his image.
God is not “I Do”…

JP2’s Theology of the Body is the definitive teaching on these issues. He holds up “voluntary continence for the sake of the kingdom” as the highest calling. Not as opposition to marriage, but of a different plane in orientation towards the kingdom.
https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/jp2tb72.htm
Those who in life choose continence for the kingdom of heaven do so, not because it is inexpedient to marry or because of a supposed negative value of marriage, but in view of the particular value connected with this choice and which must be discovered and welcomed personally as one’s own vocation.
…
The counsel and therefore the charismatic choice of continence for the kingdom of heaven are linked, in Christ’s words, with the highest recognition of the historical order of human existence relative to the soul and body.
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Sugabee43 said:
The majority of parishes are run by women. Parish councils, liturgical and social ministries, youth and adult formation- all of the parishes in which I’ve been involved- are run by a majority of females. Just because they don’t have “Reverend “ in front of their name doesn’t mean they don’t have authority.
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I think the missing “bishop”, “cardinal” and “pope” in front of their name is more the concern for those women who feel like they don’t have a voice in the hierarchy of the church. Truthfully, most priests don’t have much of a voice. But you typically have to be a priest before you can be a Bishop Cardinal or Pope.
 
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That’s the thing, though; they DO have a voice. They don’t HAVE to have those titles to be heard.

And again: the Church isn’t here to stroke anyone’s ego. She’s here to teach us God’s ways and to bring us to union with Him. God’s ultimate goal is to have each of His children open their hearts to Him, so He can be one with each of us. St. Paul speaks of Christ and the Church as Bride and Bridegroom- you cannot do this if the consecrated representative of the Bridegroom is female, and still be licit.
 
QwertyGirl said:
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phil19034:
Why would that automatically make them biased? The Southern Baptist apparently hired a professional polling company to poll people because they were curious about what was leading to today’s youth to leave faith compared to generations past.
Click to expand...
I can think of at least a few issues that might also be a part of their agenda in conducting this type of study. Can you?
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Name a study that’s ever been conducted where the scientists or social scientists don’t have a desired outcome.

From what I understand no one expected the results of the study commissioned by the Southern Baptists. And from what I understand, other groups have ran the same study to see if it was a fluke and have received similar results.

In my own home, my 6 year daughter is very interested in what I have to say about God, but isn’t really interested in what my wife says - and trust me, I haven’t consciously done anything to promote that.

For whatever reason … across all history and all ethnic groups, the fathers have been (for the majority) the spirital leaders of the home … mothers only doing so if the father neglects in his duty.

This is not a Christian / Jewish thing. Native Americans, Ancient Africans, Ancient Chinese, etc … it seems to be a universal standard.

Perhaps … the reason why is because biological fathers represent the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, as theology has proposed.
 
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