Women cardinals

[EtienneGilson]

Here is another thread discussing (or at least it was discusisng) a female Cardinalate. forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=101626

As to all the nonesense about this being an attempted grab by women to receive rewards or glories…doesn’t the same thing apply to men? This is not feminism in the Church, it is women looking for an opportunity to serve in the sense whihw they might feel called and might best serve.

As to ontological differences between men and women, at least one doctor of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, has stumbled over that subject…but that is for a different thread.

Perhaps it would help to quote the apologist Mark Shea about women holding teaching positions

Some propose Paul’s remarks about women not having authority over men as the bulwark against the possibility of lay cardinals. But, as the Church has pointed out in Inter Insigniores:

Paul in no way opposes the right, which he elsewhere recognizes as possessed by women, to prophesy in the assembly (cf. 1 Cor 11:5); the prohibition solely concerns the official function of teaching in the Christian assembly.
That’s why women are not per se barred from teaching (i.e. exercising an aspect of the prophetic office). This is attested, not only by the fact that entire orders of nuns do nothing else, but by the fact that four women are Doctors of the Church.

mark-shea.com/bind.html

 

[Ham1]

mosher:

I see where you are going but it does not follow. It is contrary to the nature of the Church for a woman to serve in the role that is held by a Cardinal for multiple reasons that have already been cited. This is more than just an issue of canonicity.

I would not say it is contrary to the nature of the Church. It IS certainly contrary to longstanding tradition and for that reason alone it would never happen and ought not to happen.

I would say, however, that the answer to “can a woman be a cardinal” is not as clearly defined as “can a woman be a priest”. One is based on tradition and the other on divine law.

 

[legeorge]

That’s why women are not per se barred from teaching (i.e. exercising an aspect of the prophetic office). This is attested, not only by the fact that entire orders of nuns do nothing else, but by the fact that four women are Doctors of the Church.

Exactly. How many of them were Cardinals?

Why do we think that women cannot have any influence on the Church unless they have the roles traditionally held by men?

Could any of these Doctors of the Church, teaching nuns or Mother Theresa have influenced people any better by having the title of cardinal?

It may not be impossible for a lay woman to become a Cardinal someday, but I don’t think it will happen. And I’m not even convinced that it would be a good idea. It seems that such a step would only encourage those with a female priesthood agenda because there is such a misunderstanding about these things among average Catholics.

 

[Ignatius]

gksaoh:

Once again women have been excluded from the reward system

The offices of the Church are offices of service. Anyone who perceives it anything other than being a slave to the service of Christ and His Church properly to serve.

Dominus vobiscum.