Catholic mothers are the first teachers of their children, along with Catholic fathers. As far as teaching anything regarding the Church, nuns have been doing that for a long time.
Regarding Paul, I’m not quite sure what your point is, since he qualifies under the definition of Apostle proposed by the Apostles when they elected Matthias. Regarding the Samaritan woman and Mary Magdalene, the Church has taken special note of these women and their evangelical mission, and has stressed that point in explaining women’s equality. Here is some of this, from Mulieris Dignitatem by Pope John Paul II: [Christ’s] words and works always express the respect and honour due to women. … This becomes even more explicit in regard to women whom popular opinion contemptuously labelled sinners, public sinners and adulteresses. There is the Samaritan woman, to whom Jesus himself says: “For you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband”. And she, realizing that he knows the secrets of her life, recognizes him as the Messiah and runs to tell her neighbours. The conversation leading up to this realization is one of the most beautiful in the Gospel (cf. Jn 4:7-27). …
I accept that only men can become priests for the reason I gave.If you accept that only men can be priests then you have accepted that the teaching authority of the church excludes women sinceCCC 85) “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
Women can certainly “go tell others” but what they cannot do is “give authentic interpretation” since that role is restricted exclusively to the bishops.
Ender
I am not aware of any.
It would actually mean a lack of “love and respect” if the answers were “demanded.”
I love Mulieris Dignitatem! I am so glad you posted that for everyone to read. :extrahappy:
OK, then lets say “persistently request answers to the point of being annoying”. Seems like a lot of words to me, but that’s no big deal if it makes you feel better.
I’m not suggesting “annoyance,” as that also violates charity. I would consider “persistence” to be warranted if the matter was urgent (such as an unaddressed incident of clergy sexual abuse, or some other violation or abuse).OK, then lets say “persistently request answers to the point of being annoying”. Seems like a lot of words to me, but that’s no big deal if it makes you feel better.
It’s not a woman’s job to be a priest. Period.Would women taking a larger roll and more tasks in the RC not help to go along way in repairing the damage of recent years and giving a family orientated revival.
We as a church are the body of Christ whether arms or legs each part is a necessity in the larger scheme of things.
Do
Hmmm. I think annoying is OK. Jesus understood the value of being annoying:
I demand that they accept traditional Catholicism.
Like what? Obviously women are demanding something but, so far, no details.Would women taking a larger roll and more tasks in the RC not help to go along way in repairing the damage of recent years and giving a family orientated revival.
We as a church are the body of Christ whether arms or legs each part is a necessity in the larger scheme of things.
Do
I apologize for my rather grumpy tone, as I was in a mood last night. With that being said:As a woman, I would have to see examples. As you can see, I have been on this board since fall of 2008.
As has been pointed out on other threads (perhaps some prior to one year ago), this is an ambiguous phrase without a context. “Being treated as equals?” Does this, to you, mean the same functions as men? (Even though you do state that ordination is not an interest or issue of yours.) Right now, women are the principle catechists in the Roman Church, everywhere. As a teacher myself (not curently catechetically), I find the role of the teacher to be quite influential, and in the catechetical setting, one is forming people spiritually (including on the adult level).
What can they not do? They cannot be ordained. (You claim that doesn’t interest you.) Therefore, they cannot move up through the ranks to administrative levels such as bishop and cardinal. Therefore, they cannot participate directly in the election of any Pope. (The vast majority of Catholic men --lay, clergy, and religious-- also cannot participate directly.)
It’s also important to note that priests, bishops, cardinals, and the Pope himself are, at various points in their careers, anywhere from lightly to heavily influenced by women. That influence contributes indirectly and sometimes very powerfully to their formation. Of course, the more aware men understand that and sometimes speak about it. But whether or not they speak about it, formation also influences decisions. When, for example, the Cardinals prepare for a new papal election, implicitly they are thinking of the whole Church, not half of the Church. If they are men of prayer – and charitably we assume they are – they have considered and will consider the needs of women who have expressed those needs to them – in person, in the confessional, in spiritual direction, in marital counseling & preparation, in friendships both personal and professional they share with women.
I take a little bit of offense at what seems to be implied in your tone – that being male somehow inevitably means excluding the needs of women. In the 19th century and early 20th, probably, and it was true of non-Catholic males as well. In the 21st? Seldom.
Are you getting your information from the dated TV show, Mad Men? In fact, the Catholic Church is one of the few places in the modern world that it seems that women are not treated as one of those two extremes – especially as #2.
(1) You’d have to give at least some general excamples of this on CAF, such as thread titles or subjects
(2) You’d also have to give some examples “in church” as well, for me personally to believe such a sweeping statement. (We have altar girls and women at one of my local parishes, and most of the lectors are female as well, as are the EMHC’s.)
I’m going to suggest that you become much more familiar with both the current Church and the Church in her history. It seems you have a very distorted, imbalanced, view – which I’m not suggesting is “your fault,” but just a result of insufficient knoiwledge, and a reaction and oversensitivity to what you perceive.
Johnette Benkovic’s apostolate includes her EWTN television and radio shows; One of her associates, Sue Brinkman, has a particular apostolate, through the Women of Grace website, to correct the New Age deceptions which have invaded Catholicism in various forms, and which compete for the attention of Catholics.Answered.
And by the way, this is one of Johnette Benkovic’s specialities. (She is a widow and mother who lost one of her children.) On her Women of Grace radio show she has often spoken of spiritual motherhood. My suggestion would be to call her during her show, and share these same quesitons with her. Expect her to be welcoming and disarming.You must be picking and choosing. I have read and been on some of those threads for 4 years, and I do not see those supposed differences. I do think that there’s a recognition that it can be more difficult for men, particularly those of a certain age, and particularly (now) when paired with pornography. Several of us befriended one such person recently, and I have done the same for women.
Are you talking about yourself, personally, in confession – a priest’s reaction? And if so, how would you know how that same priest is treating male penitents? Maybe more harshly!
Extremely rude and unnecessary for sure. How does one exclude women from posting on a thread in a public forum? Seems to me that if they wanted their own little conclave they should have done it somewhere else.
I seriously don’t know. In other forums I’ve been on, no one member or class of members is allowed to be excluded from any thread; all are welcome. For example, on another forum, in 2008, some woman invited to a thread she opened, “only Hillary supporters,” and the OP was quickly called to task on that and told that such were against both the letter and spirit of the forum.Extremely rude and unnecessary for sure. How does one exclude women from posting on a thread in a public forum? Seems to me that if they wanted their own little conclave they should have done it somewhere else.
Yet no one should say that the rest of the Catholic male population doesn’t get to even comment, express their desires, etc.She is a treasure, and you’re right, Elizabeth … she’s warm and welcoming and generously gracious to all callers.
