Earlier this month four women were ordained in Chicago by anonymous Catholic bishops who sympathize with women desiring to be ordained to the priesthood. However, the teaching of the Magisterium on this issue is unequivocally clear, and those who dissent do so in spite of clear and established Church doctrine.
Many people misunderstand the theology and arguments behind the Church’s position, instead choosing to accuse the Church of being sexist or discriminatory towards women. This is simply not the case. The issue, rather, has to do with protecting the theological integrity of the Sacraments of Holy Orders and the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.
The Roman Catholic Church has always held women in high regard throughout its history. Clear evidence of this can be seen in the Church’s veneration of Mary the Mother of God, and of female saints throughout the centuries. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has even expanded the role of women in its public functions. Recognizing this, one must then realize that the arguments behind the Church’s teaching on the issue of women priests are built on sound theological and traditional reasoning.
Pope John Paul II wrote during his pontificate that the Church has “no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women” (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis). The Church has maintained this teaching, which stems from the time when Christ Himself picked 12 males to be His apostles. He sent 12 men, and conferred and commissioned these men to preach the Gospel and perform miracles in His name, sending them just as the Father sent Him (John 20:21). This commissioning of these 12 men marked the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and henceforth “the Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself” (Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1577). In light of this, it is thus impossible for the Church to ordain women to the priesthood, as it violates the very essence of the Sacrament.
Now, some might argue that Christ was constrained by the context of the times in which He lived, and seeing as nobody in the early first century would listen to a woman, He ordained only men. However, as a historical figure, Christ was never really concerned with temporal conventions and in many instances throughout the Gospel challenged the status quo continuously throughout His ministry. Indeed, if Christ intended for women to be priests, He would have chosen women to carry out His will after He ascended. It is probable that Christ, being divine, knew that this controversy over the ordination of women would arise two thousand years after His death. Regardless of this, He still chose only men as His apostles.
When a validly ordained priest consecrates the Eucharist, he does so standing in the person of Christ, or “in persona Christi.” When that priest proclaims the Eucharistic words of institution he is doing so in the person of Christ, and to have a woman stand in the place of the Man, Jesus the Christ, would essentially invalidate the sacrament. Christ was fully God and fully human, but not just any type of human: He was male, and ascended into Heaven in a glorified form as a man and thus will forever be male (c.f. Inter Insigniores, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). As such, a woman standing “in persona Christi” would not be able to validly consecrate the Eucharist.
In addition, there are a number of New Testament references that forbid women to have authority over Church functions (see 1 Corinthians 14:34-35), and since St. Paul also advocates male and female equality one cannot accuse him of being sexist or discriminatory (see Galatians 3:28). Furthermore, the tradition passed down from the Apostles precludes women from being priests, and the written tradition of the Church Fathers, including Augustine and Tertullian, also testifies to the invalidity of women ordinations.
Finally, women who have secured illicit ordinations and believe themselves to be women priests of the Roman Catholic Church, are sorely mistaken. Because of the aforementioned arguments their ordination is invalid, for “Only a baptized male validly receives sacred ordination” (Code of Canon Law, can. 1024).
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