A 1994 lecture given by Dr. Peter Kreeft about women and the Priesthood. Women and the Priesthood — Why "only boys can be the daddies"If you have an hour, and you can hang in there philisophically, this is an incredible presentation.
Showing posts with label Male only Priesthood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Male only Priesthood. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
"Women and the Priesthood"
A 1994 lecture given by Dr. Peter Kreeft about women and the Priesthood. Women and the Priesthood — Why "only boys can be the daddies"If you have an hour, and you can hang in there philisophically, this is an incredible presentation.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
"Boys Will Be Altar Boys"
Pictures included below are not from the article. The article in the print version of the National Catholic Register had great pictures from the parishes mentioned in the article. The old pictures I have included are all from parishes, and all of the guys in the photos are altar boys - not seminarians. I've put these pictures in to illustrate how things used to be in our parishes. Is there any real question whether having more altar boys means more vocations to the Priesthood and the opposite is also true?
“Boys 7 and 8 are glued to the Mass, watching their friends and brothers,” says Rode. “They can’t wait.”
According to Spinharney, no parent has complained about the absence of female altar servers. Instead of a dramatic immediate shift, the girls were allowed to phase out by age and were reminded of the many other services they could provide.
“The last two girls became some of our finest lectors,” points out Father Dufner.
Altar Apprenticeship
St. Michael Parish in Annandale, Va., also has an all-male server corps. Father Jerry Pokorsky, the pastor, says that when altar girls were permitted, they became the norm. The boys stopped volunteering.
“Lay readers and extraordinary ministers serve the people,” he says. “The altar boy serves the priest. He’s the hands of the priest. He would be an apprentice, either in a real or symbolic way, for the priesthood.”
When parents ask why their daughters can’t become altar servers, “they may not agree, but they do understand,” Father Pokorsky says.
With help from the parish’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, this new pastor is working on a Helpers of Mary ministry for girls to visit nursing homes.
When discussing the question of female altar servers, “It is important not to [use] political categories such as rights, equality, discrimination, etc., which only serve to fog the issue,” wrote Legionary Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, on the Zenit news service website. “We are dealing with the privilege of serving in an act of worship to which nobody has any inherent rights.
“The question should be framed as to what is best for the good of souls in each diocese and parish. It is thus an eminently pastoral and not an administrative decision, and this is why it should be determined at the local level.”
The Church opened the altar service position to girls in 1994 in a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. “The Holy See’s recommendation is to retain as far as possible the custom of having only boys as servers,” explains Father McNamara. “But it leaves to the bishop the choice of permitting women and girls for a good reason and to the pastor of each parish the decision as to whether to act on the bishop’s permission.”
Positive Peer Pressure
At Holy Family, Jean Prather sees nothing but positive effects in her son and daughters from the all-boy altar-service policy. Nick is 16 and has risen through the ranks. Oldest daughter, Emily, also in high school, has been a lector since fourth grade.
“They both have their place to contribute in the Mass. Emily wanted to do that after she saw an older teenage girl lector. It really is a positive peer pressure thing.”
“I always like to tell Nick what a special job he has to be so close to Jesus and serve him,” continues Prather. “He has learned such reverence. He really listens and brings things up that Father talks about in his homilies.”
Prather, too, believes participating in the liturgy can open boys’ hearts to hearing a call to a priestly or religious vocation.
But she stresses what the change has done for the parish as well as the servers in lifting people’s hearts to God. The surplices, cassocks and reverential pageantry are “what King Jesus deserves,” she says. “The reverence and beauty and example brings people into the reverence and glory of the Mass by having these altar boys not only as servers but as examples.”
As young as they are, says Rode, they understand there’s something really special going on at the altar: “We truly have the Real Presence.” 
"Parishes With All-Male Altar Service Corps Tout the Benefits"
From The National Catholic Register
BY Joseph Pronechen
The altar servers at Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Louis Park, Minn., are a sight to behold. In their white surplices and black cassocks — red for special feasts like Christmas and Pentecost — six carry candles, while others process in with the cross, Sacramentary and incense thurible and boat. Between 12 and 20 altar servers assist at every Mass, every Sunday. On special feasts, the head count jumps to more than 30.
And the most astonishing facet of the scene: All of the altar servers are boys.
It’s a sight that must put a smile on the heavenly face of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), the great priest-mentor who promoted the banding together of boys in religious activities. The Church celebrates his feast on Jan. 25.
Holy Family Church is one of a number of parishes that, after deciding to go with an all-boy corps of altar servers, have seen a notable increase in the number of boys participating in the life of the parish.
At Holy Family, the decision was made 10 years ago, when only a few boys were servers. The surge was on immediately. Today, more than 60 boys stand at the ready.
“What’s happened is: The younger boys can’t wait to get on the altar,” says parishioner Bob Spinharney. “And the older boys, to their great credit, stay on even beyond high school age. So the younger boys always have role models to look up to.”
Spinharney and fellow parishioner Mark Rode got the approval of their pastor, Father Thomas Dufner, for the altar boy program. Then they built key elements, like a hierarchy of services and names for each position.
Starting at age 10 as “leads” (beginners who observe from the altar), boys can stay as servers into their early 20s. Along the way, they progress to “torchbearer,” holding one of six candles for processing and during the Gospel reading and consecration; “mains,” serving the priest and ringing bells; “cross” and “book” with Sacramentary duties; and “thurifer” and “boat,” assisting with the incense during consecration. At each Mass, an older boy is designated “master of ceremonies” to lead and supervise the “troops.”
What drove the two men to suggest the experiment a decade ago? Two observations.
One: “When boys and girls are mixed on the altar, the boys tend to be less participative. They defer to the girls,” explains Spinharney. And two: “Many priestly vocations come from the altar. We’re trying to drive new vocations.”
Father Dufner expounds on those points. “Girls tend to be more reliable and get jobs done more effectively,” he says, “so the boys tend to drop out.” At the same time, he notices that boys are excited about being part of an all-male group that is hierarchical and advancement-oriented.
“And, clearly, reverent worship of God the Father through Jesus Christ in the liturgy is a calling card for vocations,” adds Father Dufner. In fact, one of the two current seminarians from this parish — from which four men have been ordained in the last 10 years — was an altar server. Both seminarians come back often to help the youngsters on Sundays, as do server alumni like Spinharney’s college-age son Jordan. The alumni become mentors.
BY Joseph Pronechen
The altar servers at Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Louis Park, Minn., are a sight to behold. In their white surplices and black cassocks — red for special feasts like Christmas and Pentecost — six carry candles, while others process in with the cross, Sacramentary and incense thurible and boat. Between 12 and 20 altar servers assist at every Mass, every Sunday. On special feasts, the head count jumps to more than 30.
And the most astonishing facet of the scene: All of the altar servers are boys.
It’s a sight that must put a smile on the heavenly face of St. John Bosco (1815-1888), the great priest-mentor who promoted the banding together of boys in religious activities. The Church celebrates his feast on Jan. 25.
Holy Family Church is one of a number of parishes that, after deciding to go with an all-boy corps of altar servers, have seen a notable increase in the number of boys participating in the life of the parish.
At Holy Family, the decision was made 10 years ago, when only a few boys were servers. The surge was on immediately. Today, more than 60 boys stand at the ready.
“What’s happened is: The younger boys can’t wait to get on the altar,” says parishioner Bob Spinharney. “And the older boys, to their great credit, stay on even beyond high school age. So the younger boys always have role models to look up to.”
Spinharney and fellow parishioner Mark Rode got the approval of their pastor, Father Thomas Dufner, for the altar boy program. Then they built key elements, like a hierarchy of services and names for each position.
Starting at age 10 as “leads” (beginners who observe from the altar), boys can stay as servers into their early 20s. Along the way, they progress to “torchbearer,” holding one of six candles for processing and during the Gospel reading and consecration; “mains,” serving the priest and ringing bells; “cross” and “book” with Sacramentary duties; and “thurifer” and “boat,” assisting with the incense during consecration. At each Mass, an older boy is designated “master of ceremonies” to lead and supervise the “troops.”
What drove the two men to suggest the experiment a decade ago? Two observations.
One: “When boys and girls are mixed on the altar, the boys tend to be less participative. They defer to the girls,” explains Spinharney. And two: “Many priestly vocations come from the altar. We’re trying to drive new vocations.”
Father Dufner expounds on those points. “Girls tend to be more reliable and get jobs done more effectively,” he says, “so the boys tend to drop out.” At the same time, he notices that boys are excited about being part of an all-male group that is hierarchical and advancement-oriented.
“And, clearly, reverent worship of God the Father through Jesus Christ in the liturgy is a calling card for vocations,” adds Father Dufner. In fact, one of the two current seminarians from this parish — from which four men have been ordained in the last 10 years — was an altar server. Both seminarians come back often to help the youngsters on Sundays, as do server alumni like Spinharney’s college-age son Jordan. The alumni become mentors.
“Boys 7 and 8 are glued to the Mass, watching their friends and brothers,” says Rode. “They can’t wait.”
According to Spinharney, no parent has complained about the absence of female altar servers. Instead of a dramatic immediate shift, the girls were allowed to phase out by age and were reminded of the many other services they could provide.
“The last two girls became some of our finest lectors,” points out Father Dufner.
Altar Apprenticeship
St. Michael Parish in Annandale, Va., also has an all-male server corps. Father Jerry Pokorsky, the pastor, says that when altar girls were permitted, they became the norm. The boys stopped volunteering.
“Lay readers and extraordinary ministers serve the people,” he says. “The altar boy serves the priest. He’s the hands of the priest. He would be an apprentice, either in a real or symbolic way, for the priesthood.”
When parents ask why their daughters can’t become altar servers, “they may not agree, but they do understand,” Father Pokorsky says.
With help from the parish’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters, this new pastor is working on a Helpers of Mary ministry for girls to visit nursing homes.
When discussing the question of female altar servers, “It is important not to [use] political categories such as rights, equality, discrimination, etc., which only serve to fog the issue,” wrote Legionary Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, on the Zenit news service website. “We are dealing with the privilege of serving in an act of worship to which nobody has any inherent rights.
“The question should be framed as to what is best for the good of souls in each diocese and parish. It is thus an eminently pastoral and not an administrative decision, and this is why it should be determined at the local level.”
The Church opened the altar service position to girls in 1994 in a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. “The Holy See’s recommendation is to retain as far as possible the custom of having only boys as servers,” explains Father McNamara. “But it leaves to the bishop the choice of permitting women and girls for a good reason and to the pastor of each parish the decision as to whether to act on the bishop’s permission.”
Positive Peer Pressure
At Holy Family, Jean Prather sees nothing but positive effects in her son and daughters from the all-boy altar-service policy. Nick is 16 and has risen through the ranks. Oldest daughter, Emily, also in high school, has been a lector since fourth grade.
“They both have their place to contribute in the Mass. Emily wanted to do that after she saw an older teenage girl lector. It really is a positive peer pressure thing.”
“I always like to tell Nick what a special job he has to be so close to Jesus and serve him,” continues Prather. “He has learned such reverence. He really listens and brings things up that Father talks about in his homilies.”
Prather, too, believes participating in the liturgy can open boys’ hearts to hearing a call to a priestly or religious vocation.
But she stresses what the change has done for the parish as well as the servers in lifting people’s hearts to God. The surplices, cassocks and reverential pageantry are “what King Jesus deserves,” she says. “The reverence and beauty and example brings people into the reverence and glory of the Mass by having these altar boys not only as servers but as examples.”
As young as they are, says Rode, they understand there’s something really special going on at the altar: “We truly have the Real Presence.”
Saturday, July 26, 2008
"Why cannot women be ordained?"
From The Pilot (Boston)by Dale O'Leary
The Catholic Church has never ordained women to the priesthood and never will. However, with all the changes in the roles of women in the world, it is not surprising that some asked: Is the Church’s restriction of the priesthood to men ordained by God or merely an accommodation to culture?
In his letter on the dignity and vocation of women, John Paul II explained the reason for this practice:
“Since Christ, in instituting the Eucharist, linked it in such an explicit way to the priestly service of the Apostles, it is legitimate to conclude that he thereby wished to express the relationship between man and woman, between what is ‘feminine’ and what is ‘masculine.’ It is a relationship willed by God both in the mystery of creation and in the mystery of Redemption. It is the Eucharist above all that expresses the redemptive act of Christ the Bridegroom towards the Church the Bride. This is clear and unambiguous when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist, in which the priest acts ‘in persona Christi,’ is performed by a man.”
The priesthood isn’t a job. The priest is a sign of Christ the bridegroom. The Church is the bride. This just doesn’t work if the priest is a woman. The Eucharist must be wheat bread and grape wine, not rice cakes and orange juice. The matter matters. So it is with ordination.
The question that should be asked is: Why do some women want to be the bridegroom when they are called to be the bride?
Some women view any social recognition of sex difference as unjust discrimination. They have been influenced by postmodernist/social deconstructionist professors who argue, in spite of the undeniable scientific evidence to the contrary, that the differences between men and women are not natural, but artificial social constructions that can and should be eliminated. While narrow or demeaning stereotypes, which limit women’s participation in society, should be eliminated, the natural differences between men and women are part of the goodness of creation and cannot be wished away. Church teaching is rooted in reality. She defends the rights and equality of women, but also appropriate recognition of differences between men and women.
Woman is called to be a sign of the Church no matter her state in life--as virgin waiting for the bridegroom, as bride a sign of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, or as mother nurturing new life. This is a wonderful vocation. Women can achieve their full dignity without imitating men.
In addition to the denial of the natural goodness of sex difference, those pushing for the ordination of women have a warped idea of power. They see the priesthood as a position of power and believe that if women were ordained that they would be able to change Church teaching on other issues. This shows their total lack of understanding of what it means to be Catholic. The leaders of the Church do not have the power to change the teachings handed down to them. To be Catholic is to believe that God reveals his will to his people and protects the Church from error.
Over the centuries, controversies have arisen. The debates have been heated, but in the end, the truth emerged and became part of the unchangeable treasury of the faith.
In his apostolic letter on reserving priestly ordination to men alone (May 1994), Pope John Paul II sought to eliminate any confusion over this issue:
“...in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
John Paul II doesn’t say it is his opinion, but that he has “no authority’ to change what has been handed down to him.
In an age where everything is challenged, where rebellion is praised, where people build on the sand of opinion and ideology, it is good to belong to a Church that is built on a rock. It is good to know that God loves us so much that he has revealed the truth to us and will protect us no matter how far from truth our culture strays. Those women who have mocked God by pretending to be ordained have built on sand and what they have constructed will be washed away, like sand castles that crumble as the tide sweeps over the beach.
Dale O’Leary is the author of “The Gender Agenda” and “One Man, One Woman.”
In his letter on the dignity and vocation of women, John Paul II explained the reason for this practice:
“Since Christ, in instituting the Eucharist, linked it in such an explicit way to the priestly service of the Apostles, it is legitimate to conclude that he thereby wished to express the relationship between man and woman, between what is ‘feminine’ and what is ‘masculine.’ It is a relationship willed by God both in the mystery of creation and in the mystery of Redemption. It is the Eucharist above all that expresses the redemptive act of Christ the Bridegroom towards the Church the Bride. This is clear and unambiguous when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist, in which the priest acts ‘in persona Christi,’ is performed by a man.”
The priesthood isn’t a job. The priest is a sign of Christ the bridegroom. The Church is the bride. This just doesn’t work if the priest is a woman. The Eucharist must be wheat bread and grape wine, not rice cakes and orange juice. The matter matters. So it is with ordination.
The question that should be asked is: Why do some women want to be the bridegroom when they are called to be the bride?
Some women view any social recognition of sex difference as unjust discrimination. They have been influenced by postmodernist/social deconstructionist professors who argue, in spite of the undeniable scientific evidence to the contrary, that the differences between men and women are not natural, but artificial social constructions that can and should be eliminated. While narrow or demeaning stereotypes, which limit women’s participation in society, should be eliminated, the natural differences between men and women are part of the goodness of creation and cannot be wished away. Church teaching is rooted in reality. She defends the rights and equality of women, but also appropriate recognition of differences between men and women.
Woman is called to be a sign of the Church no matter her state in life--as virgin waiting for the bridegroom, as bride a sign of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven, or as mother nurturing new life. This is a wonderful vocation. Women can achieve their full dignity without imitating men.
In addition to the denial of the natural goodness of sex difference, those pushing for the ordination of women have a warped idea of power. They see the priesthood as a position of power and believe that if women were ordained that they would be able to change Church teaching on other issues. This shows their total lack of understanding of what it means to be Catholic. The leaders of the Church do not have the power to change the teachings handed down to them. To be Catholic is to believe that God reveals his will to his people and protects the Church from error.
Over the centuries, controversies have arisen. The debates have been heated, but in the end, the truth emerged and became part of the unchangeable treasury of the faith.
In his apostolic letter on reserving priestly ordination to men alone (May 1994), Pope John Paul II sought to eliminate any confusion over this issue:
“...in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
John Paul II doesn’t say it is his opinion, but that he has “no authority’ to change what has been handed down to him.
In an age where everything is challenged, where rebellion is praised, where people build on the sand of opinion and ideology, it is good to belong to a Church that is built on a rock. It is good to know that God loves us so much that he has revealed the truth to us and will protect us no matter how far from truth our culture strays. Those women who have mocked God by pretending to be ordained have built on sand and what they have constructed will be washed away, like sand castles that crumble as the tide sweeps over the beach.
Dale O’Leary is the author of “The Gender Agenda” and “One Man, One Woman.”
Monday, July 21, 2008
Finally, a News Outlet Gets it Right
We've all seen the stories about invalid "ordinations" of women to the Diaconate and Priesthood, but this is one of the first times that I have seen a major news outlet get the story right, especially in the title of the article. Typically these articles get titles like - "Women ordained Catholic Priests". Thankfully, the Boston Globe left the word Catholic out of the title, and cast doubt on the event by using the words "claims" and "unsanctioned".
"Group claims to ordain women priests in unsanctioned ceremony"
From the Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff July 20, 2008
A group advocating for the ordination of women this afternoon held a ceremony in a packed Protestant church in Boston at which it declared three women to be Catholic priests and a fourth woman to be a deacon.
The ceremony, like several others that have taken place around the world over the last six years, was denounced by the Roman Catholic church, and critics said the event was a stunt with no religious significance. The Catholic Church has consistently taught that only men can be ordained as priests, and the Archdiocese of Boston said that the women who participated in today’s ceremony had automatically excommunicated themselves by participating in what it said was an invalid ordination ceremony.
...
C.J. Doyle, of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, called the ceremony “a sacrilegious parody of Holy Orders conducted at a Protestant church by a collection of apostates misappropriating the Catholic name.”
“One must not only be a male to be a Catholic priest, one must be a Catholic,'' Doyle said. "The performers in this theater of propaganda are neither. These women ought to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they left the Catholic Church some time ago. Whatever publicity value today's exercise has, it must be measured against both the manifest fraudulence and the irredeemable hopelessness of their cause.”
...
The women did not pledge obedience or chastity – the promises made by Roman Catholic priests. One was introduced to the congregation by her daughter; another by her husband.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
"Group claims to ordain women priests in unsanctioned ceremony"
From the Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff July 20, 2008
A group advocating for the ordination of women this afternoon held a ceremony in a packed Protestant church in Boston at which it declared three women to be Catholic priests and a fourth woman to be a deacon.
The ceremony, like several others that have taken place around the world over the last six years, was denounced by the Roman Catholic church, and critics said the event was a stunt with no religious significance. The Catholic Church has consistently taught that only men can be ordained as priests, and the Archdiocese of Boston said that the women who participated in today’s ceremony had automatically excommunicated themselves by participating in what it said was an invalid ordination ceremony.
...
C.J. Doyle, of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, called the ceremony “a sacrilegious parody of Holy Orders conducted at a Protestant church by a collection of apostates misappropriating the Catholic name.”
“One must not only be a male to be a Catholic priest, one must be a Catholic,'' Doyle said. "The performers in this theater of propaganda are neither. These women ought to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they left the Catholic Church some time ago. Whatever publicity value today's exercise has, it must be measured against both the manifest fraudulence and the irredeemable hopelessness of their cause.”
...
The women did not pledge obedience or chastity – the promises made by Roman Catholic priests. One was introduced to the congregation by her daughter; another by her husband.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
"The Rule of The Father: A Defense of Priestly Fatherhood"
From The National Catholic RegisterBY Tim Drake, Senior Writer for the Register
The concelebration of a papal Mass is always a sight to behold. There, for the eyes of the world to see, is the Church as it really, truly exists — the Pope, lifting up the body and blood of Christ before the altar is surrounded by the Church’s visible hierarchy of cardinals, bishops and priests in an eternal posture of worship and adoration, leading the laity to Christ.
It is there, at the sacrifice where two worlds meet that we gain a glimpse of heaven that can last a lifetime. Like it or not, the image is one that is ordered, fatherly, hierarchical and fraternal. These words, despite many college professors’ protestations, properly understood, are not “dirty” words.
The priestly posture is one not merely of worship and adoration, but also of protection.
Imagine that someone were to rush the altar, after the consecration, with the intent of profaning the Eucharist. Like the sixth-century acolyte St. Tarsicius, who gave his life to protect the Body of Christ, the priests would instinctively move to protect the Eucharist.
One modern American example of this took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Dec. 10, 1989. Dozens of homosexual activists entered the cathedral with the intention of disrupting Mass. One activist, receiving the body of Christ from a priest, crumbled the consecrated host between his fingers and dropped the broken Eucharist on the floor. A number of priests fell to the floor to pick up the remains.
History is full of examples of the movement of public bodies of men protecting something sacred. The Church is both the protector and the sacred thing to be protected. Christ left a body — the Church — to represent him, and that body is structured in an anticipatory posture awaiting his return.
That posture is summed up in the picture of a body of men, consecrated to Jesus Christ in the corporate fraternity of the priesthood, gathered around the body, made manifest in our presence within the Mass.
We have lost sight of the fact that the Church militant is still engaged in a battle. On the night of his arrest, Christ ordered that Peter sheath his sword drawn against Roman soldiers. Christ then went to the cross, and with the sword of salvation, slew death and descended into hell, mortally wounding Satan. But the battle still rages and will continue to rage until Christ, the servant King, returns.
Yes, Christ served unto death, but he’s also a King, and sometimes kings must lead in battle.
In the Old Testament, it was the priestly tribe, the Levites, who were the leaders and protectors of the Tabernacle. Today, just as most priests forgo marital love for a deeper love, Catholic priests are asked not to take directly political roles because they have a deeper battle to fight.
Eschatologically, the Church is assembled and waiting for that final battle. It’s a fight that doesn’t depend on human strength, but entirely on God. I’ve been blessed to participate in Masses celebrated by retired, disabled and ailing priests in an infirmary chapel. Each time, I am struck by how the priestly posture of worship, adoration and protection is maintained even when age, illness, or infirmity prevent the priests from assuming that posture physically.
Anthropology of the Priesthood
We live in an age where the image of male friendship has been stained to such an extent by the media-saturated example of male-male love that any time we speak of two men’s affection for each other, we think of the disorder rather than the proper order of things.
The anthropology of the priesthood, however, is an anthropology of rightly ordered male communion.
Whenever Catholics gather to remember (“Do this in remembrance of me”) the central event of salvation history, they are gathered by a male in the priestly fraternity — men who have sacrificed both marriage and children to give witness to the truth that eternal life comes from sacramental union with Christ.
They forgo marriage to better carry out their, or rather, Christ’s mission. Even in the Eastern Church, which allows priests to marry, priests may not marry once they’ve been ordained and bishops are not allowed to be married.
“The brotherhood” so often spoken of by St. Paul is the deepest expression of a rightly-ordered way for men to love one another — not in homoerotic selfishness, but in a life-giving reflection of the One who established fraternity.
The Mystery of Paternity
We cannot fully understand the mystery of the priesthood because it is a new reality instituted and centered around Christ himself. It’s difficult to receive this truth when we’ve deliberately set up a culture that questions any authority, especially male authority, and associates all paternity with the patriarchy that had to be overcome — a problem peculiar to the last 50 years.
“Authority ... obedience: To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays,” said Pope Benedict XVI during the Mass at Yankee Stadium on April 20, 2008. “Words like these represent a ‘stumbling stone’ for many of our contemporaries. … Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ … we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words.”
The same can be said of the word “patriarchy.” Our discomfort with some forms of cultural patriarchy has made us hesitant to even use the word. Yet, that is a reality connected to this world, not the next.
We’ve lost the capacity to see that ecclesial patriarchy — or priestly “fatherhood” — is a reflection of a natural good. The Church, through its order, is teaching the world a truth that it cannot recognize.
Christ built the Church upon a body of men who entered into a new relationship the evening of the Last Supper. Like the Trinity, the hierarchy is a relationship of persons. The ecclesial hierarchy is made up of the pope, bishops, and priests centered on Christ.
We, as Christians, gain access to the life of the Trinity through the sacraments and the priesthood. By so doing, we are connected to a family of unfathomable size — fellow Catholics worldwide throughout time and space, both living and dead. Through worship, the priesthood makes Christ present in the world.
As both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have said, the male priesthood represents no defect in the personhood of women, or for that matter, of men who are not priests. The dignity of the laity is not diminished because we have not been chosen to carry out the rights and duties and liturgies of the priest. The male fraternity is not oppressive because it is not an end in itself.
“These ranks cannot belong to every individual member of the Church, but that certain ones must be appointed to them by those to whom Our Lord committed such authority,” wrote St. John Fisher in The Defense of the Priesthood in 1525.
Rather, the ecclesial hierarchy excludes many of us in order to save all of us. Liturgy is a work on behalf of the people. In our civic and cultural life this is depicted when our soldiers fight for us, or when we cheer for our sports teams. On a much higher level, priests do this on our behalf through the liturgy.
There is a hierarchy of being — an order — that’s found in nature, in language, in music, in mathematics, in relationships and in natural law.
So, why wouldn’t we expect to find the same within the Church?
“The fact that the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Spirit, means that there is an irreversible order within the Godhead,” writes Father James Schall in The Order of All Things. “There is an inner relationship of persons. And one cannot take the place of the other.”
A similar order is found in the Church as established by Christ. In much the same way, neither can a pope, priest or bishop take the place of the other.
Fraternity. Hierarchy. Ecclesial Paternity. We, as Catholics in the new millennium must reclaim and re-propose these words to a confused world. This is how the Church manifests itself universally.
The Church lives out its Catholic character in this way. To deny this is to ignore the truth that martyrs like St. John Fisher laid down their lives to uphold, and dismiss the truth that Jesus Christ handed down to us in a particular way the night before he died.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
"Vatican reaffirms Church teaching on ordination to the priesthood"
From Catholic News Agency
Vatican City, Jun 3, 2008 / 01:33 pm (CNA).- The secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Angelo Amato, said this week only men can be ordained to the priesthood because “the Catholic Church is not authorized to change the will of her founder, Jesus Christ."
"Therefore," the archbishop continued, "in the participation in the life and mission of the Church, women cannot receive the sacrament of Holy Orders and therefore, they cannot carry out the functions proper to the ministerial priesthood.”
In an interview with the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, regarding the recent decree by the CDF on the “ordination” of women, Archbishop Amato explained, that the Church’s teaching on this matter is founded upon the “free and sovereign will of Jesus Christ, who only called men to be apostles.” The Church is bound by the decision of the Lord Himself, he stressed. “For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.”
Archbishop Amato said the CDF decree was necessary because of “false ordinations of women that have taken place in different parts of the world. The General Decree is also an aid to bishops to ensure a uniform response in the entire Church to these situations. In reality these are not true and proper ordinations,” he explained.
The archbishop went on to note that the decree imposes latae sententiae or immediately applied excommunication on those who attempt to ordain women to the priesthood and on women who attempt to receive Holy Orders. “The excommunication is automatic, ipso facto,” he stated.
Excommunication bars an individual from participating in the Mass and in the other sacraments of the Church and from exercising any kind of Church ministry. It is “reserved to the Holy See and is lifted when the persons in question show sincere repentance and promise to follow the Church’s doctrine and discipline."
“Excommunication is a medicinal punishment that invites the person to repentance, conversion and reparation of the scandal, as the act in question was a public one,” Archbishop Amato explained.
Vatican City, Jun 3, 2008 / 01:33 pm (CNA).- The secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Angelo Amato, said this week only men can be ordained to the priesthood because “the Catholic Church is not authorized to change the will of her founder, Jesus Christ."
"Therefore," the archbishop continued, "in the participation in the life and mission of the Church, women cannot receive the sacrament of Holy Orders and therefore, they cannot carry out the functions proper to the ministerial priesthood.”
In an interview with the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, regarding the recent decree by the CDF on the “ordination” of women, Archbishop Amato explained, that the Church’s teaching on this matter is founded upon the “free and sovereign will of Jesus Christ, who only called men to be apostles.” The Church is bound by the decision of the Lord Himself, he stressed. “For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.”
Archbishop Amato said the CDF decree was necessary because of “false ordinations of women that have taken place in different parts of the world. The General Decree is also an aid to bishops to ensure a uniform response in the entire Church to these situations. In reality these are not true and proper ordinations,” he explained.
The archbishop went on to note that the decree imposes latae sententiae or immediately applied excommunication on those who attempt to ordain women to the priesthood and on women who attempt to receive Holy Orders. “The excommunication is automatic, ipso facto,” he stated.
Excommunication bars an individual from participating in the Mass and in the other sacraments of the Church and from exercising any kind of Church ministry. It is “reserved to the Holy See and is lifted when the persons in question show sincere repentance and promise to follow the Church’s doctrine and discipline."
“Excommunication is a medicinal punishment that invites the person to repentance, conversion and reparation of the scandal, as the act in question was a public one,” Archbishop Amato explained.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
"Excommunication decree for attempted ordination of women"
From Catholic World News
Vatican, May. 30, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has announced that any Catholic bishop who attempts the ordination of a woman to the priesthood, and any woman who participates in such a ceremony, is subject to automatic excommunication.
The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, published in the May 30 issue of L'Osservatore Romano, takes effect immediately and applies throughout the universal Church. The document was signed by Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop Angelo Amato, the prefect and secretary, respectively, of the Congregation.
"Both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incurs excommunication latae sententiae."
The Vatican document declares that "he who attempts to confer Holy Orders on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive Holy Orders, incurs excommunication latae sententiae." A latae sententiae penalty is incurred automatically, and no public decree is necessary. Only the Holy See will have the authority to lift that penalty.
The decree cites #1378 of the Code of Canon Law, which prescribes the penalty of excommunication for anyone who simulates a sacrament. That canon specifically mentions only the simulation of Mass and Confession; the May 30 decree extends the scope of the canon to apply to a simulated ordination ceremony as well.
The Vatican document eliminates any possible ambiguity about the status of women who claim to be Catholic priests, and bishops who may participate in their supposed ordination. Pope John Paul II (bio - news) declared in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (doc) that the Church "has no authority" to ordain women. The Pope added that making an authoritative statement, "to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."
Also this from Catholic News Service:
"Text of Vatican congregation's decree on attempts to ordain women"
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Here is the English text of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's general decree on the attempted ordination of a woman, signed by Cardinal William J. Levada, congregation prefect, and Archbishop Angelo Amata, secretary. It was released by the Vatican May 30.
In order to protect the nature and validity of the sacrament of order, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in virtue of the special faculty given by the supreme authority of the church (cf. Canon 30, Code of Canon Law), in the ordinary session of Dec. 19, 2007, has decreed:
Without prejudice to the prescript of Canon 1378 of the Code of Canon Law, both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incur an excommunication "latae sententiae" reserved to the Apostolic See.
If, in fact, the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, or the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, is one of Christ's faithful subject to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, that person, without prejudice to the prescript of Canon 1443 of the same code, is to be punished with a major excommunication, the remission of which is also reserved to the Apostolic See (cf. Canon 1423, Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches).
This decree, once published in L'Osservatore Romano, comes into force immediately.
Vatican, May. 30, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has announced that any Catholic bishop who attempts the ordination of a woman to the priesthood, and any woman who participates in such a ceremony, is subject to automatic excommunication.
The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, published in the May 30 issue of L'Osservatore Romano, takes effect immediately and applies throughout the universal Church. The document was signed by Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop Angelo Amato, the prefect and secretary, respectively, of the Congregation.
"Both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incurs excommunication latae sententiae."
The Vatican document declares that "he who attempts to confer Holy Orders on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive Holy Orders, incurs excommunication latae sententiae." A latae sententiae penalty is incurred automatically, and no public decree is necessary. Only the Holy See will have the authority to lift that penalty.
The decree cites #1378 of the Code of Canon Law, which prescribes the penalty of excommunication for anyone who simulates a sacrament. That canon specifically mentions only the simulation of Mass and Confession; the May 30 decree extends the scope of the canon to apply to a simulated ordination ceremony as well.
The Vatican document eliminates any possible ambiguity about the status of women who claim to be Catholic priests, and bishops who may participate in their supposed ordination. Pope John Paul II (bio - news) declared in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (doc) that the Church "has no authority" to ordain women. The Pope added that making an authoritative statement, "to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."
Also this from Catholic News Service:
"Text of Vatican congregation's decree on attempts to ordain women"
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Here is the English text of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's general decree on the attempted ordination of a woman, signed by Cardinal William J. Levada, congregation prefect, and Archbishop Angelo Amata, secretary. It was released by the Vatican May 30.
In order to protect the nature and validity of the sacrament of order, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in virtue of the special faculty given by the supreme authority of the church (cf. Canon 30, Code of Canon Law), in the ordinary session of Dec. 19, 2007, has decreed:
Without prejudice to the prescript of Canon 1378 of the Code of Canon Law, both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incur an excommunication "latae sententiae" reserved to the Apostolic See.
If, in fact, the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, or the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, is one of Christ's faithful subject to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, that person, without prejudice to the prescript of Canon 1443 of the same code, is to be punished with a major excommunication, the remission of which is also reserved to the Apostolic See (cf. Canon 1423, Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches).
This decree, once published in L'Osservatore Romano, comes into force immediately.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Nature of Priestly Ordination: Theological Background and Some Present Concerns
The Nature of Priestly Ordination: Theological Background and Some Present ConcernsDr. Lawrence J. Welch, Ph.D
This article was posted on CatholicExchange.com
November 10, 2007
It has been the universal and consistent practice of the Church to ordain only men to the priesthood. This practice is based upon Christ's manner of acting in choosing only men as his apostles. The Church believes that Christ's way of acting was not an arbitrary one and did not proceed from sociological or cultural motives peculiar to his time but was in keeping with the divine plan for the Church. The constant teaching and practice down through the centuries has always maintained that the reservation of the priesthood to men is part of the fundamental structure Christ gave to the priesthood and, in turn, is in accordance with His plan for the Church.
As Pope John Paul II pointed out on a number of occasions, the Holy Scriptures proclaim that Christ's plan for the Church is spousal and marital. This plan was foreshadowed in the Old Testament, as we see in the prophet Isaiah (54:4-8, 10), who portrayed the Covenant between the Chosen People and God as a "marriage" whereby God himself was understood to be a husband steadfast in his love for his wife.
In the Gospel According to Saint John, John the Baptist announces that "he who has the bride is the bridegroom [Jesus]" (John 3:27-29). John the Baptist is not the Messiah, the Christ, but is only "friend of the bridegroom." In the Gospel According to Saint Mark (2:19-20), Jesus attributes the title of "bridegroom" to himself when he explains that his disciples do not fast because "they have the bridegroom with them."
In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul uses the same spousal imagery of the Church and Christ when he admonishes the readers that he feels a "divine jealously" with regard to them, "for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband" (2 Corinthians 11:2). In the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (5:21-32), the relationship of Christ and the Church is said to be a great mystery in the likeness between a man's love for a woman and Christ's love for the Church. Christ is the Head and Bridegroom of the Church who "loved the Church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her" (5:25). Loved by Christ, the Church is joined to him as a wife is to her husband: "the two shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).
The sacrament of ordination to the priesthood of Jesus Christ participates in Christ's spousal relationship to the Church. When a man is ordained to the priesthood, he is changed and configured to Christ, the Head and Bridegroom of the Church. In his ordination, a man is taken up into a new relationship with the rest of the baptized, Christ's Body and his Bride. The priest is sacramentally empowered to represent Christ in a specific way as Bridegroom of the Church. In other words, when a man is ordained to the priesthood he becomes a sacramental sign of Christ in relation to the Church.
It is helpful to recall what is written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 875:
"How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15). No one — no individual and no community — can proclaim the Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard" (Romans 10:17). No one can give himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. The one sent by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, bishops and priests receive the mission and faculty ("the sacred power") to act in persona Christi Capitis; deacons receive the strength to serve the people of God in the diaconia of liturgy, word and charity, in communion with the bishop and his presbyterate. The ministry in which Christ's emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do and give by their own powers, is called a "sacrament" by the Church's tradition. Indeed, the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special sacrament.
"How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15). No one — no individual and no community — can proclaim the Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard" (Romans 10:17). No one can give himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. The one sent by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, bishops and priests receive the mission and faculty ("the sacred power") to act in persona Christi Capitis; deacons receive the strength to serve the people of God in the diaconia of liturgy, word and charity, in communion with the bishop and his presbyterate. The ministry in which Christ's emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do and give by their own powers, is called a "sacrament" by the Church's tradition. Indeed, the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special sacrament.
As Pope John Paul II observed, it is the Eucharist above all that expresses the redemptive act of Christ, the Bridegroom, toward the Church, the Bride. This is clear and unambiguous when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist is performed by an ordained man who acts in the person of Christ. The priest is the living image of Jesus Christ, the spouse of the Church. Understood against this background, we can better see why Christ called only men to be apostles who speak and act in his name for the Church.
There is another perspective that is helpful for understanding the Church's practice of ordaining only men. The sacraments of priesthood and marriage stand together. Marriage is a sacrament because it is a sign of, and a participation in, the spousal covenant of Christ and the Church. If the manhood of Christ is theologically insignificant for the priesthood, then sexual differentiation must be immaterial to the sacrament of marriage as well. It cannot become irrelevant for one without becoming irrelevant for the other.
On the contrary, what the Church teaches and what she proclaims in the sacraments is the truth that sexuality is not only part of God's good creation but that in Christ it holds a meaning more profound than we ever could have imagined. In other words, masculinity and femininity in the human order complete and explain one other. In Christ, we have the one who enters our history and remains as the Bridegroom, as the one who has given himself in the most complete and radical way, laying down his life for his Bride, the Church. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ enables us to participate in his love, in his sincere gift of self, and so enables us to live the full truth of our sexuality as men and women.
For more information regarding the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on priestly ordination, please see the following resources:
• Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis — On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone (Pope John Paul II, 1994)
• Ten Frequently Asked Questions About the Reservation of Priestly Ordination to Men (USCCB Committee on Doctrine)
• Pastoral Response to the Teaching on Women's Ordination. Reverend Avery Dulles, S.J (Origins, August 29, 1996, vol. 26, no. 11) 129.84 Kb PDF file
• Ten Frequently Asked Questions About the Reservation of Priestly Ordination to Men (USCCB Committee on Doctrine)
• Pastoral Response to the Teaching on Women's Ordination. Reverend Avery Dulles, S.J (Origins, August 29, 1996, vol. 26, no. 11) 129.84 Kb PDF file
Dr. Lawrence J. Welch, Ph.D., professor of systematic theology, Kenrick School of Theology, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, St. Louis.
This article courtesy of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part Four
By Fr. Kyle Schnipple
The Response to Vocations
As the number of priests in this country continues to decline, the question of who is able to be admitted to Orders keeps being raised. As seen in the previous articles, this question has already been settled. I am convinced that the response to the so-called 'Vocation Crisis' is not in a change to the standards of admittance, but rather in a bold and dynamic avowal of the beauty of the Ordained Priesthood, and the gifts that can flow from a radical connection to Christ in service to his brothers and sisters. Where this vision of the priesthood has been upheld and proclaimed, both among dioceses and religious orders, there is no vocation crisis.
In the video, Fishers of Men, an interviewee responds that considering a vocation to the priesthood should be a part of every male Catholic's life. I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, not only for the mere fact that it would increase vocations to the priesthood (which it would), but also because it would force every person in the Church to ask the question of where God was leading him or her: priesthood, religious life, married life, or single life. If each person struggles with this question, when they come to a final decision, it will not be just because it is the next step. Someone who, after exploring the call to priesthood or religious life, discerns that God is calling him or her to be married, is going to be much more diligent in whom he or she chooses as a spouse, for the awareness grows that "I am looking for the person God has destined me for, not just someone to spend time with."
Finally, a renewed effort to solicit forth those who are being called to the priesthood and religious life will lead to a deeper level of commitment to God and the Church among all the faithful. If potential candidates are serious about following where God is leading them, they will inquire more about their faith and study the content of the faith with greater interest.
One statistic that continually amazes people is that surveys in both this country and in Europe reveal that 36% of young people have thought about the priesthood or religious life at some point, but that most do not pursue it any farther because they do not feel supported, they do not know what to do next, or they think that they are the only ones who are thinking about it. Obviously, if one out of three has thought about it at some point, they are not alone! The responsibility falls to families, parishes, schools, and dioceses to help young people realize that this is a normal avenue to pursue, and that it can lead to great happiness, because it leads to where God might be calling you.
I look at dioceses that are vocation rich. There is no secret to how they have achieved that status. They have not advocated for drastic changes in either who potential candidates could be or in their training. Rather, they simply lift up and maintain the Truth, and Christ, who is the fullness of Truth, leads potential candidates and gives them the courage to be able to respond.
If you have felt the tugging of the heart strings to explore the option to the priesthood, I echo what Pope John Paul II said over and over again: Be not afraid! Do not be afraid to put into the deep and give everything over to Christ. He does not promise fame or fortune, he does not promise success; what he promises to those who are faithful is that he will be with you to lead and guide you closer to himself.
For further reading, please see the following articles:
Inter Insigniores, Declaration on the Question of Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood, by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone, by Pope John Paul II
Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, by the Second Vatican Council
Presbyterorum Ordinis, Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests, by the Second Vatican Council
Women, Ordination and Angels, by Michael Novak
Priestesses in the Church?, by C.S. Lewis
The Male Priesthood, Argument from Sacred Tradition, by Mark Lowery, Ph.D.
Women and the Priesthood, from Catholic Answers
Why Can't Women be Priests, by Jason Evert
Why No Women's Ordination, by Michael J. Tortolani
Ordination Is Not a Right: Why the Church Cannot Make Women Priests, by Mark P. Shea
Women Priests: No Chance, by Joanna Bogle
Fr. Kyle Schnippel is the vocations director for the diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From CatholicExchange.com
The Response to Vocations
As the number of priests in this country continues to decline, the question of who is able to be admitted to Orders keeps being raised. As seen in the previous articles, this question has already been settled. I am convinced that the response to the so-called 'Vocation Crisis' is not in a change to the standards of admittance, but rather in a bold and dynamic avowal of the beauty of the Ordained Priesthood, and the gifts that can flow from a radical connection to Christ in service to his brothers and sisters. Where this vision of the priesthood has been upheld and proclaimed, both among dioceses and religious orders, there is no vocation crisis.
In the video, Fishers of Men, an interviewee responds that considering a vocation to the priesthood should be a part of every male Catholic's life. I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, not only for the mere fact that it would increase vocations to the priesthood (which it would), but also because it would force every person in the Church to ask the question of where God was leading him or her: priesthood, religious life, married life, or single life. If each person struggles with this question, when they come to a final decision, it will not be just because it is the next step. Someone who, after exploring the call to priesthood or religious life, discerns that God is calling him or her to be married, is going to be much more diligent in whom he or she chooses as a spouse, for the awareness grows that "I am looking for the person God has destined me for, not just someone to spend time with."
Finally, a renewed effort to solicit forth those who are being called to the priesthood and religious life will lead to a deeper level of commitment to God and the Church among all the faithful. If potential candidates are serious about following where God is leading them, they will inquire more about their faith and study the content of the faith with greater interest.
One statistic that continually amazes people is that surveys in both this country and in Europe reveal that 36% of young people have thought about the priesthood or religious life at some point, but that most do not pursue it any farther because they do not feel supported, they do not know what to do next, or they think that they are the only ones who are thinking about it. Obviously, if one out of three has thought about it at some point, they are not alone! The responsibility falls to families, parishes, schools, and dioceses to help young people realize that this is a normal avenue to pursue, and that it can lead to great happiness, because it leads to where God might be calling you.
I look at dioceses that are vocation rich. There is no secret to how they have achieved that status. They have not advocated for drastic changes in either who potential candidates could be or in their training. Rather, they simply lift up and maintain the Truth, and Christ, who is the fullness of Truth, leads potential candidates and gives them the courage to be able to respond.
If you have felt the tugging of the heart strings to explore the option to the priesthood, I echo what Pope John Paul II said over and over again: Be not afraid! Do not be afraid to put into the deep and give everything over to Christ. He does not promise fame or fortune, he does not promise success; what he promises to those who are faithful is that he will be with you to lead and guide you closer to himself.
For further reading, please see the following articles:
Inter Insigniores, Declaration on the Question of Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood, by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone, by Pope John Paul II
Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, by the Second Vatican Council
Presbyterorum Ordinis, Decree on the Life and Ministry of Priests, by the Second Vatican Council
Women, Ordination and Angels, by Michael Novak
Priestesses in the Church?, by C.S. Lewis
The Male Priesthood, Argument from Sacred Tradition, by Mark Lowery, Ph.D.
Women and the Priesthood, from Catholic Answers
Why Can't Women be Priests, by Jason Evert
Why No Women's Ordination, by Michael J. Tortolani
Ordination Is Not a Right: Why the Church Cannot Make Women Priests, by Mark P. Shea
Women Priests: No Chance, by Joanna Bogle
Fr. Kyle Schnippel is the vocations director for the diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From CatholicExchange.com
Monday, March 5, 2007
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part Three
By Fr. Kyle Schnippel
Marital Imagery of the Priesthood
Michael Novak, writing in the Journal First Things, comments on the meeting between Pope John Paul II and Dr. George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in May 1992. In the interim period between Inter Insigniores and this meeting, the Anglican Communion had progressed on its movement towards the acceptance of women into the sacramental priesthood. In response, he noted an unnamed Vatican official as saying that "the Catholic Church, for fundamental theological reasons, does not believe it has a right to authorize such ordination." Novak continues:
For fundamental theological reasons. One wonders what these reasons are. Apart from a splendid essay ("Priestesses in the Church?") by C. S. Lewis, one scarcely ever encounters a theological argument against the proposition that women should be ordained priests. One hears about "tradition," and about the "example" of Jesus Christ — these are solid reasons, but not wholly persuasive. The inquiring mind is restless until it comes to understand the theological reasons why Jesus did as He did, and why the tradition is as it is.
Until the Church is able to articulate a consistent, deep and prayerful theological approach to this question, it will continue to be debated by those who wish, against the wisdom of the ages, for the teaching to change.
Novak formulates the answer to this challenge in three parts: first, the Catholic priest has not only a ministerial duty, but also a representative, liturgical role; second, the maleness of the priesthood is consistent with the metaphors of gender through which, predominantly, God has chosen to reveal Himself; and finally, in the Incarnation, God did not chose to come as a gender-neutral 'person,' he chose to come in male flesh, as a Son. While none of these arguments is persuasive, when taken as a whole, they begin to have a weight of persuasion.
Unfortunately, in the time since Novak's article was published in April of 1993, this question has lain mostly dormant. Advances in theological understanding, specifically with respect to John Paul's groundbreaking approach in The Theology of the Body have yet to be adequately applied to the priesthood. It may seem strange to apply a teaching on love and marriage to the priesthood, but when one considers the spousal nature of the priest as wedded to the Church, and hence also to the community that the priest has been chosen to lead, this becomes a necessary aspect of any theology of the priesthood.
As I preach on Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life, one of the topics I mention is celibacy, or those who "renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 19:12). This call to the celibate life is a counsel, not a command, and is therefore a choice that is proper to a rather exceptional vocation, and not a call that is universal and ordinary for all the faithful. There is a supernatural dimension to this choice as well, for it is done "for the sake of the Kingdom," and not for the glory of the one chosen.
In response to this, the priest becomes, in a spiritual sense, wedded to the Church. He is called to give his life completely for the life of his people, so that he gives life not just to one specific nuclear family, but to the family of the Church. In this, he is to the lead the People of God closer to their home in heaven. The priest is not just a functionary, but is a representative of Christ himself, leading the people closer to Himself. Back to Pope Paul VI:
The Christian priesthood is therefore of a sacramental nature: the priest is a sign, the supernatural effectiveness of which comes from the ordination received, but a sign that must be perceptible and which the faithful must be able to recognize with ease. The whole sacramental economy is in fact based upon natural signs, on symbols imprinted upon the human psychology: "Sacramental signs," says Saint Thomas, "represent what they signify by natural resemblance". The same natural resemblance is required for persons as for things: when Christ's role in the Eucharist is to be expressed sacramentally, there would not be this "natural resemblance" which must exist between Christ and his minister if the role of Christ were not taken by a man: in such a case it would be difficult to see in the minister the image of Christ. For Christ himself was and remains a man. (Inter Insigniores 5)
There must be a resonance between what we say and do, a natural convergence between our beliefs and our practices. Because Christ is inescapably a man, in order to more fully act in persona Christi, the priesthood also is appropriately reserved to men.
In the Economy of Salvation, the process of how our salvation was won by Christ's saving death on the Cross, Jesus is the author of the Covenant, the Bridegroom and Head of the Church, and his saving death is made most real to us today in the Sacrificial Banquet of the Eucharist. Therefore, as Christ continues to lead and guide His Church, that role of leadership is properly filled by a man. It is important to note, however, that this role of leadership does not signify a personal superiority over others, but that the priest has a unique role to play in the way the Salvation won by Christ is meted out to the world today.
Finally, it is important to reiterate the point made at the beginning of this article: no one has a right to the priesthood. The authentic call to the Vocation is a call that is based in service to God and His Church, it is a desire to lay down one's life for something that is greater than the individual, for he gives himself completely to Christ. In this, the priest becomes a sign and symbol of Christ himself, wedded to the Church, and giving life to the faithful.
Fr. Kyle Schnippel is the vocations director for the diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From CatholicExchange.com
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part Two
By Fr. Kyle Schnippel
In our discussion of Inter Insigniores, we have so far examined why the teaching needed to be emphasized, as well as some of the Biblical roots for the teaching.
As we continue, two questions arise: is the attitude of Jesus and the Apostles important, and does this attitude have a permanent value? Some traditions, like requiring women to wear veils, have been changed, while others, especially those related to sacraments, have permanent value and cannot be changed. For example, the Church cannot change from using bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Pope Paul lifts up that the all-male hierarchical priesthood is not merely functionary, but also has a sacramental sign-value, which is much deeper than merely a conventional sign: "This norm, based on Christ's example, has been and is still observed because it is considered to conform to God's plan." An all-male priesthood is accepted as God's design; therefore the Church lacks the power or right to change it. For the priesthood is a connection not only for the community of believers themselves, but also a connection to the history of our salvation in Christ. The priesthood is, in fact, the way the community of believers is connected to The Event of our salvation, Christ's Crucifixion. Pope Paul surmises:
In the final analysis it is the Church, through the voice of her Magisterium, that, in these various domains, decides what can change and what must remain immutable. When she judges that she cannot accept certain changes, it is because she knows that she is bound by Christ's manner of acting. Her attitude, despite appearances, is therefore not one of archaism but of fidelity: it can be truly understood only in this light. The Church makes pronouncements in virtue of the Lord's promise and the presence of the Holy Spirit, in order to proclaim better the mystery of Christ and to safeguard and manifest the whole of its rich content.
The changing of the question back to one of fidelity to the promise that Christ has given allows for a freedom for the Church to continue to grow in our awareness of how Christ continues to lead and guide His Church through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Pope Paul VI's hope that this document would quiet the movement for women's ordination in the Catholic Church went unfounded. As the movement progressed in the various Christian sects, there were renewed calls for this question to be reexamined in the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II addressed the question in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (On the Reserving of Priestly Ordination to Men Alone (1994)). In this document, the Holy Father quotes extensively from his predecessor, but adds the following:
Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful. (4)
In matters of such a strong statement, recourse must be made to see what implications this wording has for the faithful. Then-Cardinal Ratzinger issued a clarifier that this definitively settled the question of women's ordination for the Catholic Church. The dogma of Papal Infallibility, decreed at the First Vatican Council, and reaffirmed at the Second Vatican Council in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium:
In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent. This religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra.
... And therefore [The Pope's] definitions, of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church, are justly styled irreformable, since they are pronounced with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed Peter, and therefore they need no approval of others, nor do they allow an appeal to any other judgment.
...To these definitions the assent of the Church can never be wanting. (LG 25)
Over the last thirty years, the teaching of the Church on this subject has been necessarily clarified due to the confusion among the faithful. To this teaching, we are to gladly give our assent.
Fr. Kyle Schnippel is the vocations director for the diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From CatholicExchange.com
Monday, February 26, 2007
Why Does the Catholic Church Ordain Only Men to the Priesthood? Part One
By Fr. Kyle SchnippelWith the recent illicit ordination by dissident Archbishop Milingo in New Jersey of two married men to the priesthood, and the repeated attempts by several women's groups to ordain women, most recently upon a boat on a river in Pittsburgh, the question of who has a 'right' to the Sacrament of Orders has been a heated topic of late.
According to Catholic Church theology, however, no one has a 'right' to be ordained; it is an individual's response to an invitation by Christ to serve His Church. The Church must also confirm and nurture this call, for no one is a priest just for himself; so the Church has the obligation to define who is eligible for this Sacrament, which must be done in a manner consistent with the Church's Tradition. Because this teaching went unchallenged for a vast majority of the Church's life, the teaching was left implicit in the deposit of faith. However, because of recent historical developments, the teaching was concretely defined over the last thirty years.
Inter Insigniores
In response to the call of Vatican II, there was a renewed effort to Ecumenism, the reconciling of differences between the Catholic Church and the various Christian denominations. As Catholics and Anglicans began this process, which continues to this day, the Anglican Communion was moving toward opening ordination in their communion to women. In response, Pope Paul VI issued a public letter to Donald Coggan, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he stated: "We must regretfully recognize that a new course taken by the Anglican Communion in admitting women to the ordained priesthood cannot fail to introduce into this dialogue an element of grave difficulty which those involved will have to take seriously into account. (4)"
With Pope Paul's appeal to the Anglican Communion going unheeded, there was increasing voice for the Catholic Church also to examine the question. In response, Pope Paul issued Inter Insigniores: (Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (15 October 1976)). In this document, Pope Paul, in quoting Blessed John XXIII, rightly praises the advances in equality that women have achieved over the past century. However, he also reaffirms and clarifies the Church's constant tradition regarding the admission of men only to the ministerial priesthood.
Paul VI begins his discussion with a short survey of history. He notes that "a few heretical sects in the first centuries, especially Gnostic ones, entrusted the exercise of the priestly ministry to women: this innovation was immediately noted and condemned by the Fathers, who considered it as unacceptable in the Church. (1)"
After the short discussions in the Early Church, there was only slight discussion in the Middle Ages; the question was not addressed again until the present day. Remember, the Church only defines a law if it has been challenged and thus needs to be clarified. For example, even though the Canon of Scripture was in place since the late Fourth Century, it was not definitively settled until the Council of Trent in the Sixteenth Century, for it was then that the Canon was challenged by the Protestant Reformers.
Pope Paul moves on to the attitude that Christ had towards women during His public ministry. He notes that Jesus did not "conform to the customs of his time, for his attitude towards women was quite different from that of his milieu, and he deliberately and courageously broke with it. (2)" This contravening of the cultural milieu makes it even more remarkable that Jesus did not choose women to be among his closest followers.
Even his Mother, who was so closely associated with the mystery of her Son, and whose incomparable role is emphasized by the Gospels of Luke and John, was not invested with the apostolic ministry. This fact was to lead the Fathers to present her as the example of Christ's will in this domain; as Pope Innocent III repeated later, at the beginning of the thirteenth century. (Inter Insigniores 2)
In the discussion of St. Paul's theology and writing, much is made of his statement in Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." The argument is then made that there should be no distinction between the sexes in a truly Christian environment. However,
exegetes of authority have noted a difference between two formulas used by the Apostle: he writes indiscriminately "my fellow workers" (Rom 16:3; Phil 4:2-3) when referring to men and women helping him in his apostolate in one way or another; but he reserves the title "God's fellow workers" (1 Cor 3:9; cf. 1 Thes 3:2) to Apollos, Timothy and himself, thus designated because they are directly set apart for the apostolic ministry and the preaching of the Word of God. In spite of the so important role played by women on the day of the Resurrection, their collaboration was not extended by Saint Paul to the official and public proclamation of the message, since this proclamation belongs exclusively to the apostolic mission. (Inter Insigniores, 3)
Even in St. Paul's writings, there is a distinction between what we now call the priesthood of the faithful versus that of the Ministerial or Ordained Priesthood, for everyone is called to share the Word of God with the world, but certain men were set apart for the specific Apostolic mission of Preaching.
Fr. Kyle Schnippel is the vocations director for the diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Biretta tip: Catholic Exchange
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