Posted on 04/12/2005 1:48:41 PM PDT by anniegetyourgun
WASHINGTON, April 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- At this pivotal time in the Catholic Church, the Womens Ordination Conference (WOC), a feminist voice for women in the church, provides the theological, biblical, and historical reasons for ordaining women.
First and foremost, God calls women to be priests. Women and men are equally created in the image of God; therefore, the church should embrace the gifts of women in all levels of ministry, stated Joy Barnes, WOCs executive director. This is not simply an issue of womens rights, this is fundamentally about fulfilling Jesus gospel message.
There is no biblical or theological reason to keep women from the priesthood, continued Barnes. The Vatican states women cannot be priests because in the gospels Jesus chose only male apostles. However, in 1976 the Vaticans own Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded that there is no scriptural reason to prohibit womens ordination.
Our 2,000 year-old Catholic tradition contains numerous examples of women priests, stated Barnes. There are both biblical references and compelling archeological evidence that indicate women were leaders of churches - even bishops - in early Christianity. In addition, women were legitimately ordained in the underground Catholic Church of communist Czechoslovakia as recently as 1970.
A Second Vatican Council document, Gaudium et Spes (No. 29), calls for an end to all discrimination, and a July 2004 Vatican document promotes womens leadership in all realms of society.
There is a painful inconsistency between what the church teaches and how the church acts regarding women, said Aisha Taylor, coordinator of WOCs Young Feminist Network. Pope John Paul II spoke at length about womens dignity, yet the church - by banning womens ordination - systematically denies women participation in its governance.
WOC calls for a Pope who will usher in a renewed priestly ministry, which includes women and transforms the structures of the church to be inclusive, participatory and spiritually affirming for all God's people, Taylor concluded.
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Founded in 1975, WOC promotes the voices of Catholic women excluded from official church structures. WOC can arrange interviews with women called to priesthood, ordained Catholic women, feminist theologians, and church historians to speak about the issue of women priests. For more resources on womens ordination, the legacy of Pope John Paul II, and selecting a new pope, visit http://www.womensordination.org.
No mystery. No Pope Joan.
He's also a more likely candidate to become a male saint than Mother Theresa.
The priest represents Christ, who is male in his human nature.
Didn't anybody read the Pope's explanation for not ordaining women? Quite explicitly he said, "I don't have the authority."
This is not an assertion of papal power. It's an assertion of papal subordination to Christ.
And it has nothing to do with any supposed "inferiority" of women. Think: if the Blessed Virgin mary had appeared to John Paul II, which of them would have fallen on their knees?
Sacraments are "outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace." Thus the outward signs, being instituted by Christ, can't be changed.
Here's the really interesting part: in two of the sacraments --- Matrimony and Holy Orders ---- the human body itself is the outward sign. That is, in Matrimony, the female body and the male body have sacramental significance.
In Holy Orders (priesthood) the male body is itself a sign. A sign of what? Modern ears are almost tone-deaf to the natural significance of gender, but here we go: maleness means PROTECTION, PROVISION, and SELF-SACRIFICE: being there to lay down your life for your flock, your people, your family.
It is an enduring sign-post in a de-sexed and de-sacramentalized world for what the male role is ~supposed~ to be.
I thank God for a Church that acts as if that bodily sex is significant and holy; that insists that masculinity and femininity mean something ("male and female he created them") and that matter matters.
$25 dollars and a phone number and suddenly everyone is a conference or non-profit corp.
These nobody groups are now being reported as serious contenders in the public debate. They have all the credibility of the flat earth society, or the UFO killed JFK conspirists.
This is very different. Roman Catholic Church was ordaining married men into priesthood until XII century (letting already ordained to look for women is another thing). General celibacy is disciplinary and not doctrinal.
I'm just a devil's advocate here-don't really have a strong position. The answer to my "women at the tomb" question was good.
BUT-the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is brought about by whom? By God (in the form of Christ, fulfilling his "I will be there among you" promise) - or by the priest?
If the answer is, "by the priest", he must have supernatural HELP from God-in-Christ, or it wouldn't happen, right?
That being so, and God being omnipotent, what does it matter who the minister is?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Somebody please correct me if wrong, but does not the catholic church have a few married priests under a special dispensation because they came from another denomination into the catholic church?
It is also important to mention, that the Easter Orthodox priests who are married when they take their vows, can not rise in the ranks to bishop. Those remain unmarried postitions.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Here's what I don't get. Catholics have really, really special example of holiness and spiritual importance held up for us in the Blessed Virgin. She never held elective office, wasn't a priest or deacon, didn't run a company, as far as we know couldn't read or write. But I and all other orthodox Catholics believe she was the holiest purely human being every created, Queen of the Angeles and the Saints, and, of course, the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because of one thing and one thing only: she did what God asked her to do. And God glorified her for her obedience. What God wants may not be what we want, it may be some task the world despises or thinks of as unworthy. These gals want to be priests out of vanity, clearly if GOD wanted them to be priests he would have (and could have) made them men! But obedience and humility, while they may not get you on the cover of "People" are the hallmarks of the Christian walk. Think about all the fabulous, funny, heroic, delightful woman saints there have been, think about the convents and homes and schools and parishes crying out for women to help them in their work. How can these chickees possibly think the Church is anti-woman? Of all the religions on the planet I truly think the Roman Catholic church is the most pro-woman that there is.
Because Christ ordained the priesthood and the Apostolic Succession.
How and when?
John 20:21-23. It's pretty clear. Matthew 16:18-20. With reference to the Succession, Acts 8, esp. 17-20.
Unless He has two natures, one divine and one human.
In my mind, it still doesn't follow
In the Catholic Church, priesthood is actually a three-level thing: deacon, priest, bishop. These men have received a sacrament known as Holy Orders, and are called, collectively, clerics.
The celibacy of all ordained clerics in the Western church is what's known as a "discipline," --- a man-made rule ---not a necessary feature of the clerical state always and everywhere.
In the Eastern church, married men can become deacons and priests, but men who are already priests cannot marry. And if married priest becomes widowed, he cannot remarry.
In both East and West, bishops are chosen from among the celibate.
I would guess that in the Catholic Church in the USA, most deacons are married men.
Anyhow, as I said, clerical celibacy is a man-made rule in the West historically, and could conceivably change.
This makes the "married priests" question quite different from the other things that the self-styled progressives typically want to change, such as:
(1) the masculine nature of priesthood (no priestesses)
(2) the indissolubility of a valid sacramental marriage (no divorce/remarriage)
(3) the sanctity of marital intercourse (no non-marital intercourse, no contraception, no perversion)
(4) the sanctity of human life (No abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, suicide.)
The Church could change the unmarried priest rule, but not the other stuff. Because the other stuff is God-made. You can't change His laws any more than you could change the Law of Gravity.
Catholic Women's Ordination Group Outlines Traits for New Pope
To: National Desk and Religion Reporter
Contact: Aisha Taylor of the Women's Ordination Conference, 703 352-1006 or 202 422-2235 cell, Web: http://www.womensordination.org
WASHINGTON, April 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As the cardinals begin the conclave to elect the next pope, the Women's Ordination Conference (WOC), a national Catholic organization leading the movement for women priests, states the qualities women want in the next pope.
"The Women's Ordination Conference calls for a pope who will usher in a renewed priesthood that includes women," stated Joy Barnes, the organization's executive director. "Pope John Paul II divided the Catholic Church over the role of women by banning women priests and closing the discussion. We pray for a pope who will take the first step in healing this divide-opening the dialogue on women's ordination."
Pope John Paul II appointed all but three of the cardinals who will be voting and who may become the next pope.
"While I know the reality that many cardinals oppose women's ordination, there is diversity among the College of Cardinals -- some are open to reform," continued Barnes. "However, the election of a pope opposed to progressive Catholic reforms would galvanize the 60 percent of US Catholics who support women's ordination and motivate people in the pews to work for change in the church."
WOC advocates for a pope who:
-- Supports women's ordination into a renewed priestly ministry.
-- Fully embraces gifts of women in all levels of church governance and decision-making.
-- Creates systems of accountability to eradicate abuse, sexism, racism, heterosexism, and all oppression within the church.
-- Develops inclusive ministries and teachings that are relevant to lay Catholics.
-- Incorporates the laity in decision-making bodies of the church.
On Monday, April 18, WOC activists across the United States will protest the lack of women's voices in the conclave during public prayer services. Public actions called "Open the Conclave with Pink Smoke" are confirmed in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Lexington, Ky., Washington, D.C., and more.
Founded in 1975, the Women's Ordination Conference promotes the voices of Catholic women excluded from official church structures. WOC can arrange interviews with women called to priesthood, ordained Catholic women, feminist theologians, and church historians to speak about the issue of women priests. For more resources on women's ordination, the legacy of Pope John Paul II, and selecting a new pope, visit http://www.womensordination.org.
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I'm not Catholic, but it seems to me that "pink smoke" is a result of strange fire.
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