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.
Female priests necessarily present a problem with the orthodox belief of the real presence of the Eucharist. When the priest presents himself in Loco Christi (in the position of Christ), it is clear that he is talking as Christ, not as himself, since he cannot feed another human being. The common meaning (that we should feed ourselves on the priest) is sufficiently preposterous, so we are driven to the divine meaning (that we should feed ourselves on the body of Christ).
When a woman states, "This is my body, take it and eat," the common meaning isn't so preposterous. While few in modern American society would accept the direct meaning, the direct meaning can nonetheless taint the indirect meaning, enabling people to picture God the Father as a Mother God instead. And indeed, both in ancient times and in modern times, those sects which accepted women priests became matriarchical and Gaia-worshipping. The proper person of the trinity to be encountered as female is not the Son, who sacrifices his body for his bride, nor the Father, but the Spirit which, like Eve proceded from Adam, procedes from the Father.
I have read there is some mystery as to whether there was in fact a female Pope, the Catholic Yentl, if you will, a woman disguised as a man who became Pope, way back when, that would be interesting if true, and even if not true, make a good movie...
and who is doing the condemning, God or Jesus?
Add to your list, "We Are Church", "Womens Ordination
Conference", "Catholics Speak Out" plus Frances Kissling
I bet the same people belong to most of the same groups.
These people (and the media) just don't get it. They seem to think that the rules were all made by Pope John Paul II, not the bible. I hope the next pope has the exact beliefs as Pope John Paul II.
After the Soviet Union fell, Koinotes sought recognition from the Vatican as a separate catholic prelature. Their request was denied and they were instructed to rejoin the wider Church.
Attention Women: GIVE IT UP. The Catholic religion is based on TRADITION and NOT changing times. Get over yourselves already, you can't have it all.
Interesting. Nowhere does it say that the members of WOC are Catholic.
It became a folk story, and there was even a bad 70s movie made about the legend.
There isn't a shred of reality to it.
LOL, I feel for ya guy!
God and Jesus are one and the same, along with the Holy Spirit.
God is condeming women pastors, speaking through Paul.
Roma locuta. Causa finita est.
The WOC...Lousy Catholics, lousy theologians, lousy historians. Another nest of leftist cockroaches scuttling about in the dark corners of the Church. I pray for a Pope with heavy black police shoes to crush these insects under heel...
O great as if we didn't have enough trouble with the pedophile priests now we can start worrying about the lesbian priest - judas priest what next!!
"serious biblical scholars" have always found something in the Word of God they didn't like. The problem has always been one of obedience rather than understanding.
don't forget:
Women
In
Catholic
Church
Authority.
they're just looking for a good acronym.
Get over here.
please
Since God = Jesus = The Holy Spirit = The author of the Bible, the question is meaningless.
Gal 3:28 is referring to there being only ONE salvation, regardless of who or what a person is.
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