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.
ROFL!!!!
Responsum ad Dubium Concerning the Teaching Contained in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
I believe it is critical that those of us who believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God always be willing in humility to examine our understanding and interpretation of it. We need to be sure we are truly following what God says rather than longstanding cultural traditions or what others have told us God says. We need to keep a Berean spirit of examining the Scriptures to see whether these things are so.
P.S. When I talk about "serious Bible scholars," I am NOT talking about Jesus Seminar freaks.
Good thing the women at the tomb were not silent...
Jesus = The Son = GOD
The Holy Spirit = GOD
The Father = GOD
The Father != The Son
The Father != The Holy Spirit
The Son != The Holy spirit
Look up the Athanasian Creed ... It thorougly sets the record straight, and refutes the Arians, the Nestorians, the Monophysites, the Modalists, and the rest of that wretched lot.
There was controversy in that day concerning whether women even possessed a soul. I think this is what St Paul was speaking to in this epistle.
Gotta friend who's a Third Degree . . .
The vast majority of the liberal feminists involved with this would not be qualified for ordination or holy orders for reasons OTHER than just their gender. Many of these women are feminists or struggling with gender identity issues. Ugly and obese women usually vent a lot of anger at men for reasons other than just disagreements about theology which they use to get attention. But women struggling with mental illness issues and other unresolved emotional complexes would not be qualified for religious life. Psychic disorders in general are an impediment on sound canonical grounds.
tell God that, it's His Word....not mine.
I suggest they find a different Church.
"The problem has always been one of obedience rather than understanding."
EXACTLY.
panteV gar umeiV eiV este en cristw ihsou
That isn't where I thought the Greek would lead -- in addition, there are two words translated as "man" - one meaning the male specifically, one meaning "human beings". The adjectives used earlier in the passage are the specific ones for male and female - "arsen kai qhlu". But that issue didn't even arise here.
"Good thing the women at the tomb were not silent..."
Were the women at the tomb teaching?
And I don't have a problem with women as teachers or cantors (in fact I am a cantor, every fourth Sunday - members of the choir share the job around.)
A problem here that is specifically pertinent to Catholicism is the function of the priest, which doesn't obtain in Judaism (at least not until the Temple is rebuilt, I guess - but you instruct me on that point if I am off base).
Anyhow, in Catholic (and some Anglican) belief, the priest is an alter Christus, another Christ, who participates in the Divine Sacrifice on the altar. A woman cannot do this by definition.
As a purely practical matter, I'm in a good position to judge because the ECUSA parish I used to belong to before the family Crossed the Tiber was the training parish for our diocese. I was in the parish about 28 years and saw every newly ordained female priest as they went through their training. With ONE exception, none of them were fit for the liturgical office of priest.
As a poster has noted above, a lot of these women are priests not because they hear an authentic call from God, but because they have various unresolved "issues". Some are doing it to prove a political point, some feel that it's necessary from a cultural point of view, some are radical feminists, and some are just frankly man-hating lesbians who join up to "get the men". (At least the church fired THAT one.)
I haven't been very impressed.
He always happens to be every bit as much a man as I.
The Father != The Son The Father != The Holy Spirit The Son != The Holy spirit
The Athanasian Creed states: "But the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty".
Don't be so sure. There are many bishops who favor married priests, based on the successful experience of the Anglican dispensation.
Maybe what the Catholic Church needs to do is find a role for women, other than nuns, which isn't a priest per se or do you allow nuns to have a greater role? As I understand it, nuns have no role in the governance of the church nor its ceremonies, correct? And perhaps they could even find scriptural authority for something like that?
Hey anyone can be creative with a man written document.
After all the Torah prescribes stoning as the penalty for adultery but I hadn't noticed a whole lot of Jewish stonings going on, but hey, that's what the Bible says.....
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