Posted on 07/08/2008 5:56:30 AM PDT by NYer
Make no mistake, the Anglo-Catholics were done over at the General Synod in York in the debate over women bishops. This being the Church of England, their humiliation was accompanied by lots of hand-wringing, a good deal of guilt and a late attempt to stop the beating entirely, when the Bishop of Durham intervened like a worried boxing referee.
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But it was bloody just the same. After nearly eight hours, all that the Catholic Conscience had to show for its pains was a motion that now indicates that it is the wish of a "majority" of the Synod for women to be bishops and the word "statutory" now stands in front of the proposed code of practice.
No structural provisions, no special arrangements, no statutory transfer, no flying bishops and certainly no super-bishops. I had thought that super-bishops were just flying bishops with special powers ("Is it a bird? Is it a plane?") but it doesn't matter what they are, because the Catholics can't have them anyway.
This is meant to be the Church's parliament. But it has none of the up-front rough and tumble of the House of Commons. It's more like the House of Lords without the spivs. This makes it slightly creepy; like a mafia movie, the luckless are stabbed in the back while they're being hugged.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I know. And I repeat myself: Says who?
An Icon of ChristWhat would you say if I informed you that there is a wonderful movie about our Founding Fathers coming on television this Fourth of July weekend to celebrate our Independence from Great Britain? What would you say if I informed you that the part of George Washington was going to be played by the talented actress, Bette Midler? Chances are you would say, “David, that is just silly?”…Why would you say that? Because... more than likely you would say something like, “Because George Washington was a man.” However, these same individuals that see the silliness in the part of George Washington being played a woman fail to see why a woman cannot serve in the role of ordained clergy.
Women’s ordination is an area many in our modern world don’t seem to “want to understand”. They have been entirely sold on the “Social Justice Argument”. After all…I completely agree that a woman is capable of doing any job a man can do. The problem is that the ordained priesthood…Holy Orders…is a “calling”. It is not just a “job”. After all, is motherhood a “job”? Is “giving birth a job?” I cannot give birth to a baby…Why? Because I am different from a woman. The arguments in favor of ordaining women very often stem from the feminist agenda... (much more follows)
I am simply stating Protestant, Reformation doctrine. You disagree, I know...and you can take that up with Calvin and the Reformers.
And who gave them authority?
-A8
It means many Anglo Catholics will leave COE. They may choose Orthodoxy the may choose Catholicism. But they can no longer remain in a Body which so clearly has given them a collective rasberry.
And for those who practice a Reformed expression of the Anglican faith there is GAFCON. But for Anglo Catholics neither GAFCON or COE is the answer.
The following is one of the best explanations on why the Catholic Church has an all male priesthood.
THE ALL MALE-PRIESTHOOD
by Fr. William Saunders
With all the news surrounding the Episcopalian Church of England's decision to ordain women as priests, I was trying to explain to a friend of mine about the reason for the male priesthood in the Catholic Church Can you help me?
In our politically charged world, the debate over the ordination of women too often focuses on the political rather than the theological. We must first remember that because of our theological foundation, the Church has condemned discrimination based on sex: "Forms of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design." (Vatican II, "Gaudium et Spes," No. 29)
Therefore, to understand the Church's position for reserving the sacrament of holy orders and thereby the ordination of deacons, priests and bishops to men only (cf. "Code of Canon Law," No. 1024), we must turn to our theological foundation. Here we remember that by definition a sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. First, Christ instituted the sacrament of holy orders. According to His plan, He called 12 men as His Apostles. Nowhere in the Gospel do we find evidence of Jesus giving "orders" to women to baptize, to anoint the sick, to confect the holy Eucharist, or to forgive sins as He did to the Apostles.
Some might respond, "But in Jewish society at that time, women were not considered equal to men. Women were seen in a second-class way, and that is why Jesus only chose men as Apostles."
To some extent, this statement is true. However, Jesus was not constricted by such social customs. Even His adversaries stated, "Teacher, we know you are a truthful man and teach God's way sincerely. You court no one's favor and do not act of human respect." (Mt 22:16)
While Jewish law allowed men to divorce their wives but not vice versa, Jesus spoke of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman as two equals made in God's image and likeness. (Mt 19:3 ff) He spoke with the Samaritan woman, a public sinner, whom "good" rabbis would have avoided. (Jn 4:4 ff) He acknowledged the presence of Mary Magdalene and forgave her sins although she was considered "untouchable" by other religious leaders. (Lk 7:36 ff)
Many women did follow our Lord during His public ministry, and witnessed His crucifixion and burial. On Easter, women were the first to discover the empty tomb, and Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord. Moreover, Jesus clearly honored His Blessed Mother, Mary, for whom He even performed the first miracle at the wedding of feast at Cana, even though His time had not come. Clearly, Jesus did not omit calling women as Apostles because social or political convention.
Moreover, there is no indication in the history of the Church of women being called to holy orders. For instance, although women, including our Blessed Mother, were with the Apostles in the "upper room" after the ascension (Acts 1 :14), St. Peter addressed the "brothers," concerning the selection of a replacement for Judas, and the eleven Apostles chose Matthias, one of two men nominated. (Acts 1:15 ff) Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, "If our Lord would have ordained women, He would have definitely ordained His own Blessed Mother, free of sin, but He did not" Therefore, the Church remains faithful to the type of ordained ministry willed by Christ and maintained by the Apostles.
Second, the Church must also be faithful to the sign value or the substance of the sacrament. Pope Pius XII, echoing the teachings of the Council of Trent, stated, 'The Church has no power over the substance of the sacraments, that is to say, over what Christ the Lord, as the sources of Revelation bear witness, determined should be maintained in the sacramental sign." ("Sacrament-um Ordinis," No. 5)
These Sacramental signs are symbolic of actions and things. Water in baptism symbolizes life and cleansing, and reminds us of the parting the waters to bring life at Genesis, the flood waters which destroyed evil in Noah 's time, the parting of the Red Sea to bring the people out of slavery, and the water which flooded from the heart of Christ on the cross. These signs also unite a person to the everlasting eternal ministry of Christ Himself. For example the Mass is not just a ritual meal or pious remembrance of the Last Supper; the Mass participates in and makes present now the everlasting, eternal sacrifice of our Lord on the cross and His resurrection.
In the same way, through holy orders a priest is called to represent Christ Himself, to be an alterChristus. For instance, at Mass, the priest acts -- "the priest enacts the image of Christ, in whose person and by whose power he pronounces the words of consecration." (St. Thomas Aquinas, , III, 83 1, 3) In this sense, an intrinsic part of the sacramental sign of holy orders is the manhood of Christ. For a fuller discussion of this point, confer "Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood" (1976) and Pope John Paul II's "Mulieris Dignitatem," No. 26.
The restriction of holy orders to men alone does not denigrate the role of women in the Church. Think of some of the great female saints like St. Clare, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Catherine of Siena, whose spiritual writings and example are still honored today. Think of remarkable work of Mother Teresa or Mother Angelica and how many lives they touch. Think of famous women in our American Church: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (a wife, mother and religious), Blessed Katherine Drexel, St. Frances Cabrini, Blessed Kateri Tekawitha. Our country in America has a beautiful legacy of women religious who have served in schools, hospitals, orphanages and other institutions.
Our Holy Father addressed this question when he visited Philadelphia in 1979. He reminded us that Christ calls each of us to share in His mission. Some people are called to be priests, some religious brothers and sisters, some as spouses, some as parents, some as single laity. A vocation a not "right" but a call from Christ through the Church as He has established it. The distinction is not based on superiority, but on a difference in the levels of function and service. Everyone shares in the mission of Christ according to His plan and design.
Fr. Saunders is pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish and president of Notre Dame Institute, both in Alexandria.
Taken from the May 19, 1994 issue of THE ARLINGTON CATHOLIC HERALD.
Then kindly explain why you aren't a Muslim or a Mormon, as their scriptures also make self-authenticating claims. Kindly explain what the Church was before there was a New Testament.
These are the same liberal revisionist who are destroying the fabric of societies.
The majority of the Anglican communion are conservative just as the majority of Americans are conservative.
Says God.
(2 Timothy 3:16)
Any interpretation is possible without final apostolic authority. Extreme feminism continues to creep into churches missing that essential authority.
No, the women didn’t win, the devil did. Another denomination he has corrupted and turned from the truth of scripture.
sure scripture is a great authority, except when one groups contradicts the other, and then the other and so on and so forth, until you have women being ordain bishops, which is nowhere in scripture...yet, some churches read into it....
no, you dont need to go out and get one, there is already one ordained by God himself and protected by the holy spirit so that he teaches no error.
You can rely on fallible contradicting PERSONAL interpretations of scripture and flail along thinking ‘that is what Jesus wants us to do’
good luck on all that....
Because it says so? What else you got?
This begs the question: Where in Scripture is this taught? Private interpretation of the Bible is not condoned in the Bible. (2 Peter 1:20). Was individual interpretation of Scripture practiced by the early Christians or the Jews? "NO" (Acts 8:29-35). The assertion that individuals can correctly interpret Scripture is false. Even the founder of Sola Scriptura Martin Luther, near the end of his life, was afraid that "any milkmaid who could read" would found a new Christian denomination based on his or her "interpretation" of the Bible. Luther opened a "Pandora's Box" when he insisted that the Bible could be interpreted by individuals and that It is the sole authority of Christianity. Why do we have over 30,000 different non-Catholic Christian denominations? The reason is individuals' "different" interpretations of the Bible.
It’s a bad headline. It should read “Feminists win bloody battle at the Synod; Women (and everyone else) lose”.
Good for you. Everyone is glad that you are happy and saved. Now no reason to be catty.
Don't be so arrogant!
The catholic church has had her share of heretics and apostates throughout the years.
Thousands have exited the membership roles due the infallible decisions of the catholic leadership.
It's that plank / eye thing ya know.
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