Women as Priests or Pastors

Let’s talk Women as Priests or Pastors! Can women be ordained into the priesthood? Can they be pastors at churches?

1️⃣ First lets talk definitions because words matter:

pastor.

A priest in charge of a Catholic parish or congregation. He is responsible for administering the sacraments, instructing the congregation in the doctrine of the church, and providing other services to the people of the parish.

PASTOR/PASTORAL OFFICE:

The ministry of shepherding the faithful in the name of Christ. The Pope and bishops receive the pastoral office which they are to exercise with Christ the Good Shepherd as their model; they share their pastoral ministry with priests, to whom they give responsibility over a portion of the flock as pastors of parishes.

🗣️ Now on to what really matters…the explanation:

The Church's stance on ordination draws from its historical journey, apostolic doctrines, an unbroken Sacred Tradition rejecting female ordination, the masculine identity of Christ, and scriptural passages spanning both Old and New Testaments. The foundation of the Church's teachings on ordination emerges from the New Testament and the wisdom of the Church Fathers.

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🧔‍♀️ Maleness of Christ/Natural Resemblance/in persona Christi

From its inception, priesthood was exclusively entrusted to men, who mirrored a "natural resemblance" to Christ. This understanding persisted throughout the early and medieval Church, encountering minimal challenge until modern times, particularly with the emergence of feminism.

While some feminist theologians posit that Jesus, representing humanity, could have been sexually androgynous or neuter, orthodox Christology firmly upholds Jesus was “fully human”. Moreover, the prophetic tradition, rooted in the Old Testament, anticipates a male Savior from the lineage of David ("For to us a child is born, a son is given... He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom," Is. 9:6-7).

From the Song of Songs to Revelation, Scripture portrays a nuptial motif with Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as his bride. The New Testament unequivocally identifies Christ as the "bridegroom" (Eph. 5:23-32).

Regarding the exclusion of women from the apostolic college, Inter Insigniores cites St. Thomas Aquinas, asserting that “sacramental signs symbolize what they signify through natural resemblance.” The ordained priest, acting in persona Christi ("in the person of Christ"), requires a natural resemblance to Christ, the God-man mediator, who was prophesied as being male and, in fact, was born, suffered, died, and was raised in male form. Thus, the ministry of salvation must be fulfilled by a man, in accordance with Christ's male identity as prophesied and incarnated.

While this explanation of the male priesthood may seem simplistic, it bears profound theological significance upon reflection. Women, possessing a distinct yet equally significant role, lack the natural resemblance to Christ necessary for sacramental representation. Unlike Protestant denominations, whose non-sacramental ministry diverges from the Roman and Eastern sacramental systems, Catholic and Orthodox traditions uphold the exclusive male priesthood in line with theological and historical precedent. Protestants opt to ordain "ministers," a role distinct from that of priests. Unlike priests, ministers do not act in the person of Christ and do not lay claim to such a representation.

The Church's exclusion of women from the sacred priesthood stems from Christ's deliberate choice not to include them among the Twelve, to whom he bestowed sacramental powers, including ordination. Following his Resurrection, Christ appeared to the apostles in the upper room, breathing the Holy Spirit upon them and granting them the authority to forgive sins (John 20:21-23).

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✝️ Jesus and his followers were subjects of their culture.

To bind Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, with cultural constraints is historically and theologically inept. Inter Insigniores highlights that Jesus' decision wasn't influenced by the cultural norms of his time, as evidenced by his interactions with women throughout the New Testament. As the 1977 Declaration (#3, 4) points out, Jesus often broke with religious and societal conventions: He conversed with a Samaritan woman (John 4:27), pardoned a woman caught in adultery, implying equal guilt in sins of lust (John 8:11), and departed from the "unbreakable" Mosaic law concerning the rights and duties of both sexes in marriage (Mark 10:2-11).

Despite societal expectations, women played integral roles in Jesus' ministry, standing steadfast at the foot of the cross and witnessing the Resurrection firsthand, with Mary Magdalene likely being the initial witness. While Jesus consistently challenged societal norms, he intentionally appointed only men as apostles, underscoring that his decisions weren't bound by cultural constraints or conventions. Even his mother, revered above all human beings by the Church, wasn't chosen for this specific sacramental role.

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📖 Scripture and Sacred Tradition unequivocally prohibit the ordination of women as it is deemed unnatural

Those advocating for such ordination often align with contemporary notions of unjust discrimination, influenced by modern feminist ideology. However, such views are not easily reconciled with Catholic teaching, which fundamentally rejects the notion of discrimination in this context. The Church maintains that women cannot become fathers, just as men cannot become mothers.

While Paul acknowledges the universality of God's plan for salvation, he underscores the existence of distinct roles within the body of Christ. Men and women are equal in God's eyes, yet their equality is not synonymous with uniformity. They assume different functions within the Church. Women, integral to the dissemination of the Gospel, were among the first to proclaim the risen Christ. Although permitted to pray and prophesy in church (1 Cor. 11:1-16), they were instructed not to assume teaching roles within the Christian assembly (1Cor. 14:34-38; 1 Tim. 2:1-14), which were reserved for the clergy. Ordaining women is incongruent with Christian faith.