Women in the Priesthood of the Catholic Church

Although there have been about 150 women that have decided not to wait for the Roman Catholic Church to lift its ban on women priests, be ordained, and start their own congregations, the Church will probably never allow women become priests. The Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women. There are many reason as to why this so. In Sacred Scripture, Jesus only chose men to be his Apostles. So, the Church follows in Christ’s ways and imitates him in his choosing of only men. God’s plan is for the Church is for women to not be ordained into the priesthood. Having women in the clergy is incompatible with Christian Faith. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in conjunction with the pope, ruled that the teaching of having women in the priesthood requires definitive assent founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal magisterium. The Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful. Overall, the Church has never allowed women to become priests and is going to stick to that teaching.

The Catholic Church is immutable, meaning that she never changes. Therefore, waiting for the Catholic Church to change its teaching on who can be ordained priests is pointless. Sure the Church increases its understandings of certain teachings, but I do not believe that it is possible for the teaching of who can be in the priesthood is going to change. By starting their own congregations in order to become married, this woman and others are somewhat starting a schism and teaching heresy. So, they are not only choosing to go with their own beliefs, rejecting those of the Church, but they are also causing disunity within the Church, for schism and heresy are two of the most major wounds to unity.

Also, we have a role of priesthood as the laity. We do not need to be priests to be able to spread the Word of God evangelize the world. We really have a strong effect through our actions. And, through the action of these women insisting on becoming priests and eventually becoming priests in their own congregations, the chance of evangelization is being harmed, for there are now different beliefs that do not agree with those of the Catholic Church being spread. Also, if a women is not satisfied with the priesthood of the laity, she can become a nun and devote her life to God and prayer, similar to a priest. The only real difference is that a priest is ordained and so can perform the sacraments. I believe that these women should just accept the fact that the Church is not going to change in its teachings and accept that they cannot become priests within the Catholic Church. Women desiring to become priests is like a man wanting to go to an all girl school or vise versa. Some people like to break the rules of society, which is sometimes the right thing to do, but, in this case, it is not what God's plan is.