The recent decision of the Church of England to call women to the ministerial priesthood has intensified Catholic awareness of women's ordination.  A recent survey by Newsweek found that sixty-three percent of American Catholics now favor women priests compared to twenty-nine percent in 1974.  Both Paul VI and John Paul II, together with the Magisterium, have published five official documents dealing with this specific issue.  These are:  Response to the Letter of His Grace the Most Reverend Dr. F.D. Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood (November 30, 1975 - Paul VI), Declaration "Inter Insigniores" ( October 15, 1976 - Paul VI and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), Apostolic Letter "Mulieris Dignitatem" (August 15, 1988 - John Paul II),  Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Christi fideles laici" (December 30, 1988 - John Paul II), Ecclesiastical Document Catechism of The Catholic Church (October 11, 1992 - On the request of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops to John Paul II, January 25, 1985) and more recently the Apostolic Letter "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis" (May 22, 1994 - John Paul II).  All the above documents either clearly state or indirectly affirm that

…the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith judges it necessary to recall that the Church, in fidelity to the example of the Lord, does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination.[1]

                This essay will attempt to briefly put forth the Catholic Church's teaching on this matter, with specific reference to "Inter Insigniores" and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.

                The reasons put forth by the Catholic Church for the non-ordination of women stem from the data of faith found in the Sacred Sources of Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium.  Christ's behavior and actions, as recorded in Sacred Scripture, clarified and lived by Sacred Tradition and taught in any given age by the Teaching Church (Magisterium), show forth His will concerning ordination to the ministerial priesthood.  Christ's behavior and actions include the fact that He did not call any women to be part of the Twelve (Lk 9:1-6).  To the Twelve alone did He confer the mission and power of celebrating the Eucharist in His name (Lk22:19).  No feminine presence is mentioned among the Seventy-two (Lk 10:1-20).

Even his Mother who was so closely associated with the mystery of her Son, and whose incomparable role is emphasized by the Gospels of Luke and John was not vested with the apostolic ministry.[2]

The fact that sacred Scripture does not record formally and explicitly Christ's words for the non-ordination of women to the ministerial priesthood is not conclusive proof that the Church is therefore at liberty to grant or even for that matter to withhold such requests.  The

 …plan of revelation is realized by deeds and words having an inner unity:  the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery contained in them.[3]

Therefore not only the words recorded in Sacred Scripture, but also the deeds of Jesus act as constitutive elements of revelation.  The Scriptures must themselves be read in light of Tradition, as well as lived in the faith of the Church, in order that the true meaning of Scripture may be discovered.  The role of the Magisterium is

 …to strengthen the interpretation of Scripture made possible by listening to the Tradition of faith.[4]

As the Second Vatican Council points out in the document "Dei Verbum",

 …sacred tradition, sacred scripture and the teaching authority of the Church [Magisterium] in accord with God's most wise design are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.[5]

                The practice of the Apostles also adds to the data of revelation.  At no time did the Apostles ever confer ordination to any women who worked with them for the Gospel.  This fact, the document "Inter Insigniores" points out, was the beginning of the living Tradition which is prevalent to this day even among the Oriental Churches.

                After grounding the teaching of priestly ordination in revelation, the document begins to clarify this teaching through the use of theological reasoning by appealing to arguments from the analogy of faith.  When theology is analogical the divine mysteries can be greatly understood.

Analogical structures of reality [are the ] inbuilt similarities between God the creator and the created objects which all human beings can know.  Such similarities can fruitfully illuminate what through revelation we know of God…[6]

The analogical structures employed by the document "Inter Insigniores" to better understand this data of faith are:  Sacraments (sacramental signs must bear a natural resemblance not only of things,  but also of persons).  The priest acts in persona Christi), Covenant (nuptial themes of Bride and Bridegroom) and The Mystery of the Church (the church as society different from other societies).  These theological reasonings using analogical structures, which are proposed by the Magisterium are to make more understandable what the Church knows to be true from the sources of revelation.  It is the data of faith seeking understanding.  As the encyclical points out, some theological reflections may at times not possess the intellectual force of persuasion.  This in no way nullifies the data of faith received through revelation.  Are the official Curch documents, especially "Inter Insigniores" and the current Apostolic Letter "Ordination Sacerdotalis" complete in their exposition and understandings of the data of faith?  As Cardinal Ratzinger points out in the book The Ratzinger Report, "Inter Insigniores"

… like all official documents … is marked by a certain dryness:  it goes directly to the conclusions without being able to justify  all the individual steps leading to them with the requisite fullness of detail.[7]

Regarding "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis", Ratzinger states that the Pope (John Paul II)

 … leaves to theology the task of drawing out the anthropological implications of this decision and of showing its soundness in context of the present-day dispute about man.[8]

Such attempts at drawing out the "anthropological implications" and the "fullness of detail" were partially attempted by the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee.  The report entitled "One in Christ Jesus" reaffirms the Church's normative position that the ordination to the priestly ministry is reserved to men (viri) alone, since it

Is judged by the church to represent fidelity to the type of ordained ministry willed by the Lord Jesus and carefully maintained by the apostles.[9]

Moreover the report gives further scriptural evidence of the

Extraordinary influence… that women shared with men the work of spreading the Gospel according to their own gifts and chrisms.[10]

Amoung the women who offered their services in the collaborative ministry of the early church were the Samaritan women and Mary Magdalen.  St. Paul mentions Prisca, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Julia, the sister of Nerius (2 Tm 16:3-15), Evodia, Syntyche (Phil 4:2-3).  Patrons of the earliest communities included Phoebe (Rom 16:2), Lydia (Acts 16:14-15), Lois and Eunice (2Tm 1:5).

                Two arguments, that are sometimes used to attempt to disqualify the normative teaching on ordination, are the arguments from cultural conditioning of Christ and the Apostles and the sexist and patriarchal structures of the Magisterium.  Some feminists have viewed this as a form of prejudice against women, preventing their entrance into the sacrament of Orders.

                If Christ is true God and true Man, then He cannot be limited by culture.  His will is seen in his free choice to ordain men only.  Christ also demonstrated, through his actions, a parting with Jewish tradition.  His eating with sinners and tax collectors and His association with women of his time (Mary Magdalen, The Samaritan Women) are clearly anti-cultural behaviors.  As for His Apostles, they too demonstrate counter-cultural tendencies by associating themselves with women.  These women shared with men the spreading of the Gospel.  Their role was complementary and different from their male counterparts.

In her article "A Women's Place" Pamela Schaeffer states that the argument

   Jesus was a man Priests must be men is the key to the Vatican's "Declaration on the Question of the Admission of Women to the Priesthood."  ["Inter Insigniores"][11]

It is true that Jesus was a man, but it does not logically follow from this that Priests must be men.  This conclusion is reached by the Magisterium only after it shows that ordination is reserved only to males because it is firmly grounded in the sources of revelation.  Its theological reasonings via the analogy of faith bring forth

The importance of … symbolism for the economy of revelation.[12]

Symbolism is important because it serves Revelation, but it doesn't establish it.  Furthermore

  … scriptural language, all interwoven with symbols and which expresses and affects man and woman in their profound identity, that there is revealed [further] to us the mystery of God and Christ, a mystery which of itself is unfathomable[13].

                That the Church has never recognized in the Apostolic deposit, grounds for women's ordination to the ministerial priesthood means that the Church can't just make it happen.  The Church interprets, defends but it does not create dogmas.  Therefore both Pope Paul VI and John Paul II together with the Magisterium are

  … not proposing any new dogmatic formula, but [are] confirming a certainty which has been constantly lived and held firm in the Church.[14]

                The role of the faithful, both theologian and laity is to receive the teaching with religious assent of soul.  In matters of faith and morals, the bishops (including the Pope) speak in the name of Christ

and the faithful [laity, theologians, priests….] are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent of soul.[15]

"Religiosio obsequio animi adharere debet" means that the will and mind of the believer conform to this teaching.  In the willing one has to act in accordance with this teaching which is not disciplinary or prudential teaching,

nor… [is it] a more probable opinion… but … [it is ] certainly true.[16]

One's mind must also conform to this teaching.  Every effort must be made to think with the Church.

 Bibliography

Attanasio, Salvator, and Graham Harrison, trans.  The Ratzinger Report.  San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985.

"Dei Verbum."  In The Documents of Vatican II, p.111-128.  Edited by Walter Abbot.  U.S.A.:  Western Publishing Company, Inc., 1966.

John Paul II.  On Reserving Priestly Ordination To Men Alone. (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis).  Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1994.

  _____________.  On The Dignity and Vocation of Women.  (Mulieris Dignitatem).  Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1988.

"Lumen Gentium."  In The Documents of Vatican II, p.14-96.  Edited by Walter Abbot.  U.S.A.:  Western Publishing Company, Inc., 1966.

National Conference of Catholic Bishops.  "One in Christ Jesus."  Orgins 22,29 (December 31, 1992) : 490-508.

O'Collins, Gerald.  Retrieving Fundamental Theology.  New York:  Paulist Press, 1993.

Ostling, Richard N.  "The Second Reformation."  Time, 23 November 1992, p.57-62.

"Presentation of Letter.  A Definitive teaching of the Ordinary Papal Magisterium."  L'Osservatore Romano, 1 June 1994, p. 2.

Ratzinger, Joseph.  "The Limits of Church Authority."  L'Osservatore Romano, 29 June 1994, pp.6-8.

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith.  "Declaration On The Admission of Women To The

Ministerial Priesthood."  (Inter Insigniores).  In Vatican Council II, More Post Conciliar Documents, p.331-345.  Edited by Austin Flannery.  Boston:  Daughters Of St. Paul, 1982.

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  Instruction On The Ecclesial Vocation Of The Theologian.  Boston:  Daughters of St. Paul, 1990.

Schaeffer, Pamela.  "A Woman's Place."  Universitas 19,1 (Fall 1993) : 20-23.

"Women and The Ministerial Priesthood."  L'Osservatore Romano, 3 August 1994, p.7.