Women Priests in Catholic Church (Only Theological discussion)

drifting wrote: »

Gen 3;16: "your husband, ... will rule over you"

That was part of the curse of sin and death. Last I heard Jesus died to set us free from the curse.

right

It seems to me that you either believe Paul the apostle in 1 Cor 11;3: Or you don't believe it, as many purported theologians do not. And if you don't believe it then certain consequences follow, such as free divorce for women, etc., and an effective dissolution of the institution of marriage, and its extension to any sort of relationship, whether between same sex persons, or between people and animals.

But if you do believe it, then certain consequences also follow, such as the teaching in 1 Tim 2;11,12 which is just taking the basic principles to their logical outcome, as 1 Cor 14;34 also.

PDN wrote: »

So, if we don't agree with your interpretation of that Scripture then we're on the slippery slope to allowing people to marry donkeys? :rolleyes:

As happens in Africa & Indonesia & India, I believe.
Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat
Man forced to marry cow faints at wedding
Man 'marries' dog to beat curse

If one wishes to get the Church teaching and stance on this, check out the documents Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and Inter Insigniores.

Now there is also a good book by a lady who was initially very much in favour of the idea of women priests, but on gaining greater understanding on the issue, realised it was not possible. She wrote a book and you can read her basic explanation here.

The other thing to remember is the idea of the farm gate. When you're out in the fields and you come across a gate lying open, you should leave it as it is. You should pass through it but just leave it like you found it. You mightn't know why the gate is left open. Perhaps the farmer wants the naimals to graze both fields, or perhaps he plans to drive a tractor and trailer through in the morning, or maybe a hunting party is coming through later in the afternoon. The point is, you don't know why it's left open and it is no business of yours to be opening and closing gates about which you know nothing. It is similar with priesthood. We know some things about the priesthood. We know some basic things, like that which is found in those above Vatican documents. But there are many things we don't know, and there are many things the Church is only beginning to become conscious of, in her deepening of the knowledge of the truth as led by the Holy Spirit as the Lord promised.

I think we shall see greater insight and explanations for why there can only be male priest. I think a key part of this greater understanding will come about through the study of Pope John Paul II's 'Theology of the Body', which explains the meaning and nature of human sexuality and how this is part of the made in God's image concept of the Church's teaching.

My own, very basic idea, informed by a friend who I talk to a lot and the insights he has given me now follows. Bear in mind these are only my thoughts - the Church teachings are definitive and can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Christ is the Bride Groom. The Church is the Bride of Christ. Christ is male; the Church is female. In this sense, all souls, even those of men, are female, because they belong to the Church, which being the Bride, is female. The souls of members of the Church are given the 'fertilisation', if you like, of the Divine Word in baptism. In the Eucharist, these same souls receive the Eucharist, which is the Bridegroom - Christ Himself. The priest acts in the person of the male Christ. Hence the priest must be male. The priest, acting in the person of the Head, Christ, must be male.

Two things come to my mind: the Church has a very important nuptial theology and we are coming to greater understanding of this reality. Also, we need to reclaim the beauty of human sexuality and how it reflects the Divine Reality, the nature of God Himself. There is a lot of territory to be reclaimed in the minds of the faithful members of the Church, from the damage and destruction caused by Satan and his angels in ruining and destroying human sexuality with his corruption and lies, especially through sexual immorality and pornography. Human sexuality is so special because it is so reflective of our being created in the image and likeness of God and we will see a development in the teachings of the Church especially on this point, not so that we can ever have women priests or homosexuality accepted (these things will never happen) but so that we can have a greater understanding of the realities which the Church has professed from the beginning. It is for this reason that Satan attacks us on this level with such intensity and why the attacks really are very intense on the family and human sexuality.

I've rambled on enough. I've not read the 'Theology of the Body'. I think that it will be key to restoring our Church and gaining a better and more beautiful understanding on the Church teachings on sexuality.

For anyone especially interested, there is a good explanatory blog post over here at wdtprs.com.

The main point:

Let us stipulate that, yes, ministry in the early Church was messy. It took centuries for the Church in both the East and West to figure things out clearly. Fine. The relationship of the norms of doctrine and authority with the Patristic tradition is thorny. No news there. Let her have that ground for the time being, though someone could really have fun picking her references apart.

So. The early Church was messy. There were schisms and dissenters and fights and arguments all the time. This is the history of the Church. No surprise there.

In fact, as the situation was in 2nd-5th centuries, so to it is today. Today all sorts of different people in a myriad of different communities call themselves ordained. Not all the "ordained" are recognized even by others within their own faith communities.