"What Pope Left Out About Women" by Alice Laffey/CNN/Bridget Mary's Response on Women Priests

 http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/31/opinion/laffey-women-pope/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
"When Pope Francis gave his now-famous, 80-minute interview on the plane back to Rome from Brazil, he was asked, not surprisingly, about the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church. He said that John Paul II had "closed the door" to the possibility of women priests, but he affirmed that the church lacked "a deep theology of women." His comments conveyed a deep respect for women.

Whatever Francis' own virtues, however, the church will continue to be accused of sexual discrimination, especially by many Americans and Europeans, as long as it denies the priesthood to women.

 

No matter what efforts Pope Francis makes with respect to women, if he refuses to move the ordination question forward, many, including Catholics, will consider his efforts toward women as insufficient or even hypocritical.

That John Paul II "closed the door" to women's ordination is undoubtedly true, but the door may not be closed for all time. After John Paul II's pronouncement against the ordination of women, the Catholic Theological Society of America, the country's leading professional society of Roman Catholic theologians, at its June 1997 meeting, endorsed a resolution indicating that there are "serious doubts regarding the nature of the authority of the teaching" that the church lacks the authority to ordain women to the priesthood and that the all-male priesthood is a truth that has been infallibly taught and that the faithful must accept..."
 

Bridget Mary's Response:

Pope John Paul 11 did not consult with the world's theologians and bishops when he proclaimed the definitive teaching banning women's ordination. We must keep in mind that the church is the"people of God, the community of faith" and definitive teaching must reflect the "sensus fidelium", rooted in the example and teaching of Jesus, the church's tradition and the lived experience of the church in our times. Of course, there are "serious doubts regarding the nature of the authority of the teaching" on the ban on women priests. Roman Catholic Women Priests are living a renewed priestly ministry in inclusive, egalitarian communities of faith. This is our "gift", our charism to our contemporary 21st century church.  The full equality of women in the church, including priestly ministry, is the voice of God in our times. Bridget Mary Meehan, http://www.arcwp.org

 

 

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