January 2005 (part 2 of 3)

Q.- -1. Why can’t women become priests? - 2. Isn’t the church being sexist when it comes to this? - 3. What does Rome (the pope) say? It's disappointing. - 4. How about married priests?

A.- 1 & 2 There are various reasons why women cannot become priests. Given the limited space of this forum and the need to answer also your follow-up questions, it cannot be recommended enough that you read the church documents and letters you asked about for yourself to have the best grasp on the issues. They are not overly long or difficult and the Church enumerates all the ins and outs of the subject. They will be listed at the bottom in the recommended reading section. The Library often will order any of the books or documents you see listed there for FREE if they do not already have them on the shelves. If not, and you need to purchase them yourself, the church documents are only a couple dollars at a local Catholic bookstore (there are stores in Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee). Or else you can view/print them online free of charge at www.vatican.va. Regardless, a few reasons will be addressed here on the topic.

We live in an age particularly sensitive to civil, human and women’s rights - even animal rights which is very good and how it should be.So when some people hear that women cannot be priests they are affronted and feel it is chauvinistic and a violation of equality and such.But the Church is not trying to be sexist.Sexism would be judging someone’s worth or denying them their rights based on gender.Neither of these is the case.

The Church has always, on the contrary (and against the social customs of different periods) upheld the dignity and worth of women because Christ did so Himself. Christ was (and is) revolutionary when it comes to the rights of women. But this is not about someone’s worth or rights. The priesthood is about neither. It is not a right to be gained because no one is worthy and no one has the right to it. It is for those chosen by Christ for that role and function. And Christ chose the Twelve. Not Mary Magdalene or Martha and her sister Mary, nor any of the many women who served and followed Him. Not even His mother Mary, who could’ve, with more truth, said then any of the Twelve, “This is my Body, this is my Blood.”

Why didn’t He? It wasn’t due to social norms or customs. God simply doesn’t withhold truth to a “more open-minded or appropriate time” when He thinks it’ll be better accepted. Jesus shattered a lot of ideas about women, at some risk to them and Himself. He gave them back their value and dignity, so if He wanted to ordain them to the priesthood He would have. But He didn’t do that. He lost a lot of followers over various things He said ( see John 6:52-66) and He didn’t back down from His words to get them back. This would’ve been one more case.

Instead in His plan for the Church, everyone has a role and function to take part in. They are not lesser or greater, just different. (see Romans 12:3-8) There isn’t anything wrong with a function or role in ministry belonging to some and not to others, for everyone has a vocation and ministry from God. It should fit God’s plan then. All would agree that it is no trampling of men’s rights that God did not ordain them to be able to conceive or bear children. Who would say otherwise? He gave that gift to women alone. As the Spirit gives certain gifts/ministries to some and different ones to others.

3. To briefly excerpt some quotes from the documents you asked about:

“The priesthood is therefore of a sacramental nature: the priest is a sign, the supernatural effectiveness of which comes from the ordination received, but a sign that must be perceptible and which the faithful must be able to recognize with ease. The whole sacramental economy is, in fact, based upon natural signs, on symbols imprinted on the human psychology: ‘Sacramental signs,’ says St. Thomas, ‘represent what they signify by natural resemblance.’ The same natural resemblance is required for persons as for things: when Christ’s role in the Eucharist is to be expressed sacramentally, there would not be this ‘natural resemblance’ which must exist between Christ and His minister if the role of Christ were not taken by a man: in such a case it would be difficult to see in the minister the image of Christ. For Christ Himself was and remains a man.” (Inter Insigniores section 5, paragraph 3)

John Paul II writes:

“Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgement that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a mere disciplinary force.

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry in confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgement is to be held definitively by all the Church’s faithful.” (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis section 4, paragraphs 1 &2)

4. Now- moving on to married priests. The Catholic Church, in fact, has married priests. People tend to overlook this fact. They are in the Eastern rites of our Church (For example the Maronites, Chaldeans, or Melkites to name a few.) The Eastern rites hold celibacy in great esteem as well, though, because both east and west maintain the tradition that it is impossible for a priest to marry. In other words – in the Eastern rites, if he is ordained while single he must remain celibate. He can only be bound by matrimony and ordained if the marriage took place prior to ordination and he may not remarry if his wife dies. In the Latin rite it means that he may not marry at all (before or after ordination). Also in the east, the traditional discipline for them is that a man may not be made a bishop unless he is already a celibate priest. (eastern code of canon law – canon #’s 180 and 227, art.2)

But we are in the Latin Rite, which does not admit married men, as a rule, to the priesthood but holds celibacy as the greater gift of self Christ called some of His Apostles (and thereafter other disciples as well) to. When He chose the Twelve Apostles, we know that some of them (Peter for example) were married. But some were not. In Matthew, we read of a discussion on whether it is better to marry or not in view of Christ’s teaching on divorce. Up till that point celibacy wasn’t the topic. Jesus brought it into the conversation Himself. “The disciples said to Him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.’ But He said to them, ‘Not all men can receive this precept, (a life of celibacy) but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs (have renounced marriage) for the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.” (Mat 19:10-12) In another passage Jesus tells about the recompense for those who have renounced all things (including wives) for His kingdom. “Peter said, ‘Lo, we have left our homes and followed you.’ And He said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come.” (Lk 18:28-30)

You could equate celibacy, in a sense, with fasting, which teaches control of bodily appetites and demonstrates love for God. The fast and sacrifice of celibacy brings special gifts of grace to those called to it, so as to best accomplish Christ’s work of spreading the Gospel and serving His Bride the Church single-heartedly as Jesus did, with as much concentration to the will of God as possible.

Celibacy is not a requirement for valid ordination in and of itself but is a long maintained and esteemed tradition in the east and the west which allows a man to serve the kingdom of God and the Church with an undivided heart. It removes from priesthood the potential distractions of married life, the responsibility of raising children and the financial burden of maintaining a family. For as we read in St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians “An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided…..So then the one who marries his virgin does well; the one who does not marry her will do better.” (1 Cor 7:32-38)

Pope Paul VI says in his Encyclical On The Celibacy Of The Priest, “Virginity undoubtedly, as the Second Vatican Council declared, is not, of course, required by the nature of the priesthood itself. This is clear from the practice of the early Church and the traditions of the Eastern Churches. But at the same time the Council did not hesitate to confirm solemnly the ancient, sacred and providential present law of priestly celibacy.”

The only exception right now to celibacy in the Latin rite are those priests, mostly from the Anglican Church, who under the Pastoral Provision of 1980 are allowed to convert to Catholicism as a priest. It may be more accurate to say they are allowed to keep the ministry and vocation to which they were called while a Protestant and are re-ordained in order to have valid Holy Orders within the Church. This is a rare exception but those who do “come over” tend to bring a number of former parishioners with them. They are granted a special Anglican Use Liturgy in an Anglican Use Parish so their Mass is as close to how they formerly worshipped as is theologically possible. They may never be bishop and if their wife dies they may not remarry. Also, any men from the newly formed parish who were not Anglican priests when they all converted may not receive Holy Orders unless celibate. These situations are all judged on a case-by-case basis. It’s not carte-blanche for all who apply for it. Nor is it a relaxing of the rules for priests of the Latin Rite.

Unlike the ordination of women, which affects the very nature of the sacrament and the priesthood itself, “celibacy is a discipline which is imposed by the authority of the Church and will remain in effect as long as the fruits of the discipline are visible within Christ’s ministry to the world.” (Scriptural Catholicism pg.106)

Recommended reading:

Inter Insigniores - The Declaration on the Question of Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood ------(Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis – On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone ---------------------------------------- (Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II)

Mulieris Dignitatem – On the Dignity and
Vocation of Women -----------------------------------------------(Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II)

The Privilege of Being Woman --------------------------------(Dr. Alice von Hildebrand)

Sacerdotalis Caelibatus – On the Celibacy of the Priest -------------(Encyclical of Pope Paul VI)

Q.- Why does the priest break a piece of the consecrated Host and drop it into the cup containing the Precious Blood?

A.- This is called the commingling and it happens right after the Fraction, or breaking of the
Bread, while the Lamb of God is being sung. During this rite the priest quietly prays, "May the mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it."
Over the millennia, a couple reasons have developed for this.

The first is a historical perspective. In the very early Church (around 400 AD) Pope Innocent I decreed that since not all the priests in Rome could attend his Sunday Mass he would send acolytes with a piece of the consecrated bread from his Mass to the other priests to share at their Masses throughout Rome. It was a sign of unity between them and the Pope. During their Masses the portion of the Host from the papal mass was mingled in the consecrated wine.

This practice extended out to the bishops as well as Christianity spread and the number of faithful could no longer fit into one house or church on Sunday (as there was generally only one Mass) and they would send pieces of the consecrated Host out to other parishes that had to be created to accommodate the numbers of people.

The second reason for the commingling is to symbolize the reunion of the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Resurrection. If one’s blood is separated from their body you have death occur. When Christ died on the cross, His Blood was separated from His Body, so the bread and wine being consecrated separately earlier in the Mass has come to signify His sacrifice and death. But we do not receive a dead body in communion but a living and glorious Body so the mingling signifies the resurrection of Christ. To avoid confusion, please keep in mind that the Lord is ALIVE on our altar from the moment of consecration onward and that the Precious Blood and the Host are both the whole Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. These actions are symbolic in nature and you receive the whole Jesus even if you only partake of the Host.

The new General Instruction of the Roman Missal tells us that commingling, and its accompanying prayer, should remind all believers of the salvation which Christ brought us through his own bodily death and resurrection: "The priest breaks the Bread and puts a piece of the host into the chalice to signify the unity of the Body and Blood of the Lord in the work of salvation, namely, of the living and glorious Body of Jesus Christ" (GIRM #83)

Recommended reading:

The Mass of the Roman Rite (Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J.)

The How-To Book of the Mass (Michael Dubriel)