Letters From Timothy

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

-Genesis 1:27

Gender is not a subject that is often linked to religion any more, but it is still a relevant consideration in modern times. I’ve already said that I don’t believe that God is actually a male. Yet, today, the Roman Catholic Church still refuses to allow women to become priests. Why?

Strictly speaking, a woman was the cause of the original split of the Church of England from the Catholic church. Henry the VIII wished for an annulment from his wife, Catharine, which the Church would not grant. Angry, the king divorced Catherine and married Anne Boleyn with the approval of the English Parliament. This led to a series of events that eventually put the king in control of the Church of England, rather than the pope. However, though this one particular woman was a thorn in the side of the Catholic Church in the 16th century, women have been a “problem” for the Catholic Church for nearly its entire history.

There is some evidence to suggest that the Catholic Church did, in fact, ordain female priests until about the ninth century. However, this is clearly no longer the case. Currently, Catholic doctrine declares that only a baptized man can receive the sacred ordination. The reasoning behind this doctrine, in my opinion, reaches far beyond dubious into ludicrous.

First of all, as a preliminary note, the Catholic Church maintains that there are definitive differences between men and women that extend beyond the flesh-that is, the very essence, or soul of a man and a woman are fundamentally different. This is a dubious claim in and of itself (with little to no scriptural support), since science has strongly indicated that gender is an artifact solely of the body and the brain. However, the Catholic Church builds upon this idea to make its case for the exclusion of women to the priesthood, as I will show you soon.

John Paul II writes:

“[The Church] holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God’s plan for his Church.”

-Ordinatio Sacerdotalis

It may be necessary for me to explain this statement more clearly. So, the Catholic Church cannot ordain woman priests because:

1. The Church has never ordained female priests in the past

2. The Church has always said that female priests shouldn’t be ordained

3. Jesus chose only men as his apostles, so clearly, interpreting the Word of God must only be a man’s job

The first two reasons are ridiculous in and of themselves, but it’s the third one that should make you do a double take. Yes, this third reason is actually the core reason that the Church defends its position with. It’s actually also the main reasoning behind the “men and women are fundamentally different” position. Since Jesus only selected men as apostles, the Catholic Church apparently decided that must mean that there’s something “special” about men that makes them the only gender that can teach Jesus’s message.

I’ve heard this argument: “It’s like pregnancy: only women can have a child. Because men can’t have children doesn’t mean they’re ‘unequal’ to women. It’s just that different genders have different functions.” The first problem with this argument is that the difference between men and women in this regard is purely physical, which, as I stated earlier, has been demonstrated to be the sole component of gender. The second problem with this argument is that it just doesn’t make sense when applied to the case in question: just what is it exactly about women that makes them unable to be priests? (Do men store the power in their penis?) In the pregnancy case, men can’t bear children because they lack a uterus. But what part of a woman’s “soul” is missing that makes her incapable of teaching the Word of God? Actually, this argument comes dangerously close to the old (19th century and earlier) arguments that women are also a physically and mentally inferior sex. This certainly would have been the common belief around the time when the Church’s position was drafted.

Okay then, if that argument doesn’t work, then why didn’t Jesus choose any women as his disciples? I’ll first point out that Jesus had closer relationships with some women (specifically, Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother) than he had with his own disciples. I’ll secondly point out that women were, as I said a moment ago, considered in Jesus’s time to be inferior to men in all regards. If Jesus wanted a group of people to establish his church and his teachings, women would have been a poor choice because not only would they not have been listened to, it would have just been literally unthinkable for a woman to do anything that Jesus had the disciples do in that time period.

But if even that observation doesn’t convince you that women are capable of delivering the Word of God, then flip your Bible to Matthew 28:1-8, where two women discover the resurrected Jesus, who specifically gives them instructions to tell the apostles the good news. If women then could be the bearers of such fundamental news, to the apostles themselves, even, then why couldn’t a woman today read that same passage from a book in a mass? It’s not as if today’s priests cast out demons and cure sickness like the apostles did. Why can’t a woman bless bread and wine and read from a book? Can’t God work through whomever He pleases? I don’t think you’ll find the Catholic Church will hold the position that God hates women, or refuses to work through them.

Given all of this, then, it is nothing short of outrageous that the Catholic Church still refuses to ordain female priests. The Catholic Church tells women instead that if they want to serve God, they can become a nun. By the way, there are also men who do the same thing as nuns in the Catholic church: they’re called monks. Regardless of what musty old doctrine the Catholic Church cites, the fact that they won’t change their position on this issue amounts to full-out sexism. I won’t actually accuse the papacy itself of being sexist, but in a time where new priests are being ordained at an all-time low, it is mystifying why the Church clings to this inequality (I also believe homosexuals should be ordained, but I won’t go on about that here).

Traditions are important, but as “Fiddler on the Roof,” if I may cite a popular musical, demonstrates, some traditions are worthless and are a detriment on the very system they are supposed to protect. If the Catholic Church wishes to regain its influence, especially with younger people, it must take a bold stand, which will echo throughout the entire globe.

-Timothy