INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Only a baptized man can validly receive sacred ordination- Canon 1024.

It is on this existing premise that the Catholic Church institutes that there shall be no admission of women to the ministerial priesthood. But why did this question of whether women can receive the sacrament of Holy Orders turn up? This was because several Christian protestant churches began to ordain women. Worse still, the Anglican Church propagated it in 1917. Though some catholic women supported this notion, it was however revoked and rejected by the Catholic Church for reasons that we shall examine shortly. Jesus Christ never discriminated against women; in fact he is even regarded as a feminist and yet he did not choose any woman as one of his apostles. Christ acted in this way not to conform to the customs of His time, for his attitude towards women was quite different from that of His Milieu, and He deliberately and courageously broke it.1 The Catholic Church as the family of God does discriminate against anyone irrespective of class, gender, race or ability.2 There are other places where the contributions of women would be appreciated in the Catholic Church rather them being ordained as priests. There are even women doctors of the church like St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Clare. To be on a safer side, we shall examine some of those reasons why the Catholic Church limits ordination to only baptized men. These reasons are outlined in these two documents, namely Inter Insigniores (1976) and Ordination Sacerdotalis (1994) WHY WOMEN ARE NOT ORDAINED PRIESTS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH There are a number of these reasons why women are not ordained, but we shall treat some. 1. The Churchs Constant Tradition In the canonical documents of the Antiochian and Egyptian traditions, the church intends to remain faithful to the type of ordained ministry willed by the Lord Jesus Christ and carefully maintained by the Apostles. The Catholic Church has never felt that priestly or Episcopal ordination can be validly conferred on women. Each time that this tradition had the occasion to manifest itself, it witnessed to the churchs desire to conform to the model left to her by the Lord. Even the Eastern churches have held this same tradition and refuse to associate themselves with requests directed towards giving women the rights of priestly ordination.

Stan-William Ede, Truthline : Answers to Questions on Catholic Doctrines and Practices (Lagos: Hexagon Information Systems, Ltd, 2011) vol. 1, p. 77 2 Ibid p. 75

2. The Attitude of Christ Christ never invited any woman to be part of the Twelve. He never acted based on bias for women or customs of his time. He was seen in public with the Samaritan woman (cf. John. 4:27); the woman who suffered from haemorrhages (cf. Matthew 9: 20-22); and by showing pardon to the adulterous woman, he means to illustrate that one must not be harsh towards women (cf. John 8:11). He even gave women the charge of delivering the first paschal message to the Apostles (cf. Matthew 28:7-10; John 20:11-18), in order to prepare the Apostles to become official witnesses to the Resurrection. It is true that these facts do not make matter immediately obvious, yet in order to reach the ultimate meaning of both the mission of Jesus and the Scripture, a purely historical exegesis would still not be enough. However, these facts show that Christ did not entrust the apostolic charge to women, even his own mother. In all of these, the Blessed Virgin Mary surpassed in dignity and excellence to the apostles, but the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven was given to the apostles. 3. The Teachings of the Magisterium

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 judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. 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, Pope John Paul II remarked that in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.3 FINAL REMARKS Though women play vital roles in the Church; it suffices to say that with these three important reasons, the rights to sacred ordination of priests have been reserved to men. And the Catholic Church has emphasized that Christian should be fully aware of their role is for both the renewal and humanization of the society and for the rediscovery by believers of the true face of the Church.4

3 4

Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, May 22, 1994 Inter Insiniores Declaration on the Admission of women to the Ministerial Priesthood, October 15, 1976.