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From When Women Become Priests: The Catholic Women's Ordination
Debate by Kelley A. Raab. © 2000 Columbia University Press. Reprinted
with permission of the publisher.
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The Catholic Women's Ordination Debate
Once a rarity, women clergy are today much more common in many Christian
denominations. A majority of the mainline Protestant denominations, for
example, have been ordaining women since at least the 1950s. The
Congregationalist tradition dates the ordination of women to the late
1800s. Moreover, the Quaker and Unitarian traditions have long histories
of women in leadership roles. The most recent tradition to ordain women in
the United States is the Episcopal Church, which began to do so in 1977.
These are landmark events within the history of the Christian tradition,
illustrating that women have made giant steps toward overcoming sexism in
many denominations. It is no longer uncommon to see women in the pulpit of
many a liberal Protestant church, and numerous women are sole pastors of
such churches. This was not the case during my youth in the 1960s and
1970s: the first woman I ever heard preach was the assistant chaplain of my
college, in the late 1970s.
For other Christian traditions, the ordained ministry remains closed to
women. Among these are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox
Church, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Southern Baptist Church,
and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. When I moved to
Nebraska in 1995, I discovered several other denominations that do not
ordain women, such as the Berean Church and the Lutheran Church-Wisconsin
Synod. In the United States and Canada, Roman Catholicism is by far the
largest tradition still to deny ordination to women. In the United States,
20 to 25 percent of the population is Roman Catholic.
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Ordination remains out of bounds for Catholic women despite their
lengthy history of involvement in church ministries, a shortage of priests,
and a recent Gallup poll showing that in 1992 Catholics favored women
priests by a margin of 67 percent.
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Ordination remains out of bounds for Catholic women despite their lengthy
history of involvement in church ministries, a shortage of priests, and a
recent Gallup poll showing that in 1992 Catholics favored women priests by
a margin of 67 percent. Interestingly, even pressure from such national
groups as Call to Action and the Women's Ordination Conference have not
swayed the pope from his stand against women priests. However, as a result
of the influence of Pope John XXIII and the reforms of Vatican II -- a
series of councils held from 1962 to 1965 -- women can now serve as lay
readers and distributors of the Eucharist. Yet because they remain barred
from the priesthood, women are restricted from leading sacramental
functions and from participating in church leadership in any way, shape, or
form. This means that women cannot officially -- i.e., in the capacity of
a priest -- baptize, confirm, offer penance, marry, give last rites, say
mass, or receive holy orders. Many Catholic women, tired of waiting for
official recognition, are "unofficially officiating" at some of the
sacraments, in particular the Eucharist. In one parish that I know of,
this was done publicly, and when the bishop found out about it the
presiding priest was transferred and replaced by a more conservative one.
The new priest immediately fired the woman from her position as assistant.
It should be mentioned that not all Catholic feminists, and certainly not
all Catholic women, are in favor of women clergy. This at first sounds
like an oxymoron, but one rationale is that admitting women to the
priesthood would essentially be a form of co-optation by the existing
androcentric-patriarchal worldview. In other words, ordaining women would
require asking them to be like men and to fit into a masculinist system.
Women who advocate this position argue that instead of pushing for
ordination, a more suitable feminist strategy would be to break down the
present clerical caste system, so that administering the sacraments is not
prohibited to all nonordained persons.
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At present I know of no women Episcopal priests who feel that the
Episcopal Church has become egalitarian.
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This view is not without merit. There are several ways to dismantle
clerical caste, however, only one of which is to allow non-priests to
perform the sacraments. Another method of attacking clerical hierarchy
would be to allow more types of people, including women and married men, to
celebrate the sacraments. Currently, in my opinion, this seems the more
realistic choice. The Catholic Church has been hierarchical for so long
that it seems easier to try to bring more types of people into it than to
out-and-out disassemble the hierarchy, although I believe the latter will
be a necessary by-product of the former. Catholic feminist theologian Anne
Carr believes, for example, that women priests would further the
transformation of the priesthood from a bureaucratic, hierarchical,
"male-dominated club" to an open, collegial, "spiritual service of unity."
Granted, this will take time, and at present I know of no women Episcopal
priests who feel that the Episcopal Church has become egalitarian. Yet, as
shown, the advent of women Episcopal priests has brought significant
changes to the Episcopal tradition.
It is more important to note that despite the hope for a more egalitarian
priesthood, Catholic feminists remain divided on the issue of women's
ordination. The risks and benefits to Catholic women are perhaps weighed
differently by an insider than by a non-Catholic like myself. Among the
risks, as described by Catholic Mary Hunt, are ordaining women into an
irrelevant, anachronistic church, giving them a low-paying "women's job in
patriarchy," and attracting women who are more conservative than their
constituents. Hunt observes, for example, that many women who are Catholic
by tradition no longer attend church and do not find Christianity uniquely
valid. Among the benefits of women's ordination are breaking down one of
the last bastions of patriarchy (that alone is a worthy cause, in my
estimation), placing women in decision-making roles, and stimulating them
globally to be religious agents. The pro-ordination movement continues to
grow despite mixed views, and several Catholic bishops have spoken out in
favor of women priests.
Related Links
Women and Religion: The Stained Glass Ceiling
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Episcopalian--discuss the particular questions faced by women in their
spiritual and religious lives. Forum.
Rosemary Radford Ruether: Deconstructing Family Values
Internationally acclaimed theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether made waves
with her startling analysis of sexism in the Christian church. What does
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the earth and how we can all participate in a more sustainable theology?
Phony Family Values?
Famed feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether challenges
fundamentalist assumptions about family values and biblical teachings.
God & Gender: Overcoming our Culture of Abuse
In a "man's world," the Rev. Gwyneth Murphy challenges the Church's
complicity with sexism and abusive relationships. Reflection.
