The world is making tremendous progress when it comes to gender equality. Why isn’t the Catholic Church allowing women priests?

Great question, and certainly one that is on the minds of many. It is important to know not just the reasons for the male-only priesthood of the Catholic Church, but also to be able to differentiate these reasons from some common assumptions that are NOT true as to why Catholic priesthood is limited to men. 

To answer simply, in 1994 Pope John Paul II put the matter to rest in his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis by declaring 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.” So it is not that the Church is choosing not to ordain women, but that she cannot ordain women. The next question is why? The reason is because the Church does not act on her own will but follows what Jesus has instituted and cannot be the Church if she does not. 

From his dealings with women, it is very clear that Jesus honored the dignity and vocation of women throughout His life: from letting a sinful woman touch him before judgmental pharisees of the time and even declaring that she would be remembered wherever the Gospel was spoken of, to speaking to a disgraced woman at the well who others shun and letting her spread the news about Him, to affirming Mary’s desire to sit at His feet to listen rather than slave away serving everyone. Of course there is also the honor He gave to the Virgin Mary: so it is clear that Jesus was not sexist nor bound by the sexism of his culture and time. Furthermore, priestesses were a known part of pagan culture so it is not that the thought would never have crossed His mind. Yet Jesus chose to ordain only men at the institution of the Priesthood. There are some things about sacraments that are changeable and others that are not: for instance we will never receive Eucharist made out of rice for the Body of Jesus nor will we ever receive the Blood of Jesus from the juice of cranberries. There is a particularity to every sacrament that is given by Jesus, and if we want the graces and the reality of this sacrament, we simply cannot change it.

Taking the analogy of rice and cranberry juice instead of bread and wine a little further: no one argues that Jesus chose bread because wheat is better than rice or because grapes are superior to cranberries. Then why do we assume that Jesus must have chosen men because they are better preachers or consolers or anything else? We all know some women are better than some men at all these things, and vice versa. But Jesus chose what He chose, and it is not a surprise that we wonder why and it is human nature to wonder if the choosing of one is the condemnation of the other. But the truth is there is no condemnation in Christ. Unlike the Jewish tradition where circumcision was the mark of the covenant passed down through the patriarch of the family, Christianity is accepted by each person, man or woman, through Baptism where we are all given not just the priesthood of Jesus but also His prophetic and Kingly roles. The gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and love, and the only power that is found legitimate by Jesus and the Church: to be holy, to love, to serve is open just as much to women as to men. Regarding influence, few would argue, that women such as Mother Teresa, St. Catherine of Siena (who even had some advice for the Pope!) and St. Therese of Lisieux (patroness of missions and Doctor of the Church) wield much more influence than priests or even bishops of their time, because the Church is wildly affected by the witness of personal holiness at all times and stages. 

Of course, we know in practice there can be injustice, domination or limitations within priesthood: even the Popes go to confession! There is a “scandal of particularity” when it comes to many things including this area, but the fact is that somehow God has chosen men for priesthood and the Church is blessed by this, even if she does not fully understand why. Why did the Lord choose Israel? We do not know – but we also know the Lord chose Israel for the sake of the whole world. So even if men are chosen for the priesthood by Jesus it is not to serve themselves, but the whole body. In the same way, we can see how although countless men and women have lived celibacy for the Kingdom, only women get the additional title of “Virgin” along with being called “Saint” or Martyr” or “Doctor.” This is because women exemplify the Bride, the Church in a way in their flesh that men do not, even though they are just as capable of being celibate as women. This all points to the reverence the Church has for the human body: it is not simply a suit that our soul puts on: we are embodied souls and our bodies reveal a truth about our being. Jesus came as a man, and although He truly represents all of humanity and is close to each and all, men can personify Him in a special way….only for the sake of the whole Church.

Although the Church loves and sees the beauty of all cultures, peoples and times, she does not simply follow the world: she follows Christ and is in the world but not of the world – therefore all the “progress” of the world must be acknowledged and considered by the Church, but not necessarily imitated. To understand the Church as a body where each part serves the good of the whole rather than glorifying itself, not a pyramid of power and domination, and to find within oneself the limitless gifts of faith, hope and love through our Baptism is true progress indeed.