Enlarging the tent: The ordination of women in the Catholic Church
This topic is so worked over that it’s hard to find something new to say about it. It’s not radical to say that women should have full admittance to the clergy, from the priesthood right up to the papacy. Why not a woman pope? It cannot, in my view, be argued convincingly, either historically or theologically, that women should be barred from some or all clerical vocations.
Last year a report commissioned by the Holy See’s synod office was published. Here are some key statements from that report:
“Women remain the majority of those who attend liturgy and participate in activities, men a minority; yet most decision-making and governance roles are held by men.”
“From all continents comes an appeal for Catholic women to be valued first and foremost as baptised and equal members of the People of God. There is almost unanimous affirmation that women love the Church deeply, but many feel sadness because their lives are often not well understood, and their contributions and charisms not always valued.”
The role and vocation of women are described as a “critical and urgent area”.
(Cited in Christopher Lamb, The Tablet, 27 October 2022)
Despite the earnestness of these statements, sadly and exasperatingly, the ordination of women was ruled out. The synod used the quote from Isaiah 54:2, “Enlarge the Space of your Tent”; regrettably, the tent wasn’t enlarged anywhere near enough at this synod.
Letting go of power is a hard thing to do, but an unwillingness to share power with women will continue to be very destructive for the Catholic Church. What I mean by power is real power: power of governance and decision-making all the way up the Catholic hierarchy, namely, the power vested in priests, bishops, cardinals, and the pope.
Arguments about women’s roles being different but complementary just don’t cut it anymore. Try applying this argument to cooking or sewing or childrearing. It doesn’t work in these domains; it doesn’t work for clerical vocations. And speaking of vocations, the crisis of empty seminaries is obviously exacerbated by the exclusion of women. I know there are clergy who think the same way, as there were at the synod. They need to continue speaking up, to continue striving for change.
To the outside world, maintaining the status quo makes the Catholic Church look like an ancient, ossified relic, an institutional dinosaur – at best, a source of bemused curiosity, at worst a source of contempt. And I don’t like that at all because the Catholic Church has been and still is a big part of my life. I want people to take the Church seriously. Let’s keep pushing for change, even though, frustratingly, the pace of change is so very slow on this issue.
God bless you all and happy Matariki!
Steve
Steve Palmer – Editor