The Ordination of Women in the Catholic Church
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This paper is an examination of the issues and controversies surrounding the ordination of women in the Catholic Church. An increasing number of theologians, scholars, feminists, and others, including both men and women, has begun pressing the Church to reevaluate its ban on ordaining women and allowing them to play an active role in the ministry of the Church's works. The Vatican counters that history, scripture, and tradition dictate that only men can serve as priests. However, as the debate continues, the issue raises fundamental questions about the patriarchal view toward more than half its members to which the Church continues to cling. Critics insist that the ban must eventually be lifted for the Catholic Church to continue to survive, in part because fewer men are joining the priesthood and in part because the sexist perspective that the ban represents is no longer tenable in the modern world. Jackson W. Carroll and his colleagues call the possibility of the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church "a distant hope" (42), though some writers are more optimistic. Mary E. Hunt predicts that women will be ordained in the Catholic church well before the end of the 21st century (26). Currently, however, the Vatican continues its ban on female ordination, though it allows the debate to go on. The ban is based in a number of historical arguments. First, theologians state, Jesus was male. They suggest that this represents a significant, conscious choice to
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s Paul as an apostle and an important founder of the priestly tradition, then priesthood and ordination do not descend directly and exclusively from the original Twelve, and, if this is the case, then precedent exists to include at least a few important women in the same category with Paul. St. Pierre argues, "The roles and functions performed by the Twelve do not differ from the roles exercised by women in the ministry of Jesus . . . Given Mary Magdalene's function, it cannot be maintained that Christ conveyed different roles to men and women" (48).
Mary Magdalene represents one of the most interesting cases in the discussion of the role of women in Jesus' ministry. Mentioned by name in all four of the gospels, she was the first witness to Christ's resurrection and conveyed what she had seen to others of Jesus' followers, as Christ instructed her to. Medieval tradition holds that she was a former prostitute, though the biblical account identifies her only as one "out of whom had come seven demons" (Luke 8: 2), without specifying the nature of her demons. St. Pierre argues, "[Traditionalists] have denied Mary Magdalene's leadership and importance . . . because of her uncertain past, or simply because she was a woman" (42).
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Approximate Word count = 3031
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)
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