The very same day by sheer coincidence the following article appeared in the Milwaukee/Journal Sentinel
(it is interesting to know that since Dolan arrived ? this gentleman speaks from
And obtains space in the Editorial section of the newspaper)
Understanding the priestly role
By JOSEPH SHIMEK
(I do not have an email address for him)
Last week, eight women rode a boat down a river in
The Catholic Church does not believe that women can be validly ordained, so church leaders consider the ceremony to be both futile and reckless. Actually, the
But members of the group, Roman Catholic Womenpriests, don't see it that way. To them, the church's refusal to ordain women is unjust and discriminatory, on par with apartheid.
One of the group's members, Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg of
Although she says she will remain in her pew when it comes time for communion, she also says she's "decided not to leave the church because I feel it is important that good people stay so that we can change the church from within."
This is, of course, not the first time that the question has been raised.
In response to mounting pressure, the
In the Catholic tradition, priests are not seen as one type of minister among others. Priestly ordination is professed to confer an identity. The priest stands as an icon of Christ at crucial moments in the life of the community.
That is not to say, however, that women weren't involved in the life of the Christian community during Jesus' time or that they aren't an important part of its mission today.
We know that Jesus was accompanied by a group of women during his public life. According to the biblical narrative, after the crucifixion, Christ appeared first to a woman and then she proclaimed the paschal message to the rest of his followers.
Jesus' attitude toward women departed sharply from that of his own cultural milieu. From the Samaritan woman to the woman caught in adultery, his ministry was consistently countercultural and free of unjust discrimination, which is, after all, a sin.
As it turns out, there were female priests in other religions at the time. Nevertheless, Christ did not call a single woman to become part of the 12 apostles, whom Catholics see as prototypes for the priesthood. And that decision was considered normative by early Christians, as well as the church's entire teaching authority up until the present.
Even today, women's ordination is entertained as a viable question by only a segment of Catholics found mostly in the Western world.
Historically, the church has not claimed to be the master of its doctrines or sacramental practices. Instead, it sees itself as their recipient and, as such, it must be faithful to the essence of what has been handed down over the centuries.
Thus, when the otherwise prolific John Paul II wrote about women's ordination, the document was less than two pages long. His predecessors had already spoken definitively on the matter, and he was only pointing to an already sizable body of controlling authority. Further discussion, he felt, would be fruitless and might create the false impression that the church's position was tentative.
One of the questions raised by the Catholic Church's position is whether equality can endure despite distinct identities.
Pope John Paul II was one of the people who believed it could. He defended the absolute human, moral and civil equality of women even as he distinguished different religious roles.
Today, when I take visitors to
One of the first things I point out after entering the church are the two rows of statues carved into the pillars that support the great structure.
On the outer perimeter, obscured from view, are memorials honoring outstanding popes. But on the inner, more prominently placed main aisle are sculptures of men and women who are remembered as saints.
I tell each tour that these are the people who support the church from the inside. They are its strength.
In other words, the highest places of honor in the Catholic Church are now, and always have been, open to everyone. The most important Christians are not the priests or even the popes.
They are the women and men who have struggled to love God and neighbor while acting as the temporary custodians of a religious tradition that is, ultimately, not of their own making.
Joseph Shimek is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of
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