Why Can't Women Be Ordained in the Catholic Church?

Women can be ordained in many Protestant denominations, but not in the Catholic or Orthodox Churches. Why is this, and will it ever change?

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[veronika]

Mother Theresa said to this topic: "Mary was the most holy person on earth and no one would have been more worthy of being a priest than her. But nevertheless Jesus didn't make her a priest because she had another assignment: Being the mother of the church." God has another assignment for women which does not mean, that this is any less important! Holy Edith Stein said:"If you manage to become a bride of Jesus you don't have the wish to become a priest any longer" which refers to the mystical way of becoming a bride of the Lord which is a way for women. God has great plans for women as well which are equally important as the tasks for men.

[Degeasofficial]

I'm from Indonesian and I was converted to Catholic Church in 2009. I Proud to being a Catholic.

[goodbanter]

Keep your back straight, Roman Catholics. Blessings from an Orthodox brother

[DoctorLazertron]

Being equal to men does not mean being exactly like men or to become men. The feminine spirit is special and has infinite value in our lives. Different does not mean better or worse!

[tereselittleflower]

Priesthood is not a gift which God will give me. He has given me the gift of being a woman, and I could not ask for more. Without women, we would not have priests in the first place.

[miliniumo]

Interesting thing a Priest once told me. Back in the day, when there were a lot of nuns, most church's not only had a Father (Priest), but also a Mother (the leader of a group of nuns). The Mother was not only in charge of a group of nuns, but she helped the Father with a number of duties and helped run the church. Unfortunately, there aren't many nuns nowadays, so we don't see the influences of a Mother in most churches.

(Interesting how the church was set up as the House of God and has Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, and Sisters.)

[gillianc]

I understand that one of the reasons for excluding women from the priesthood is due to the biblical example set by Jesus in choosing only male apostles. But didn’t he also only choose middle-eastern apostles? It’s easy to argue that this wasn’t by way of excluding, say, blond men or Caucasian men from ordination, and was more due to the circumstances of the time - that the world was less easily travelled so the available men would naturally be from that geographical area. However, the same could be said of the choice of men over women. In that period, women had less freedom, were taken less seriously and were less likely to be available to take on evangelistic or discipleship work. Perhaps the choice of men as apostles was as non-prescriptive as where they came from.

How do we know that when those middle-eastern men were made apostles, Jesus meant to indicate that their gender was definitive, but not their heritage? Or even their colouring (since it’s likely they all had, say, dark hair)?

I’m genuinely curious here. Why was the line drawn at their gender, rather than any of their other characteristics?

[varianeng]

Very insightful. I'm not a Catholic but I find much of what you teach, preach and practice to be very sound, even if I don't always agree with it.

[Garbanzo]

No woman can be a father just as no man can be a mother.

[Gabilondia]

Fr. Casey, I am a woman and I believe in tradition. Tradition is the cornerstone of why Catholicism is true and strong. Why would we want to change that? I was hoping you would've also explained and emphasized the importance of women's roles in the church. Our mother Mary, is the queen of the church...if anything, that is by far one of the most important roles ever existed! And her example is enough to represent what a woman's role in this world should be and what an honor it is to be able to even become an inkling of what our mother is. Why don't we just focus and emphasize the importance of the roles of women in our church now? There are so many, and one of them being a mother. Why change that? When it is the most beautiful role ever!

[mslitchick]

Hi Fr. Casey, I'm Catholic but no theologian. Yet this confuses me. Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene first. She was at his Crucifixion and tended his tomb. The apostles were in hiding. Mary told the Apostles Jesus was resurrected. For me that says women can be priests. Jesus didn't seek out his disciples. He appeared originally to Mary Magdalene. She told them Christ has risen.

[paulb]

I’m sorry Father, you can spin it any way you like, it’s still anti-woman. Doesn’t St. Paul say that there is no longer woman or man for we are all one in Christ?

[Elijah_Al-Naysaburi]

Pray for me my friends today , so I can spread god words among my family, my name is suhail =su+hail and I live in dubai ( U.A.E) blessings 🌷🌷🌷

[hannahawbrey]

Based on my understanding of this video, it seems as if priests must be men largely because of the apostles’ gender. I have a few questions about that. I ask this not to argue against the point of the video, but to further my own understanding. First of all, if priests must be men in order to remain obedient to Christ’s decision for the apostles, why don’t they have to be like the apostles in other ways as well? The apostles were of a different race, age, marital status, social class, and lifestyle than many priests today. Why is it that we copy their gender but not other important things about them? Also, how do we know that Christ specifically chose them because they were men? According to the information in the video, women are equally capable of doing the spiritual job of a priest. So couldn’t it be possible that all the apostles happened to be men because of the way women were treated back in Jesus’s day? Would it have been realistic for a woman to safely travel, preach, and have the same social influence that the male apostles did? Again, I’m not trying to argue. I’m sure there are reasonable Catholic answers to my misunderstandings, and I would really appreciate help finding them. Thanks and God bless!

[TheShereen]

Iam a woman am very happy being one a d I don’t to compete with men am made by God he knows best
His will not mine 🙏🏽

[renato]

Greetings from an Orthodox to our Catholic brethren ! I love it when I see the catholics stand firm against all these worldly whims and trends in priesthood but would love it more if they had done the same with the heresies and trends of the past and would love it the best if they return to the origins so that we can become one again !!!

[lowenwelle]

We have a so called "catholic women`s rights movement" here in Germany.
They call themself "Maria 2.0" (second version of Mary) and they are on average very old ladies.
Of course they want female priests.
You know, what they don´t want at their 'catholic' gatherings?
Holy Mass with the eucharist. They prefer a 'word service' ("Wortgottesdienst") without the eucharist.
And there is a counter-movent too, called "Maria 1.0" (first version of Mary) and ironically they are wayyyy younger and they want a stable catholic church.
They have Holy Masses at their gatherings.
Guess who is attacking these fine young women and call them "medieval"?

[walterhigo]

Women do have a role and a MISSION in the Catholic Church. Just think of all the wonderful mysteries the world have come to know, almost exclusively through various saintly women. St. Faustina, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Teresa de Lisieux, St. Bernadette, Sister Lucía of Fatima, Mary Magdalene and so on and so forth.

[hiderunbride]

I won't skip the ads. Consider this my contribution in your ministry.

[mertmolina]

A great discussion about the Deacons. Thankyou for taking the time to explain the churches position