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Monsignor Angelo Amato
Vatican Puts Its Foot Down on Female Priests
The Vatican announced it will excommunicate anyone who attempts to ordain a female priest, as well as the woman herself.
30-Second Summary
Top ranking Vatican official Monsignor Angelo Amato said the church made the decree after what it described as “so-called ordinations” held in various parts of the world.
Catholics who are excommunicated cannot receive the sacraments.
The church has always banned the ordination of females by stating that the priesthood is for men only, but the new decree explicitly addresses the issue and attaches consequences. “The church does not feel authorized to change the will of its founder Jesus Christ,” Amato said.
The decision may only serve to strengthen the cause of women fighting against the church’s age-old rule barring them from priesthood, however.
Regina Nicolosi, a program coordinator for the group Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which ordains women as priests while maintaining its dedication to the Catholic faith, said the move could backfire. “This is bringing more and more women into our group, and I think we’re getting more support from Catholics who are saying this is getting ridiculous,” she said.
Others—even some sympathetic to the cause—say there is little chance the rules will change, barring major overhaul in the church as a whole.
“Women’s ordination will happen when there is a pope who is open to it, or when the depletion of male priestly ranks becomes so acute as to demand it,” said Fr. Richard McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theology professor, quoted in a July, 2006 Salon article.
Catholics who are excommunicated cannot receive the sacraments.
The church has always banned the ordination of females by stating that the priesthood is for men only, but the new decree explicitly addresses the issue and attaches consequences. “The church does not feel authorized to change the will of its founder Jesus Christ,” Amato said.
The decision may only serve to strengthen the cause of women fighting against the church’s age-old rule barring them from priesthood, however.
Regina Nicolosi, a program coordinator for the group Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which ordains women as priests while maintaining its dedication to the Catholic faith, said the move could backfire. “This is bringing more and more women into our group, and I think we’re getting more support from Catholics who are saying this is getting ridiculous,” she said.
Others—even some sympathetic to the cause—say there is little chance the rules will change, barring major overhaul in the church as a whole.
“Women’s ordination will happen when there is a pope who is open to it, or when the depletion of male priestly ranks becomes so acute as to demand it,” said Fr. Richard McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theology professor, quoted in a July, 2006 Salon article.
Headline Links: Ordain a woman, get excommunicated, says Vatican
Pope Benedict XVI, who became pontiff in 2005 following the death of Pope John Paul II, has, like his predecessor, consistently rebuffed calls to change traditional church teachings on divorce, abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage and the requirement that priests be male and celibate, reports the Associated Press.
Source: News and Observer (Associated Press)
Nicolosi thinks the Vatican’s new decree will backfire. “This is bringing more and more women into our group, and I think we’re getting more support from Catholics who are saying this is getting ridiculous,” she said.
Source: CNN
Opinion & Analysis: Female Catholic priests: possibility or pipedream?
According to its mission statement Roman Catholic Womenpriests “is an international initiative within the Roman Catholic Church. The mission of Roman Catholic Womenpriests North America is to spiritually prepare, ordain, and support women and men from all states of life, who are theologically qualified, who are committed to an inclusive model of Church, and who are called by the Holy Spirit and their communities to minister within the Roman Catholic Church.”
Source: Roman Catholic Womenpriests
In July, 2006, Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained a dozen women in a forbidden ceremony in Pittsburgh. Salon examines whether the group’s mission can ever really succeed. “While I am fully sympathetic with the spirit that informs this latest initiative, I expect it to have a very short shelf-life in terms of media attention,” Fr. Richard McBrien said about the route the group is taking.
Source: Salon
The group Women Priests also supports women being ordained in the Catholic Church. The group states on its Web site, “We are Roman Catholic theologians who firmly believe that the discussion on women priests should be left open. We do not promote the illegal ordination of women since we believe that the Church should be reformed from within.”
Source: Women Priests
Related Topics: In recent months Vatican updates deadly sins, says OK to aliens
In March, the Vatican announced that it had identified seven new daily sins, some of which seem more in tune with the modern life. Extreme wealth, not recycling and taking illegal drugs are among the modern transgressions now viewed as mortal sins by the Holy See.
Source: findingDulcinea
The Vatican’s head astronomer recently said that belief that extraterrestrial life exists in the universe does not contradict faith in God.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Catholicism; women’s roles in other religions
The findingDulcinea Web guide to Catholicism includes information on the beliefs, practices and history of the religion, and modern issues in Catholicism as discussed on Catholic TV and radio sources as well as online.
Source: findingDulcinea
Women’s roles in other religions
The Women’s Studies Department at Earlham College provides a thorough list of sites of Web sites related to women and theology, including sites with information about women’s roles in Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and other religious traditions, such as “Goddess spirituality.”
Source: Earlham College
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