unit one
Taking stock of the ‘for-men-only’ interpretation

• read the narration column first
• then do the exercises

Exercise 1.

Read Inter Insigniores and its commentary as indicated in the right column.

Read these documents with a notepad at your side, and jot down what you believe are the main scriptural texts referred to.

1. The traditional position

Should women be ordained as deacons, priests or bishops in the Christian Church? What does Sacred Scripture say about this question - a question which has begun to feature so prominently in all Christian denominations?

For the greatest part of Christian history, Sacred Scripture has been understood as excluding women from ordained ministry in the Church. It is important for us to have a look at this traditional interpretation, in order to focus more clearly at the issues we need to address.

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest body of Christians in the world. Its central ‘teaching authority’ in Rome, the Pope himself and the Congregation for Doctrine then under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, have steadfastly defended the traditional interpretation of Scripture as the correct one. We will take the opinions expressed by this teaching authority as the basis for our assessment in this first lesson.

In the Gospels Jesus is presented as surrounded mainly by male disciples. Did he not want women to be leaders of his new community?

Two official documents will serve as our main source material. They can be read in full here:

1. Inter Insigniores. Declaration of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the question of the admission of women to the ministerial priesthood (15 October 1976).
2. Commentary by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Declaration Inter Insigniores

Exercise 2.

1. Have you come across any of these traditional scriptural arguments before?
2. Which of these traditional arguments for the exclusion of women do you find most convincing? Which most unconvincing?
3. What principles of scriptural interpretation are involved in your view?

Keep a record of your thoughts here. They will come in useful later in the course when you reflect on what you have learned.

Exercise 3.

Imagine you have been asked to take part in a debate about the ordination of women. You have been asked to present the traditional point of view. Muster your arguments!

2. A summary of the traditional interpretation of Scripture

The traditional interpretation that excludes women from leadership in the Church bases itself on seven clusters of scriptural texts.

1. Jesus Christ did not call any woman to be part of the twelve apostles. His openness to women shows that in this he did not yield to social opinions of the time. Omitting women from the twelve apostles was a deliberate choice.
Source texts!

2.Thus he established a permanent norm. He did not want women to have part in the ministerial priesthood, even in the future.
Source texts!

3. Even Mary was not invested with the apostolic ministry.
Source texts!

4. In 1 Corinthians 11,2-16 Paul clearly says that women are subject to men. Rome admits that 1 Cor 11,2-16 does no longer have a normative value, but overlooks the negative influence faulty exegesis has had on Fathers and scholastic theologians.
Source texts!

5. Paul distinguished between his female co-workers and male colleagues in the ministry. By this he indicated a difference in women’s status as non-ordained collaborators.
Source texts!

6. Paul excluded women from teaching and presiding in the assembly. This established a permanent norm.
Source texts!.

7. In the symbolism of salvation Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church is his Bride. A man should therefore represent Christ in the priestly ministry.
Source texts!

Reading list

Though Inter Insigniores is our main source text, familiarise yourself with the following Vatican documents that reiterated the same position:

• Code of Church Law (1983)
• Correspondence between Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope John-Paul II and Cardinal Jan Willebrands of the Secretariat for Christian Unity (1984-1986)
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)
• Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994)