Lesson 1
The issues at stake

Lesson one
The issues at stake

• * read the narration column first
• * then do the exercises

Reading

Your main textbook through this course will be: The Ordination of Women in the Catholic Church Unmasking a Cuckoo’s Egg Tradition by John Wijngaards.

The book is available in various editions:
* Darton, Longman & Todd, London 2001, ISBN 0-232-52420-3
* Continuum, New York 2001, ISBN 0-8264-1339-0
* Media House, New Delhi 2002.

The book is also available in Italian (Nè Eva, Nemmeno Maria, La Meridiana 2002), Dutch (Het Niet-wijden van Vrouwen in de R.K.-Kerk, Narratio 2002), French (L’ordination des Femmes dans l’Église Catholique, Chrétiens Autrement 2004) and Japanese (Akashi Shoten 2005).

Explaining the question before us

Should women be spiritual leaders in the Christian Church, as deacons, priests or bishops? What is the importance of Christian tradition in deciding this question?

In trying to answer these questions we will in particular pay attention to how the argument of Tradition is handled in the Roman Catholic Church. This is partly because the RC Church is the largest Christian denomination still refusing to acknowledge female ministers, and partly because the arguments have been voiced most strongly here. But the conclusions and implications affect other Christian Churches in equal measure, particularly the Orthodox Churches for whom the assessment of Tradition is also a major factor.

At present, the socalled Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome (abbreviation: CDF), which has a central responsibility for maintaining purity of belief in the Catholic Church, is strongly opposed to women’s ordination. We will make the CDF the main spokesperson for the opposition. We will be guided by two of its principal documents: Inter Insigniores (15 October 1976) and a companion text, the socalled Commentary on Inter Insigniores (27 January 1977).

Exercise 2

• Have you come across any of these arguments based on Tradition?
• Do you find the CDF argument based on Tradition convincing? What are your reasons?
• What principles of interpreting Tradition are involved in your view?
• What difficulties need to be explained?

The Specific Arguments

With regard to Tradition, the position of the CDF can be summarised under the following six headings. Please, follow the specific links indicated under each heading.

1. From the earliest centuries until our time the constant practice of the Church has been not to ordain women to the priesthood.
   CDF texts!
   
   
2. The existence of prejudice does not invalidate the fact that the practice constituted Church Tradition.
   CDF texts!
   
   
3. The early ministries of women had no relation to the sacramental priesthood.
   CDF texts!
   
   
4. The Fathers of the Church rejected women priests whenever the question arose.
   CDF texts!
   
   
5. In medieval church law and theology women were excluded from validly receiving ordination.
   CDF texts!
   
   
6. The doctrine was so firmly settled in later centuries that the Church did not need to publicly defend it. CDF texts!

More official texts on this theme can be found in our list of Church documents.

Consequently, the CDF maintains that women have no access to ordained leadership in the Church because it has aloways been denied to them in Christian tradition.

What is at stake

Authentic Tradition

Early Church

Women Deacons

The Fathers

Middle Ages

Church Law

Post-
medieval

Spurious tradition

Latent tradition