Catholic Priesthood and Women - A Guide To The Teaching Of The Church

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From the Hillenbrand Books series of theological treatises.

In his letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Pope John Paul II stated: "Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, . . . I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful. " With that declaration, the question of women’s priestly ordination in the Catholic Church was effectively closed. While the Church’s position is clear, many priests, religious, seminarians, and lay ministers search for a way to answer questions regarding the Church’s teaching. In The Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church, Sister Sara Butler attempts to answer those questions through a close examination of the Church’s teaching on the ordination of women to the priesthood. In response to a call for a greater articulation of the Church’s position, Sister Butler seeks to both clarify and defend the Church’s teaching as well as explore why so many have struggled to accept it. The Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church successfully explores the complex and fundamental questions surrounding the ordination of women to the priesthood for anyone interested in a deep examination of this issue.

The author: Sister Sara Butler, msbt, is currently a professor of dogmatic theology at St. Joseph ’s Seminary in New York. In 2004, she became the first American woman appointed by Pope John Paul II to the International Theological Commission. She holds a phd in systematic theology from Fordham University, her stl from University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, and an ma from The Catholic University of America. She has written and lectured extensively on the subject of the ordination of women.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Abbreviations

Chapter 1: The Church's Teaching and the Present Discussion
The Question: Why Reserve Priesthood to Men?
An Official Answer: Odinatio Sacerdotalis (1994)
Recent Church Documents and Some Features of the Debate
Some Key Assertions of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
An Initial Analysis

Chapter 2: The Status of Women in Society and in the Church
Women's Equal Rights in the Social Order
Women's Equal Rights in the Church
Conclusion

Chapter 3: Three Objections to the Church's Teaching
Objection 1: The Exclusion of Women is Unjust
Objection 2: Exclusion is Based on a "Faulty Anthropology"
Objection 3: If Women Can be baptized, They can be Ordained
Conclusion

Chapter 4: The Church's Fundamental Reasons
The Church's Constant tradition can Be Traced
The Reactions to Gnostic and Montanist Innovations
The Tradition Is Rooted in Jesus' Way of Acting
The Apostles' Way of Acting Confirms the Tradition
The Tradition Has Normative Value
Conclusion

Chapter 5: The Church's Theological Arguments
Arguments Based on the "Anology of Faith"
The Christological Argument in Inter Insigniores
The Contributions of Pope John Paul II
The Ministerial Priesthood and Nuptial Symbolism

Chapter 6: More Objections to the Church's Teaching
Objections to the Fundamental Reasons
Objections to the Theological Arguments
Overall Assessment

Chapter 7: Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and the Development of Doctrine
This Tradition Is Not Open to "Development"
Conclusion

Bibliography
index

 

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