September 20, 2005
Someone recently suggested writing about a few difficult questions or teachings of the Church that are hard for even Catholics to understand. With the risk of over-simplifying to fit into this space, I’ll tackle the first question: why is it that only men can be Catholic priests?
First of all it is good to be reminded that no one has the right to be a priest. I had no right to be ordained seven years ago. It is totally a “gift and mystery”, as Pope John Paul II wrote in his book by that title. Priesthood is not simply a function, a career, nor merely a religious ministry. It is a sacrament which comes from the Lord Jesus. In all of the sacraments, the Lord uses a certain “something” to become a sign of what is given. Water is used for Baptism, bread and grape wine for the Eucharist, olive oil for Confirmation, and a man for Holy Orders. Why can’t we use something similar for the Eucharist, like pasta or apple juice? It simply is not what Jesus did. The Church doesn’t have the authority to change these things.
Some would argue that Jesus had to use men because of cultural factors that are now outdated. But Jesus broke with so many other conventions of Jewish society, including the way He related to women. Greek and Roman mystery religions had priestesses. Although Christianity borrowed some elements from these mystery religions and “baptized” them (like the very word “Sacrament” for example), the Church was as consistent in ordaining only men for the priesthood as it was in using only bread for the Eucharist.
Some deny the symbolic value of the differences between men and women, or that there are any differences at all. Difference does not mean inequality. Are men inferior because they cannot bear children or fully take on the role of a mother in a child’s life? Are women inferior because they don’t look like or symbolize the Son of Man and Bridegroom of the Church as easily as a man? The Bridegroom image is a profoundly undeniable part of Jesus’ revelation about himself and His communion with the Church. The priest is ordained to be an icon of Christ and to act in the Person of Christ for His Church during the other Sacraments. If his life doesn’t preach the humble generosity of Our Saviour, then he becomes a tarnished icon, but the interior reality of priesthood remains. Alice Von Hildebrand and Peter Kreeft address this (i.e. “why only boys can become daddies”) in a short book titled Women and the Priesthood (Franciscan Univ. Press, 1994). An excellent in-depth explanation of this and much more is found in Women in the Priesthood by Manifred Hauke, translated and published by Ignatius Press (1988).
Thank you again to all of our readers for your prayers and your encouraging support of your priests, unworthy as we all are of this gift, this responsibility, and this mystery.
Fr. Richard Roemer, CFR
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