“It Would Be Painful for Me If My Words Generated Confusion in Our Adherence to the Church”
LISBON, Portugal, JULY 11, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of a clarification from Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, patriarch of Lisbon, after an interview in which he mentioned women’s ordination was widely reported. The interview and reports regarding it implied that the cardinal was in favor of women’s ordination.
The Archdiocese of Lisbon published the following clarification July 6.
1. In an interview granted to the magazine “Ordem dos Advogados,” the interviewer posed a question on women’s ordination. My answer sparked different reactions, including indignation. I must say that I never developed this matter systematically. I always [simply] mentioned it, either responding to questions of interviewers or questions of the public in conversations that have followed my conferences on various topics. Reactions to this interview have obliged me to look at the topic with greater care and I realized that, above all because I did not take into due account the latest declarations of the magisterium on the topic, I opened the way to such reactions. Hence, I feel obliged to explain my thinking clearly, in communion with the Holy Father and with the magisterium of the Church, which is my obligation as a bishop and pastor of the People of God (cf. Lumen Gentium, No. 25).
2. The inability to confer the apostolic priesthood on women through priestly ordination is a tradition that dates to the New Testament, to Jesus Christ himself and in the way he laid the foundations of his Church.
Our Lord Jesus Christ leads creation to fulfillment, and forming part of that fulfillment is the harmony of men and women, in their complementary difference and in their equal dignity, giving full completion to the narration of Creation: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). This complementarity of man and woman in the history of salvation attains its fulfillment in the revelation of Christ and of Mary. Mary’s place and mission deeply inspire the Church, in the complementarity of the mission. Contemplation of Our Lady is important to understand the feminine face of the Church.
When Jesus chose his Apostles, he chose men, although he was always followed by women who accompanied him to the cross. It is true that the cultural and social consideration of women in Jewish society would not facilitate the choice of women for a mission as Apostles. In Volume II of “Jesus of Nazareth,” the Holy Father Benedict XVI acknowledges that, in the testimony of the Resurrection, in the confessional tradition, there is reference only to men, perhaps because in the Jewish tradition only men were accepted as witnesses in a court; the testimony of women was not considered credible.
This form of social discrimination does not impede stressing the decisive role of women: “women have a decisive role in the narrative tradition.” The difference of ministry does not diminish the dignity of the mission. I quote Benedict XVI: “The Church’s juridical structure is founded on Peter and the Eleven, but in the day-to-day life of the Church it is the women who are constantly opening the door to the Lord” [1].
3. After Pentecost, the time of the Church begins, which continues Jesus Christ’s ministry. The apostolic succession is a founding and fundamental dynamism of the nascent Church. The Apostles impose their hands on men who will continue their apostolic ministry. The fact that there were no women among these successors and cooperators does not mean a minimization of women, but the search for that complementarity between the masculine and the feminine, fully realized in Christ’s relationship with Mary. In the Pauline Churches, outstanding women appear with responsibility, both in the mission as well as in the invigorating of the Christian communities. However, the Apostle does not impose his hands on them. Recognized in the Church of Rome is the importance of the “virgin” martyrs.
Of note in the early times of the Church is the harmony between the fact of the apostolic priesthood conferred on men and the importance and dignity of the women in the Church. The fundamental dignity of all the faithful comes from their union with Jesus Christ, the only Priest. The whole Church participates in that dignity, as it is a Priestly People. The First Letter of St. Peter is clear: “and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5); “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (2:9).
All the members of the Church, men and women, participate in this royal and priestly dignity, which they express above all when they celebrate the Eucharist. This expression implies continually the presidency of Jesus Christ, head of the Church and her Lord, which he exercises through the apostolic priesthood that, “in persona Christi,” guarantees to the whole Church the experience of her priestly dignity. This harmony was experienced and built, indisputably, in the course of the centuries. The ministry of ordained priests finds its truth in the experience of the Church as Priestly People.
4. The question of the ordination of women for the ministry of the apostolic priesthood arose recently, especially in Western countries and is explained by a variety of factors:
— The movements for the promotion of women, which defend not only their dignity, but their equality of rights and functions in modern societies. The feminist movements made this struggle specific in claiming that women must be equal to men in all functions of society. The theological criteria of the great Tradition of the Church is substituted by cultural and sociological criteria.
— The loss of the awareness of the priestly dignity of all the members of the Church, reducing the priestly expression to the ordained priesthood.
— The understanding of the ministerial priesthood as a right and a power, failing to see that no one, man or woman, can claim this right, but must accept the call of the Church for this service, which includes the gift of one’s life.
This new social situation sparked theological reflection and clearer interventions from the magisterium on this matter. Serious theology, initially, valued this long tradition of the Church, but did not exclude that it was an open question, given the attention that must be given to the action of the Holy Spirit, in search of the expression of the mystery of the Church in new realities.
5. The most recent teaching of the popes interprets this uninterrupted tradition, which has its origin in Christ and in the apostolic body, not only as a practical way of proceeding, which can change according to the rhythm of the Holy Spirit’s action, but as an expression of the mystery itself of the Church, which we must accept in faith.
I quote the text of Pope John Paul II in the Apostolic Letter “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”: “Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.
“Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) 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.”
Hence, we are invited to obey the teaching of the Holy Father, in the humility of our faith, and continue to reflect on the relationship of the ministerial priesthood with the priestly nature of the whole People of God and to discover the feminine manner of building the Church, in the decisive role of the mission of our sisters, the women.
6. In this year in which I celebrate the 50 years of my priestly ordination, a great manifestation of God’s kindness to me, I wished to give this clarification to the faithful of my diocese. It would be painful for me if my words generated confusion in our adherence to the Church and to the Holy Father’s word. I think I have shown you well that communion with the Holy Father is an absolute attitude in the exercise of my ministry.
Lisbon, July 6, 2011
+JOSE, Cardinal-Patriarch
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
Well this is clear, eventually.
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Off topic: Michael Evans, Bishop of East Anglia, has died after a long illness.
May he rest in the peace of Christ. Amen.
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Sorry to read this.
Perhaps more might see this on Prayer Intentions?
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Done, Mr Whippy. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Thanks for clearing that up for us, Jose.
Now all us virgin mothers will shuffle on back to the Youth Ministry and the kitchen and the prayer group and stop bothering those with Important Missions to achieve.
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“The inability to confer the apostolic priesthood on women through priestly ordination….”
The jolly old Cardinal is weaseling a teeny bit here, thinks Toad. We all know it’s not a question of being “able” to make women priests, several religions in fact already do. So could the Catholics if they wanted.
Women priests are not a physical impossibility. We can all imagine a woman priest.
The Catholics just don’t want women priests. They may be right not to. They may be wrong. But let’s be honest.
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Bless Bishop Michael Evans, ‘our’ bishop here in Norwich.
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We can all imagine a woman priest.
No Toad – we can’t!
I remember this conversation in another place (I seem to remember it was Malcolm enthusing about a lady vicar ‘looking quite fetching’).
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“The jolly old cardinal is weaseling a teeny bit here”, sez Toad, later followed by “let’s be honest”.
Does this mean a “teeny bit” or much, much more? – like a helluva lot?
Let’s be honest.
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This post of mine above is unfair and no bl***y good. I’m always digging holes for myself.
And so I say…..De profundis.
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Toad says “we can all imagine a woman priest”.
Hoo-arr! – I’ll say so!
The unspeakable in pursuit of the unattainable – that’s me!
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Gertrude says “we can’t” imagine a woman priest. Not sure who “we” is, but Toad can, and he’s not very imaginative.
Then, G. shoots herself in the foot a teeny bit, by mentioning a ‘fetching’ lady Anglican vicar. We can all imagine that, can’t we?
(Yes, but that’s not a Catholic priest, is it Toad!)
Maybe Gertrude and Toad and some others of us should start taking imagining lessons. Add ‘women priests’ to the list of six impossible things to believe before breakfast, maybe?
And… the picturesque old Portugese Prelate rather oddly goes on to cite:
“…the Holy Father Benedict XVI acknowledges that, in the testimony of the Resurrection, in the confessional tradition, there is reference only to men, perhaps because in the Jewish tradition only men were accepted as witnesses in a court; the testimony of women was not considered credible.”
This would seem to shoot the Cardinal’s own case in the foot a teeny bit as well, since nowadays women are not only accepted as ‘credible witnesses’ but are also often actually judges in courts themselves.
Which would seem to open the possibility of women priests to consideration, at least.
If we are still going to take ‘the Jewish tradition’ as a yardstick, we are in real trouble. Thinks Toad.
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Well, Toad, one does rather get the impression that the Cardinal’s heart isn’t really in this one: I suspect him of spending long periods imagining lady-priestesses.
The plain fact is that the Church does not believe that it has the authority to confer sacerdotal ordination on ladies (or even “women”), because our Founder decided himself not to call the gals to the apostolate (and, let’s face it, He wasn’t in the least bit shy about transgressing societal norms). Now, if only we can get the Church to follow Our Lord a bit more closely in other things too, we can all be contented.
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Raven,
Jesus clearly did not call “gals” (as you so charmingly say) to the apostolate. And yet it is surely fair to ask for a clear and concise explanation as to why a woman cannot be a priest. — And it should go without saying that “it has always been thus” is of no relevance whatsoever.
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Of course his heart isn’t in it it, he isn’t stupid, but then again he isn’t a fool, and lines must be towed. What to make of the term “lady priestess” ? Best to say nothing I think, it speaks volumes all by its sneering self.
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Odd, no women hopping in on this topic so far? Still, early days yet.
The concept of a shatterproof stained-glass ceiling is interesting, as other such ceilings are at least being cracked a bit.
Toad has no axe to grind here, although he does strongly believe that, in general, women exhibit the qualities we appreciate in a pastor more than do men: decency, compassion, sympathy, understanding, selflessness, humility, lack of vanity etc., and, importantly nowadays, are far less likely to get into sexual trouble.
Generally, mind. There will be exceptions, to be sure.
We are on very dangerous ground here, Toad is delighted to see..
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Hmmm, yes…
They would indeed make fine priests, and I recognise their ability to delegate. For example, I sometimes hear the words, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a barbecue?” My heart sinks because this means that I will stand for ages in a cloud of choking fumes, turning sausages which others will tuck into while I am making the next batch, and all the while my clothes are being impregnated by stinking smoke which lingers for hours. Let them eat takeaway pizza, I say.
However, if a priestly blessing and a sprinkle of holy water were to accompany the ‘great’ idea of a barbecue, then this might recompense.
Might
Toad sweettalking the women is interesting, “although he does ‘strongly’ believe” etc.
What’s
he
up
to?
Perhaps he has been told.
.
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Mr Badger……not towed, nor toad, but toed.
Excuse me.
.
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Toad,
It is very nice of you to credit women as displaying those qualities you mention to a greater degree than men. Is that really your opinion, or do you just want to get into our good books 😉 ? (It’s very strange, but it seems to me as if it is often men, rather than women, who are in favour of women priests!)
In my opinion men are just as likely to have these worthy attributes, plus one which is not credited to all women unfortunately….. that of being able to keep a secret!! (That is of course of vital importance in the Sacrament of Confession.)
Symbolism is also very important. We often refer to the Church as our Mother. Jesus Christ (male) is ‘wed’ to the Church (female). The holy priesthood therefore has to be masculine. Priests are taking on the role of Jesus in the world. Bl Pope John Paul II spoke at length on the subject and concluded that the matter was closed.
I am completely happy with that decision. I often wonder if those women who aren’t have some sort of chip on their shoulder, or some underlying frustration and find an outlet in screaming for women priests. There are many amazing women in the world today, who have made incredible achievements – Mother Angelica of EWTN comes to mind – who have not needed to disobey Church teaching to do so.
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Toad does not do much “sweet-talking·” – as can be clearly seen on here.
Why on earth should he want to get into anybody’s (God’s presumably) ‘good books’?
Few thousand years less in Llimbo, perhaps? ( he’s just kidding – he knows that Limbo’s not real – never reallly thought it was, even when he was being beaten for suggesting that it wasn’t!)
He’s not suggesting women are ‘better’ than men’ in some fundamental way, but simply that they see things in a different, less agressive, more constructive way, mostly.
Or so he thinks. Idiot.
And they are less fond or war and sex than men. Which matters.
But Toad’s probably wrong, as usual, and men are actually the bees’ knees at everything.
Popes especially.
Tempi cambi, or so they say. Toad remembers, as a smallish boy in the early 1950’s, being assured by Father Sidney Cox, (alias Slippery Sid, to Form Four B) that the Mass was always said in Latin – always had been – and always would be.
“Why,” we asked. “Because, anywhere in the world, when you attend mass – (which you will, if you do not fancy roasting in Hell for all eternity) – and no matter what language the people locally speak, you will confidently not be able to understand one word of it, and neither will anyone else in the congregation.
That’s why it’s called Catholic. Means ‘universal.'”
(Toad might just have got the last bit from Father Sid slightly wrong.)
So, things can, and do, change.
And just might.
But then again, who knows?
But the Jesuits are right- we, none of us, never forget what we are told.
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Once again I regret that wordpress won’t let you edit comments once they’re posted. 🙂
[the Raven – that can be changed, but you have to volunteer to write some posts first!]
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Really, Badger!
The plain fact is that Our Lord (being God ‘n’ all) chose not to call women. He had His reasons, who are we to gainsay Him? Can we really claim to know better than Him? (and let’s face it, he was not averse to the company of gals, as I so charmingly say, so a charge of misogyny really can’t lie against Him, and He really, really didn’t care for human foibles and manners, so the old arguments about “fitting in with His times” are really just so much stuff).
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Raven,
I agree with you that the arguments about “fitting in with the time” are inadequate. And I’ll also agree that a position which takes disagreeing with Christ as its starting point has no place in Christian thought. But it strikes me that the issue breaks down into three parts: the position of the Church; the intentions of Jesus, and the rational defence of the position as a moral norm. Now I think the Catholic Church has made her view clear (so shut up then!! one might say), but lets press on.
As to The plain fact is that Our Lord (being God ‘n’ all) chose not to call women it depends what we mean by “call”, he called 12 men to a very particular role. He called all humanity to follow him. The question is who did he call to exercise the priestly office? Certainly the answer to that question can’t be simply decided by scanning the membership of the apostolic college. Nor can it be decided by the mere fact that the priesthood has always been exercised by men (that is what would we would expect even if it was a culturally conditioned decision. It can be decided by the ruling of the Church we might say — well fine — but with no direct ruling from Jesus it is reasonable to ask for an argument independent of Church history, and independent of revelation (which is arguably silent on this). So a natural law argument perhaps. — And yet there seems to be an unwillingness to make a compelling case, where’s the beef?
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I have no desire for the Church to suddenly start ordaining women, I think that it would cause disruption and scandalise many of the faithful, I think it would increase the chance of serious schism, and weaken the solidarity of a Church already under stress. But I think the case for the status quo as currently presented is far from compelling. And this I find disturbing whenever the issue comes up.
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Toad sez he’s not saying women are better than men. But he did! It’s there, in his post!
Oooooh!
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Well women simply are better than men in my experience. And I’m sure my wife would agree. (yes, she’s nodding as I write this). Case closed
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