EDITORIAL

Pope Francis on Women’s Ordination

Posted

Critics of Pope Francis state they have been frustrated with him over statements which seem vague and open to a variety of interpretations. Most recently, the debate swirling around his Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, has reflected some of the same sentiment: many say that it is unclear, particularly with regard to whether he is advocating that divorced and remarried couples might be admitted to Holy Communion under certain circumstances.

While the ongoing debate surrounding Amoris Laetitia continues, a group of eleven German priests have decided to push the envelope to suggest that the Church should change her teaching on women’s ordination. In this regard, Pope Francis has been unequivocally clear. In one of his now-famous in-flight interviews, the Holy Father said that Pope St. John Paul II gave “the last word” on this issue. In his 1994 Apostolic Letter, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Pope John Paul II wrote that the Church has no authority from the Lord to ordain women.

The German priests are also advocating optional celibacy. While this long-standing Church discipline could theoretically change, it seems unlikely. The Church upholds the value of priestly celibacy as a witness of Christ’s self-emptying love. Women’s ordination, on the other hand, contradicts the Church’s theology that the priest represents Christ the bridegroom who willingly sacrificed himself for his bride, the Church. Some argue that the Church is denying women’s equality by refusing to ordain them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that the Church cannot ordain women is not an equality issue, it is a theological truth entrusted to the Church by the will of Christ.