Some Say It’s Time for Women as Priests, But It’s Unlikely

 

The Roman Catholic Church does not allow women to become priests. With the latest sex abuse crisis, some believe it is time for a change. But, they admit, it is unlikely the church will change anytime soon.

Pope Francis and the male priests at the Vatican have said repeatedly that the teaching against female priests comes from God and cannot be changed.

“I don’t see any movement to ordain¹ women,” said Margaret McGuinness, a religion professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia. “The people in power aren’t going to look at this as a solution,” she added.

In the United States, an organized campaign asking for female priests dates back to the 1970s. Its leaders have used the new sex abuse cases — in which the accused are all priests – to help their argument.

In one case, former Cardinal² Theodore McCarrick is accused of abusing at least two children as well as adult men studying to be priests. In another, a grand jury report from the state of Pennsylvania says that about 300 priests sexually abused about 1,000 children in six dioceses since the 1940s.

Role of female in the Catholic Church

Bridget Mary Meehan has led a movement calling for female priests that challenges the Church’s teachings. She said, “If we had women as equals and partners, women ordained³ in the Catholic Church, the church would not be in this mess, because we would have parents who would minister and who would make sure children are protected.”

Church teaching says anyone who tries to ordain a woman will be expelled from the church. The Vatican considers such an act as bad as the sexual abuse of children.

Kate McElwee, head of the Women’s Ordination⁴ Conference, said Church leaders have worked hard over many years to protect abusive priests and ignored the victims.

Pope Francis, she noted⁵, has called on all Catholics to help create a new culture in the church to stop the sexual abuse of children. McElwee said this would require “everyone at the table” and the end of the old male-only leadership.

Under Catholic rules, the priesthood is only for men because Christ chose only men as his 12 apostles. It is considered an unbreakable rule from God.

Pope Francis has repeatedly said women cannot become priests. But he has called for a greater role for women in the decision-making areas of the church.

In 2016, he created a commission to study the role of female deacons in the early years of the Catholic Church. The work of that commission was never released to the public, but some believe it may someday allow women to become deacons.

Deacons can perform many priests’ duties except they are not permitted to celebrate Mass.

Kate McElwee said her organization would welcome a decision to let women be deacons because this might lead to the ordination of women as priests.

Shortage of priests

The Women’s Ordination Conference and its allies also believe women priests could help the church with its biggest problem: the shortage of priests in many parts of the world.

One of the worst shortages is in the Amazon area of South America. An early report for the Vatican’s 2019 meeting on the Amazon called for church leaders to find new “official ministries” for women to serve there.

Michael Higgins teaches at Sacred Heart University in the U.S. He does not think women will be ordained as priests in the near future. But, he said, that a culture of male power “doesn’t work anymore.”

Margaret McGuinness, the La Salle professor, said Church leaders would have to make important changes to stop Catholics from leaving.

She added, “If they don’t do something, people are just going to walk away.”

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

priest – n. a person who has the authority to lead or perform ceremonies in some religions and especially in some Christian⁶ religions

diocese – n. the area that is controlled by a bishop⁷

ordain – v. the official act or process of making someone a priest

apostles – n any one of the 12 men chosen by Jesus Christ to spread the Christian religion

deacon – n. an official in some Christian churches whose rank is just below a priest

Mass – n. a Christian ceremony especially in the Roman Catholic Church in which people eat bread and drink wine representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ

1 ordain   

vi.颁发命令；vt.命令，授以圣职，注定，任命

参考例句：

• The church's ruling body voted to ordain women as priests.该教会的管理机构投票通过接纳女性为牧师。
• The essence of management refers to its internal inevitable ordain quality,and is also called ultimate attribute.管理的本质是指管理自身内在的必然的规定性，即根本属性。

2 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

3 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句

4 ordination   

n.授任圣职

参考例句：

• His ordination gives him the right to conduct a marriage or a funeral.他的晋升圣职使他有权主持婚礼或葬礼。
• The vatican said the ordination places the city's catholics in a "very delicate and difficult decision."教廷说，这个任命使得这个城市的天主教徒不得不做出“非常棘手和困难的决定”。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。