Fr. Z's Blog

Women don’t have the capacity to receive the sacrament of holy orders because they lack maleness.  That is the case for both the priesthood and the diaconate.  Not male? No ordination.

During the during his flight back to Rome from these USA, Pope Francis was asked by a female reporter if there could be women priests.

Of course, the Pope said “No.”  He said “No.” again, of course.

Over at the non-Catholic National Schismatic Reporter (aka Fishwrap), there is a piece entitled: Francis again rejects women priests without specific reasoning

“Without specific reasoning”?

Here’s what Francis said:

On women priests, that cannot be done. Pope St. John Paul II after long, long intense discussions, long reflection said so clearly. Not because women don’t have the capacity. [i.e., it’s not because women are not (fill in blank with “skilled, talented, able to get things done… capable”)] Look, in the Church women are more important than men, because the church is a woman. It is “la” church, not “il” church. The Church is the bride of Jesus Christ. And the Madonna is more important than popes and bishops and priests. I must admit we are a bit late in an elaboration of the theology of women. We have to move ahead with that theology. Yes, that’s true.

BTW… papal pressers will be eliminated during the upcoming reign of Pius XIII.  So will papal trips and virtually all audiences.  Pius XIII will be seen so rarely that the MSM will run stories that he may actually be dead.  But I digress.

So, if you listen to Francis’ “No.” on the impossibility of women’s ordination and want to know more, turn to the pontificate of John Paul II and read Ordinatio sacerdotalis.  (Spoiler: He said “No.”) Then you can read Card. Ratzinger’s explanation of Ordinatio sacerdotalis. (Spoiler: He said that the teaching which OS repeats is infallible).  And if you want, you can follow the footnotes and references back to Bl. Paul VI. (Spoiler: He said “No.”)

By the way, the chief task of the Roman Pontiff is to say “No.”  The same goes for bishops and priests.

Anyway, I bring this up because you might want to make some popcorn, put on some teflon bibs and gloves and eye protection, and go look also at the combox under that piece at NSR.  Some people are having a nutty.  Better yet, put on bibs and gloves made of BAM if you are venturing into the fever swamp that is the Fishwrap combox.  Blech.

You will notice, inter alia, that some are basically saying, “Well, he’s not an intellectual.” (Read: He doesn’t think that women should be ordained so he’s not very smart.)  Others suggest that referring to John Paul II was bad.  Their brass ring is, of course, the elimination of the Magisterium of John Paul II.  Others say, “He didn’t really mean it.” Uh huh.

Note well: Fishwrap adherents demand that you accept – without specific reasoning – everything Pope Francis utters about their pet projects.  But if he says something Catholic about the fact that women can’t be priests or that homosexual sex is a sin, gender-bending theory is harmful and that it’s wrong to redefine marriage… no no!… he apparently has to explain himself.   Still others are quivering over the word “capacity”.

UPDATE:

Again at Fishwrap there are more irritated pieces about Pope Francis’ clear reiteration of Catholic doctrine on the impossibility of ordaining women.

Jamie Manson:

For all his beautiful words about equality, dignity, and not being “afraid to do new things,” Francis still cannot seem to connect his ideals with the church’s perpetuation of inequality, disempowerment, and sexism.

[…]

 

And then there is the wacky Sr. Fiedler:

[…]

But this pope — however great on other issues — just does not “get it” when it comes to women. And it’s not just women’s ordination, where his theology and thinking are way off base.

It’s his whole to approach to women. When he appointed five women to the International Theological Commission recently, he said they were like “strawberries on a cake.” Really? That sounds like something that may have been seen as a compliment in the 1940s or 1950s, but today, it’s an insult because of its triviality. But Francis apparently does not know that.

He says that women are more important than men in the church. Really? When they can’t even be deacons, let alone priests? I want to say, “Francis, be real!”

He uses the outmoded metaphor of the church as a “bride of Christ,” as if the whole community is somehow female. And he keeps talking about the need for a “theology of women,” as if we are some strange, odd creatures that need to be studied and put it our own theological niche.

Francis needs to meet with feminist theologians who can explain to him the realities of women in this world and this church.

Then — and only then — will he be a truly transformative pope.

Liberals will eventually turn on Francis.  They will be led by feminists.