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I think it was 1987, the year i got married, turned up at the wedding expecting a man and found a woman performing the ceremony. was told it was the first wedding she was allowed to perform. (Thought she took the rehearsal as he was running late or was indisposed didn't realise she was doing the actual ceremony, saw a man vicar when we booked it). Have to say she did a really great job.
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Can women in Church Of England be priests?
Yes, since 1994, women can be ordained as priests in the CofE. The church is slowly moving towards allowing women to be bishops. The church had to be specifically excluded from sex descrimination legislation to allow such practises to continue.
What argument to the church of England have for having women priests?
men were the head of the church I'm uncertain what the question is specifically asking. But there is Scripture to say women should NOT be in any leadership role during a church service. 1 Corinthians 14:34 --Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
What arguments are there for having women priests?
Note that female priests exist already in some Christian denominations with apostolic succession, e.g. Anglican/Episcopal. Some break-away Roman Catholic groups also have female priests. Most Protestant denominations allow female pastors/ministers, but most do not have apostolic succession and thus do not have priests.In terms of Roman Catholicism, the arguments made in favor of female priests are:- Jesus himself made no distinction between men and women of his followers; Mary Magdalene has been reviled as a "prostitute" since the Middle Ages, but a modern non-misogynistic view of the Gospels do not regard her as revilable or reviled--indeed, Jesus favored her.- There is no clear scriptural basis for excluding women from the priesthood.- In the early Christian church until ca. 400 AD, female priests and congregation leaders were common.- With the shortage of male priests becoming acute, opening the Catholic priesthood to women would make it possible for the Church to more of God's work more efficiently and minister to more people.- Women already occupy leadership positions in all churches, and women who become nuns have already taken on 99% of the commitments asked of male priests.
When were women allowed to become priests?
Roman Catholic answer:There have never been woman priests as it is not possible to ordain a woman to the priesthood. Pope John Paul II definitely ruled on this a while back, and said that anyone trying to ordain a woman would be committing sacrilege and it would just be a play act anyway, as nothing would happen, but because of the sacrilege, it would be a mortal sin on any who participated in such a travesty. In other words, Jesus taught that only men *could* be ordained to the priesthood, and any attempts to do otherwise would be contradicting God and His church, contradicting HIS Will. I hate to disagree with my fellow answerer below but the church is NOT trying to put down women in anyway. This is a complicated issue, but there are a couple things that one must understand. We as a church did not make this rule, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did: we are only following what we have been taught.Further, one must understand the role of women and the role of priests to understand that it is no slight and that there is no putting men ahead of women because of this. The church honors women far more than any other organizations. The Popes themselves are "servants of the servants of God". They are, all of them, just servants who are going to be judged much more harshly then the rest of us due to the fact that they have taken on the responsibility of representing Christ to the world. Women, on the other hand, starting with the Blessed Virgin are extremely honored in their own right. The honor show to a priest is actually honor show to Christ whose representative he is. Far from showing honor to women, the attempt at ordaining a woman does nothing but show dishonor to the Almighty, and His Laws.Anglican orders were ruled invalid by the Pope back in the 19th century due to a lack in the ordination ceremony itself. It has nothing to do with the apostolic succession, it has to to with lack of proper form and intention. One must have the intention to validly ordain a sacrificing priest for a sacrificial priesthood, and one must use the proper words in doing so. The only one with authority to rule in this matter is Christ Himself, and his appointed emissary, the Holy Father.Another answer:However, most other denominations are not quite so mysoginistic and ordain women. In the Anglican Church women have been ordained priests since the 1990s, and they enjoy absolute equality with male priests in the same church. Some Anglican Churches have female bishops too. However Roman Catholics rather illogically refuse to accept the priesthood of any Anglican (male or female) as valid, despite both churches' ability to trace back their roots to apostolic succession, and both churches' doctrine on the priesthood and on Trinitarian belief being virtually identical.Other protestant denominations, such as the Reformed Church or Methodists have had women ministers (they are not called 'priests' but fulfil the same sacramental role) for decades or even longer.Some denominations do not have a 'priesthood' as such (or even ordained ministry) but have church leaders. one such group, the Salvation Army, has had women leaders ('officers') since its conception in the 19th Century.
What are Christian attitudes towards women priests?
Answer 1I cannot answer for all Christian denominations, however, in Roman Catholicism, women are not allowed to become priests. Why? Christ had many disciples during his lifetime, including many women, but when it came time to choose his twelve apostles, he chose only men. We follow the teachings of Christ.Women were very involved in Christ's life and ministry, and they took on very active roles. Today, women take on very active roles in the Roman Catholic Church, as well, like the women disciples did then. There are women in the Catholic Church who are leaders in their own right.Yet, the title, "priest" is reserved for men only. Some find this appalling. I have found that those who do are more interested in "personal gains" rather than in the true spirit of the ministry. The priesthood was not established for the PRIESTS, to bring wealth or power or prestige to the men in the priesthood. It was established IN RELATION to others. Priests are ordained to SERVE their congregation. It's not about what THEY get out of being a priest, but rather what they GIVE! When they die and stand in judgment before Christ, they will not be asked what they had gained from being a priest, but what they BROUGHT to the PEOPLE - how did they serve God's people to help them become more holy? God doesn't care about the power or prestige they gain - in fact, if they enter the priesthood for that reason, then they will likely be unable to serve God's people.Most of those who think women priests=equality are thinking in terms of what the individual priest gains by entering the priesthood. Women "deserve" the same gains - power, prestige, etc - as men receive when they become priests.Each one of us is called to make OTHERS more holy. Women do this in their roles in the church, just as well as men priests do. As much as some want to deny this fact, men and women ARE different. Each has a unique set of gifts, to be used for the greater glory of God. To deny our gifts, or to try to say that our gifts are a carbon copy of gifts given to others is an insult to God. We must use OUR gifts, not try to pretend that we have some other gifts. The Church is made up of many parts - each has a different role to play, but we are all one body, the Church. And we are all equally important in the Church. What would the leg be, without a foot? What would the arm be, without a hand? And what would the head be, without a neck to turn it? Just because women cannot be what they think is the proverbial "head" of the Church, does not mean their role - as neck, as eyes, as ears, as hands, etc - is any less important.Answer 2The question asks for a Christian attitude. The above shows the attitude of just part of the Christian Church (eg the Roman Catholic and Orthodox view, and that of a small number of fundamentalist evangelicals). In actuality, a very large proportion of the Christian Church - even many rank-and-file Catholics dare I say (although the 'official' positi9n is very different!)- are in favour of women priests. And many large Church denominations already have either bishops, priests or ministers already. Examples are the Anglicn Church, Episcopalians, Methodists, URC, Dutch Reformed, Remonstrant, some Baptists and many others.These Churches interpret Scripture very differently, and look at the history of the early Church (before it was taken over by men) to see the sort of Church that Christ himself instituted. They see Church leaders who were women ((eg Lydia, Priscilla etc) and they look at scriptural evidence as well as evidence from the catacombs of the 2nd century and see frescos such as the 'Fractio Panis' where the Eucharist is being celebrated wiith the central president being very clearly a woman.It has nothing to do with modern 'equality' but is definitely to do with each of us being made in the image of God. Christians would never discriminate between a black or white person becoming a priest, because it's against the law. Nor would they discriminate between, say, an Englishman or a Frenchman, or a millionaire or pauper. Yet some feel free to discriminate between male and female. And to suggest that women do not have the 'gifts' necessary to become priests, simply because they are women, is an insult, and speaks more about the attitude of the suggester than the role of women.As Paul stated categorically in his letter to the Galatians, a church where these very issues were being discussed, and where bigotry and prejudice were creeping in:There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.[Gal 3:28]In the early 20th century, women died as a result of protests because they fought to have the vote. Women have fought in the miiddle 20th century to be paid the same rates as men for the work they do. They have fought for equality within jobs and promotion prospects. The truth is that there are those within socirty, and sadly within the Christian church too, who will hide behind their version of scripture and Church 'tradition' to maintain a mysoginistic attitude towards women in the guise of it being 'God's will'. Yet within the tradition of the early Church and within scripture properly interpreted, there is not a scrap of evidence even suggesting that priesthood should be reserved for men only. And the Church can only reflect the image of Christ, and serve the world with integrity, when those who still try to maintain male-dominated attitudes realise just how wrong they are.
Can women in Church Of England be priests?
Yes, since 1994, women can be ordained as priests in the CofE. The church is slowly moving towards allowing women to be bishops. The church had to be specifically excluded from sex descrimination legislation to allow such practises to continue.
Are there women priests in the Russian orthodox church?
The Russian Orthodox Church does not ordain priests.
Women Priests in the Catholic Church?
No there are no female priests in the Roman Catholic Church. A priest represents Jesus on the Alter and a woman cannot do that. Religious women can become nuns but not priests.
Can the pope be a woman?
No, because the Catholic church has yet to allow women to be ordained as priests (they are only allowed to become nuns), and the Pope is selected from the world's cardinals--who were once priests.
Does the orthodox church let women be priests?
No!
Can any vicar marry you anywhere?
Yes they can - and I know this from experience as I am married to a vicar! In the Anglican Church both men and women can become vicars, and can get married. My wife has been a vicar in two parishes. Our latest parish also has a Methodist minister, who is female and married. In our first parish there was a Baptist minister - and he was married too. Most, if not all, Protestant churches allow their clergy to marry. The two main denominations that do not allow their clergy to marry are some parts of the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. However, in the RC church there are some campaigns to allow clergy to marry. In England this had a lot of publicity after the Church of England agreed to allow women to become priests (and hence vicars) with the first ordained in the 1990s. A small number of Church of England clergy, opposed to women's ministry, 'defected' to Rome, and, after retraining, became priests in the RC church. Many of these were already married with families (as they were former Church of England vicars) and were still allowed to practise within the RC Church. Many then felt that the celibacy of the priesthood had been breached once-and-for-all, and as there was no divine 'retribution' for such an act, a call for celibacy to be optional in the RC church was made. There have been no decisions either way as yet, but there are still a large number who believe that married RC priests would not only be acceptable but also beneficial to the church.
Is a male not a priest?
I'm not sure what you mean by the question, but if you mean can females be priests in the Catholic Church the answer is 'no'. Although there are movements within Catholicism to allow women to become priests, the willingness of the heirarchy to allow this is a long way off. However, in many other denominations such as the Anglican Church, Methodism, the URC and so on women can become priests or ministers with the same rights and privileges as men, and have been allowed for many years.
What is the main religon in England?
It identifies as neither Catholic nor Protestant, but following a "via media"--a middle way. Women priests and gay priests are allowed. The Queen is the head of the church.
Are women allowed to become Roman Catholic priests?
No. Only men are allowed to become Priests in the Catholic Church. Women however can become Nuns. It's just Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Roman is an epithet first commonly used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It is never used by the official Catholic Church.
Can episcopalian priests be female?
In the Episcopal Church, both men and women are ordained to the priesthood. They can also be Bishops. Women could become priests in the Episcopal Church beginning in 1976.
Why should women be Catholic priests?
Some people would say why not. The arguments against are divided into two sections. The first is that Jesus didn't choose any women to be his apostles and so, by example we should have men as priests. Another is that it is tradition - we have never had women priests so why start now? As the question is about Catholic priests (not other Christian traditions) it might be useful to see whether the church is consistent with its handling of other situations - married priests for example. Several of the men Jesus chose to follow him were married. Currently the church will accept married men who, as priests, convert from another church and allow them to continue as priests. The church will not allow an unmarried priest to marry. The basic question here is would God call a woman to be a priest? If it is God's will then how can the church deny it? The difficulty here is who decides whether it is God's will or not and what would be the outcome if things changed? As only men can be priests and the hierarchy of the church is made up of priests the leadership is, by definition, men. So, the decision about who should be priests is made by men. There is always a fear that changes in the church would cause division and weaken the position of the church - however with some countries having a very low Catholic church attending population the power of the church has already been significantly eroded. Some would say that having women priests could even strengthen the church.
What did The Civil Constitution of the Clergy do?
Allow women to become priests
