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Should women be priests

Updated: 8/18/2023
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Mason Ernser

Lvl 10
4y ago

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women should be priest because they are just life other people. We live in a world were men can do anything, but women can't?

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Joshua Orn

Lvl 10
2y ago
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14y ago

Yes, in Anglican/Episcopal churches and other Protestant churches with apostolic succession, they can be. In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy they cannot currently.
*Of course man and woman are equal, it does not matter what type of person you are you can be female and male.

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11y ago

Some Catholics believe they should. Many believe they should not. The hierarchy of the Church has strongly opposed any suggestion that women should be ordained.

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In the Anglican community, both High Church (Catholic) and low church, there are already women priests. In the American Episcopal Church (Anglican), there are also women bishops.

This presents many challenges; for years, the Catholic Church and a portion of the Anglican Church have worked in earnest to bring themselves closer together, even towards the goal of inter-ecumenism where Catholics may share the Eucharist (Holy Communion), in an Anglican Church and vice versa.

That the american Episcopal (Anglican) Church has been quite progressive in its policies, such as the ordination of women Bishops and the ordination of Homosexual Bishops is axiomatic. However, these actions have had profound repercussions, particularly among the Anglo/Catholic communities in Latin America, Africa, and certain areas of Europe. Rather than drawing people closer, it has created a vast schism to a point where the divide now appears even greater than ever.

A large number of Anglican Priests ask, if they're bound by their Holy Orders and the Scriptures, how can they be compelled to either ignore or pick and choose elements for adherence and elements to ignore. Consequently, Anglican Priests have written to the Archbishop asking to be excluded from Episcopal oversight (governance) by women, or from being compelled to concelebrate (share) the Holy Eucharist together.

Their justification is clearly centred upon the Scriptures. Following 1 Timothy 3:1-2. Often these justifications are packaged with the argument over homosexuality where Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 and Romans 1:26-27 are invoked.

The debates (and arguments) continue, often becoming highly emotive in both the Catholic and Anglican Church, and doesn't appear to being anywhere near a clear resolution, except through those denominations who have chosen, whether rightly or wrongly, to substantially homogenise, interpret, and occasionally, wholly ignore the Scriptural foundations.

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15y ago

There aren't many issues within apologetics that require as much sensitivity as this one. In a culture where opening the door for a woman can be seen as an act of misogyny, it's no surprise that male-only ordination strikes some as sexist on the Church's behalf.

It can't be denied that there are women who could be more moving orators than some priests and provide more consolation within the confessional. But the debate over ordination is not over who could be a better priest but over who could be a priest at all.

So, if a woman's abilities are not in question, what's keeping the Church from ordaining her? For one, it should be noted that Jesus did not ordain any women. He selected all of his apostles, and none were women.

Some say that he was bound by the cultural norms of his era to suppress the roles of women, but no one has been able to prove that this was his motive. Furthermore, this accuses Jesus of sexism and it paints an inaccurate portrait of Christ, who had no qualms about shattering the cultural norms regarding interaction with women (Matt. 9:20; Luke 7:37; John 4:27). The idea of priestesses was not unknown to him, since it was a common practice in religions of his time and culture, though not Judaism. (If Jesus had wanted women as priestesses, he would have had the ideal candidate in Mary. Here was a woman who could have spoken the words of consecration literally: "This is my body. This is my blood.")

There were other roles that Christ had in mind for women. For example, they played a key role in the spread of the Gospel, being the first to spread the news of the risen Christ. They were also allowed to pray and prophecy in church (1 Cor. 11:1-16), but they were not to assume the function of teaching in the Christian assembly (1Cor. 14:34-38; 1 Tim. 2:1-14), which was restricted to the clergy.

Two thousand years later, no one-including the pope-has the authority to change the designs of the Church that Christ instituted. Specifically, the Church is unable to change the substance of a sacrament. For example, a person cannot be baptized in wine, nor may a substance other than bread be used for the consecration at Mass. If invalid matter is used, then the sacrament does not take place. Likewise, since the priest acts in the person of Christ, the Church has no authority to confer the sacrament on those who are unable to represent the male Jesus Christ.

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13y ago

The reason for this is because the Orthodox Church follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, The Bible and the practices of the Holy Apostles. When Jesus chose people for His Ministry on earth, He called twelve male disciples to go and preach to the whole world. Then they chose another 70 male disciples, and so on for over 2,000 years. This is also in keeping with the Old Testament practice of choosing men to become priests of the Temple and rabbis of synagogues.

So from this we conclude that Christ has called certain men (but not all men) to become His priests. He could have chosen women, such as His own mother Mary, or Mary Magdalene, but did not. We are in no position to say that Christ was wrong in doing this, because Christ is God, and therefore He is without sin and makes no mistakes.

This does not in any way mean that women are inferior to men. On the contrary, women were given the same possibility of salvation as men for the first time in history, by Jesus Christ. Baptism in Christ now enables both males and females to be equally saved (Galatians 3:27-28). Christ also broke many of the social Jewish customs of that time, for example, by speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, which was not permitted for any Jew to do. So Christ elevated women to the same status as men, but maintained their different roles in society. In other words, women are seen as equal, but having different roles.

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10y ago

Because Jesus did not give the Church the authority to ordain women.

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14y ago

in some religions no it kind of matters in the church or religion, i want to become a minster to, in my religion or Church you can. Ask your pastor.

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13y ago

no

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Related questions

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.


In most religions --- women are not allowed to be priests -- What is the position in Sikhism?

In Sikhism, women are allowed to be priests. Sikhism promotes equality between everyone and it would be a bit hypocritical is Sikh women weren't allowed to be priests.


Are there women priests in the Russian orthodox church?

The Russian Orthodox Church does not ordain priests.


Which religions do not have women priests?

Jehovah's Witnesses do not have men or women priests. We have elders, but no elderettes. But all baptized Jehovah's Witnesses are ordained ministers.


Does the orthodox church let women be priests?

No!


Do Catholics and Orthodox have both men and women who become priests?

Neither allows female priests.


Does the pope approve a women Catholic priests?

No, women may not be ordained to the priesthood.


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.


Where in the Bible did Jesus say women cannot be priests?

in eragon


What did The Civil Constitution of the Clergy do?

Allow women to become priests


Who is a caring priest?

Roman Catholic AnswerAll priests should be caring priests.


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.