Why doesn't the Catholic Church allow women priests?

Answer 1

Priest are suppose to be in the image of Jesus.

Roman Catholic AnswerThe Church does not ordain women because It can't. Only men can be priests. This is something that the Church has received from God, and so has no authority to change.

Answer 2

They can and are. Not all religious organizations do ordain women, but on the other hand, there are numerous houses of worship that gladly do ordain them and place them in a position of head pastor.

Answer 3

Priests are baptized who received the sacrament of holy orders to the priesthood (other levels of holy orders include deacon which is below priest and bishop whihc is above). Once a baptized man receives the sacrament, he gains the mystical power to transubstantiate bread and wine into the body and blood of christ and to forgive sins on behalf of God.

Catholic church teaches that the sacrament doesn't work on women. So a woman who got "ordained" wouldn't gain the mystical powers that baptized men do.

Thus, it is because holy orders do not work on women that women cannot be priests in the Roman Catholic church.

Answer 4

Most Christian denominations who do not accept or allow women to be ordained to the priesthood cite Biblical reasons. There is no mention or evidence of female priesthood in The Bible, and when the Bible does specify who should be ordained, it always implies a man. (for example, 1 Timothy chapter 3 states that Bishops and Deacons must be "the husband of one wife")

Answer

The Catholic Church is a male dominated religious organization. It follows a strict male hierarchy that has ordained there will never be female priests. It adheres to a bible written by men that only includes scriptures authored by men although many other gospels were available at the time that the gospels were chosen for inclusion, notably the Gospel of Mary. It has worked to keep women in a subservient position within the church since the second or third century of the common era although women were instrumental in helping Jesus to spread his message.

There are Christian denominations that have accepted females in leadership roles and there are many churches with female pastors. The Catholic Church is simply not so oriented.

Answer 5

Discrimination is often viewed negatively, but it is something that is also good and important (Depending on what the subject is of course). Discrimination is

• To make a clear distinction; distinguish: discriminate among the options available.
• To make sensible decisions; judge wisely.

Some good discrimination includes:

• Not allowing boys into the girls' washroom.
• Not allowing a lazy student a passing grade.
• Allowing an amateur skier to enter the Olympics.
• etc.

It should be made clear that women are equal to men, but their roles in society and humanity differ. Men have the role of father, transmitter of life, provider, and protector; while women have the role of mother, nurturer, making present things even better. We can see the roles in how our bodies were made: men are made to produce sperm, to transmit; while women receive this sperm and nurture the conceived child.

The ordained priesthood is a matter of transmitting life. He transmits the grace of God, he pours it upon the people.

Also, Jesus was discriminatory. He chose only men to be his apostles, and the priests which preceded them, the Jewish priests were all men.

The priesthood is a gift and not a right that everyone should have. It isn't unfair to give one gift to one person, and give another gift to another person. It is just like how men don't have to right to be women.

Answer 6

Because the Catholic Church was founded by Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, and is guided by the Holy Spirit until the end of the world. It is His Church and we cannot invent doctrine, only maintain and teach what He has given us. Our Blessed Lord only established His priesthood for men. This is rooted in the natural complementary of man and woman. The Church is the Bride of Christ, as such, His priests, who stand in for Him, are the spouses of their individual Churches. This is like asking why men can't be pregnant - same answer: this is the way that God created us, and this is the way He created His Church and His priesthood.

Answer 7

Some of the Pauline Letters (the letters of the Apostle Paul, included in the Bible) discouraged or disallowed the ordination of women, or allowing women to have authority in the church.