Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Priestesses...

...are briefly in the news again. Phone call from Premier Radio saying the Church had just issued a new statement saying that anyone taking part in such an ordination would be excommunicated...could I comment? I did so, as part of a discussion with a (?former? not sure if she has left her order or not) nun who is warmly, if somewhat incoherently, in favour of priestesses and said that she knew women who definitely felt they ought to be ordained. This last seems to me to miss the point entirely.

What is interesting is that all the ancient pagan religions seem to have had priestesses. And there were also certainly plenty of women around in that first band of Christians, with women the first to get the news of the Resurrection etc. So the Lord certainly wasn't hidebound by the conventions of His day in choosing only men, as the standard prattle has it - on the contrary. He knew what he was about. A male priesthood all fits in with the Bridegroom/Bride understanding of things, Christ and His Church...

I have to say that, out among younger Catholics, the whole thing doesn't really seem to be an issue anyway: the general sense appears to be that it's an issue that's settled.

No comments: