Kapłaństwo mężczyzn jako aspekt sakramentalności Kościoła
PRIESTHOOD OF MEN AS AN ASPECT OF THE SACRAMENTALITY OF THE CHURCH

Summary/Abstract: The women ordination to the priesthood is a question which provokes much debate in our modern world. The basis for the Church’s teaching on ordination is found in the New Testament as well as in the writings of the Church Fathers. In 1994 Pope John Paul II formally declared that the Church does not have the power to ordain women. And in 1995 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in conjunction with the pope, ruled that this teaching “requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium” (Response of Oct. 25, 1995). The Church understands the Sacraments to operate by reason of their symbolism. And what they "operate" is a supernatural reality beyond the natural order. God chose twelve men to symbolize Christ as High Priest (vis-a-vis both God and the Church) as Head of the Body and as Groom to the Bride. Women cannot symbolize the Head (the Man Jesus Christ) to the Body, nor the Groom (the same Man Jesus Christ) to the Bride (the Church). It is not by the natural qualifications of any human being, male or female, as such that any supernatural effects of priesthood take place. That is why it is not by the natural qualifications of a woman functioning in the role of a priest that there would by any supernatural effects. That is why Christ chose only men to attend the Last Supper where He established the Eucharist and Priesthood. The Church does not see itself competent to ordain women. There would be no supernatural effects if she did make those changes since it is not by the functioning of natural or attained talents or human intentions, but by the divine chosen symbolism that divine mysteries are mediated in the Church. Thus it is not a put down or injustice of women to discriminate on the basis of supernatural symbolism received by the Church from God Himself. The sacramental awareness of the priesthood also corrects the political understanding of Church leadership as primarily a position of power. It is, rather, a position of authority: kingship, priesthood (the sanctifying role of offering the sacrifice) and prophecy (teaching with God's authority God's Mind on things), all as service to the flock, not as a political power in society. The minister is not chosen solely on the basis of a community's evaluation of his talents and functions towards their needs.

• Details
• Contents