The second part (of two) of Fr. William P. Saunders explanation of why the Church does not and cannot ordain women to the priesthood was posted at the Arlington Catholic Herald today.[1] He rightly reminded us in the first part[2] that the Church's consistent tradition and the evidence of the Bible fully support this position, now he looks at the teaching authority of the Pope and the logic behind the decision.
One of the more consistent errors of this day and age, perhaps of all history, is to assume that the Pope can and does change doctrine. This is not so, he merely defends it. As new attacks have come, new defenses have been raised, new statements clarifying what the Church has always taught, but contradicting nothing, changing nothing. All that has changed, if anything, is that some ambiguity has been cleared. The Truth remains constant. So when Pope John Paul II said repeatedly that the Church not only has not and does not, but cannot ordain women, that should have been the end of it. It is not, because of this error I have just described. Those who dislike this teaching hold out for a pope who will allow it, failing to realize none will.
Beyond that though, the decision, the practice, makes intrinsic sense. How can a woman fully symbolize a man? If, as we are taught, the form of a sacrament is important, and if, as we are taught, Jesus was fully human, and if, as we are taught, His humanity is significant, and if, as we are taught, men and women are inherently different (though equally worthy and equally called to share in eternal life, and equal in other ways), then it stands to reason that His masculinity is necessarily part of the form of that sacrament. As Fr. Saunders notes, the argument that Jesus followed the customs of His time and culture does not hold water, He offended many by choosing not to do so. Nor would such an argument necessarily hold any weight on this issue, most cultures at the time had priestesses. It was a choice made by God, and as such, something we the Church ought to respect.
Lastly, and happily, Fr. Saunders touches on the idea of "rights." Currently, everything is debated in terms of people having the "right" to do something, or be something, or have something. This would not be bad, except that there is no understanding or acceptance of the responsibility that must necessarily come with freedom if it is to be and remain distinct from license. I am, however, attempting to stay on topic here. What is important to understand, and what many people do not, is that we do not have the "right" to do whatever we want. There are limits on morally acceptable behavior. These limits were not designed by us. Nor are they arbitrary. Rather, they were designed, by our Creator, for us. That is, we cannot achieve the full measure of health or happiness that we are capable of if we transgress them. It is equally important to understand that the priesthood is not just another career. It is a vocation, one that you are called to, not one that you choose. You choose to head God's call, you do not choose to be called. In this combined light, it starts to become clear that someone who would transgress the norms of the Church (as these women ordaining themselves in Canada have done), or who would deny the unchanging nature of Church doctrine, are not the sort of people you would believe to be truly called to the priesthood, a life of service and of teaching the doctrines they (at least in part) deny. Perhaps some of those who deny Church teaching are in fact called to renounce their error and teach, but you cannot blame the Church for requiring the renunciation of error come first. And in this case, such a renunciation would necessarily mean that the woman would accept our late Pope at his word.
[1] Saunders, Fr. William. "Women's Ordination (Part
2)" Straight Answers column, Arlington Catholic Herald (online).
2005-08-11 http://www.catholicherald.com/saunders/05ws/ws050811.htm
[2] Saunders, Fr. William. "Women's Ordination (Part 1)"
Straight Answers column, Arlington Catholic Herald (online). 2005-08-05
http://www.catholicherald.com/saunders/05ws/ws050804.htm