Female Pastors

[Brother Adam]

Anyone know of a good Catholic book on the issue of female pastors? This would be a for a baptist friend who feels called to be a pastor.

[Archbishop 10-K]

I don't know of any, but I don't think a Baptist would be so influenced by Catholic thought. After all, our idea of clergy is wayyyyyy different than theirs. She might think it's okay for Baptist women to be pastors. So, you might have to get a Baptist (or other Protestant) book concerning that.

[ironmonk]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Jul 26 2004, 12:17 AM'] Anyone know of a good Catholic book on the issue of female pastors? This would be a for a baptist friend who feels called to be a pastor. [/quote]
The bible...

Gen. 3:15; Luke 1:26-55; John 19:26; Rev. 12:1- Mary is God's greatest creation, was the closest person to Jesus, and yet Jesus did not choose her to become a priest.

Mark 16:9; Luke 7: 37-50; John 8:3-11 - Jesus allowed women to uniquely join in His mission, exalting them above cultural norms. His decision not to ordain women had nothing to do with culture. The Gospel writers are also clear that women participated in Jesus' ministry and, unlike men, never betrayed Jesus. Women have always been held with the highest regard in the Church (e.g., the Church's greatest saint and model of faith is a woman; the Church's constant teaching on the dignity of motherhood; the Church's understanding of humanity as being the Bride united to Christ, etc.).

Mark 14:17,20; Luke 22:14 - the language "the twelve" and "apostles" shows Jesus commissioned the Eucharistic priesthood by giving holy orders only to men.

Gen. 14:10; Heb. 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:15,17 - Jesus, the Son of God, is both priest and King after the priest-king Melchizedek. Jesus' priesthood embodies both Kingship and Sonship.

Gen. 22:9-13 - as foreshadowed, God chose our redemption to be secured by the sacrificial love that the Son gives to the Father.

Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19 - because the priest acts in persona Christi in the offering to the Father, the priest cannot be a woman.

Mark 3:13 - Jesus selected the apostles "as He desired," according to His will, and not according to the demands of His culture. Because Jesus acted according to His will which was perfectly united to that of the Father, one cannot criticize Jesus' selection of men to be His priests without criticizing God.

John 20:22 - Jesus only breathed on the male apostles, the first bishops, giving them the authority to forgive and retain sins. In fact, the male priesthood of Christianity was a distinction from the priestesses of paganism that existed during these times. A female priesthood would be a reversion to non-Christian practices. The sacred tradition of a male priesthood has existed uncompromised in the Church for 2,000 years.

1 Cor. 14:34-35 - Paul says a woman is not permitted to preach the word of God in the Church. It has always been the tradition of the Church for the priest or deacon alone (an ordained male) to read and preach the Gospel.

1 Tim. 2:12 - Paul also says that a woman is not permitted to hold teaching authority in the Church.

Rom. 16:1-2 - while many Protestants point to this verse denounce the Church's tradition of a male priesthood, deaconesses, like Phoebe, were helpers to the priests (for example, preparing women for naked baptism so as to prevent scandal). But these helpers were never ordained.

Luke 2:36-37 - prophetesses, like Anna, were women who consecrated themselves to religious life, but were not ordained.

--- [url="http://www.scripturecatholic.com/the_priesthood.html#priesthood-V"]http://www.scripturecatholic.com/the_pries...ml#priesthood-V[/url]

Also see:

[url="http://www.catholic.com/library/Women_and_the_Priesthood.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/library/Women_and_the_Priesthood.asp[/url]



God Bless,
ironmonk

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Jul 26 2004, 12:17 AM'] Anyone know of a good Catholic book on the issue of female pastors? This would be a for a baptist friend who feels called to be a pastor. [/quote]
Check with PhatCatholic and look there the stuff on womens ordination or the popes letters on the subject.

[phatcatholic]

Women and the Priesthood
Alice von Hildebrand and Peter Kreeft (Steubenville, OH: Franciscan University Press, 1994)

Women in the Priesthood
Manfred Hauke (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1988)

[phatcatholic]

also this, from a review by an amazon customer of [url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0881411469/qid=1090880635/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-4849662-1416618?v=glance&s=books"][b]"Women and the Priesthood" by Thomas Hopko[/b][/url][list]
[*]Other books of interest may include two by Manfred Hauke, "God or Goddess?" and "Women in the Priesthood?"; the latter being perhaps the most thorough treatment of the subject. "Deaconesses", by Martimort is very detailed as well. "Women and the Priesthood" by von Hildebrand and Kreeft is short but interesting. Louis Bouyer's "Women in the Church" is older, but not dated. It includes the excellent essay on the subject by C.S. Lewis, which is also found in Lewis' "God in the Dock". "The Church and Women: A Compendium" which includes von Balthasar, Ratzinger, Kasper, Hauke, Fessio, and many more. This book is great! Concerning feminism in general in relation to Christianity, "Speaking the Christian God", ed. Alvin Kimel, Jr. is a great place to start and end. Hopko has an excellent article in it. Also, This Is My Name Forever, also by Kimel, is fantastic. For a critique of radical feminism in the Roman Catholic Church, Donna Steichen's "Ungodly Rage" is both informative and predictive of what the real agenda is behind much of "Christian" feminism, not to discredit genuine feminism, which does not try to make all genders neuter.
[/list]

[phatcatholic]

moderator, can you move this to the apologetics board?

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='phatcatholic' date='Jul 26 2004, 06:21 PM'] Women and the Priesthood
Alice von Hildebrand and Peter Kreeft (Steubenville, OH: Franciscan University Press, 1994)

[/quote]
Excellent book.

[Guest JeffCR07]

Amen!