Here are the most usual reasons given for having women priests in the Catholic Church:
1. It will help the priest shortage: There is no proof that having women priests will help the priest shortage. It did not help the priest shortage in the Episcopal Church when they opened the priesthood to women and in fact, began to cause a "PEOPLE SHORTAGE" as this issue divided the church in half.
2. It's not fair that men are allowed to be priests and women are not: Before we complain too loudly about this one, we should remember that God assigns different tasks to different genders. For instance, the wonderful thrill of being an integral part of God's Creation of life (having it take place in our very own bodies), and a closeness to the baby only a woman can have, will never be enjoyed by any man. Why? Because God has designed that only women will be allowed to become mothers. So if we complain about the church (God's spokesman) only allowing men to be priests, we must first approach God and ask why HE is so unfair to only allow women to become mothers!
3. Jesus would have allowed women priests if the culture had allowed it: In looking at the life of Jesus, no one can say that He ever bent to the will of society! He healed people on the Sabath, he took for His Apostles, people of dubious character and He made a rough, cussing fisherman the head of His New Church. Since there was already a precedent for a woman priesthood, allowing women in the priesthood would have been less socially unacceptable than some of the other things that Jesus did. Never-the-less, in His New Kingdom of God on earth, He did not designate any women as priests.
4. Some women are called to the priesthood and can only serve God as a priest: This is directly contrary to the whole idea of being a Christian. When we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we do not know what God has planned for us and if we put limitations on just how we will serve Jesus, then we are not really ready to make the total commitment of being a Christian in the true sense. Not having made this commitment, there is no way we would be able to serve well as a priest.
5. It doesn't say women should be priests in the Bible but that's because of the customs of the Apostolic times: Sacred Scripture is not affected by the culture which produced it - that's why it's considered Sacred Scripture. It is written by God through the pen of designated humans. There is plenty in Sacred Scripture (for example, the Real Presence in John 6) which is so difficult to understand or accept that people today reject it.
6. The Catholic church is being oppressive to (or disrespecting) women by not allowing them to be priests: Considering that Jesus chose a woman to be the doorway to His Entrance into this world and that this woman has been raised up to the highest honor any human being has ever held in the Catholic church, no one can say the church is disrespectful of women. Additionally, if a woman follows the guidelines of the church to not misuse the gift of sex outside of marriage and to not allow her baby in the womb to be killed, she will be, not only much less prone to the mental illness and depression so prevalent in our society today, but also, according to some research, might actually live a longer and more healthy life. Additionally, having many children, which has been suggested by the Catholic church for centuries, has recently been proven to have a great health value physically for the woman: new synapses are created in the brain during pregnancy and also, the ovaries rest from ovulation. Have you ever noticed that contrary to what the media tells us, the mothers of many children tend to be healthy and have good longevity?
God planned His Church perfectly. The more we can follow His Divine Providence (God's Perfect Plan), the better our lives will go and God WILL use us in ministry - trust me in this - I've been there and am getting the teashirt! :)
Sue Widemark
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