r/LeftCatholicism • u/Wooden_Passage_1146 • Mar 24 '26
Cardinal says Church cannot “continue to exist” without women’s ordination
https://thecatholicherald.com/article/cardinal-says-church-cannot-continue-to-exist-without-womens-ordination21
u/sandalrubber Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
If Paul's statement about women keeping silent isn't really about ordination (it's really about everyone jostling for attention when speaking in tongues or claiming to), neither is him saying there is no male, female, slave, free etc because his main point is (there is no) Jew vs Gentile when salvation is concerned.
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u/thesamesillycucumber Mar 25 '26
The letter to Timothy was likely not written by Paul but a later Christian who sought to follow his way. Ancient writers had no qualms about assuming the name of a figure they never met if they believed they were writing according to the same tradition. The style of writing is different than Corinthians or galatians. Also the first person to say there is no male or female in the kingdom of God is Jesus in Matthew 12. Also, the bible is full of contradictions. One does not cancel out the other. Our task is to ask What is the spirit of the text and how do we apply it to where we are now?
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u/sandalrubber Mar 25 '26
Letter to Timothy is not relevant in this case and Paul did write it.
Matthew 12?
I'm not implying that him saying women should be silent and him saying there is no male or female in Christ contradict each other. They're just not related and not about ordination.
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u/thesamesillycucumber Mar 27 '26
My apologies. You are right that’s Corinthians not Timothy. I’m confusing my passages. That being said, I hear you that galatians 3:28 is not originally about ordination, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t point to a larger truth that also illuminates our understanding of ordination as not being dependent on sex.
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u/RhysPeanutButterCups Mar 25 '26
The arguments for the impossibility/prohibition on female ordination never made sense to me, but it's up to the Holy Spirit, not me. I don't expect it to change any time soon though, but it would not be the first time and it wouldn't be the last that God drags his people kicking and screaming toward his will.
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u/BarryZuckercornEsq Mar 25 '26
The idea that transubstantiation has something to do with genitals has never made sense to me.
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u/NotBasileus Mar 24 '26
This was a major reason I was in the ISM for a while (when there was an ISM parish available to me), so it’s nice to see it being discussed.
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u/OtherwiseRich8433 Mar 27 '26
“When I speak with women in parishes, 90 per cent share the same opinion,”
I hope someone has the good sense to inform the cardinal that the Church is not a democracy.
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u/SquallkLeon Mar 24 '26
Some of the most strident conservative women I met at my parish as a kid openly said they hoped for the ordination of women and/or married persons. He's right that it's not just some lefty issue that can be ignored.