The case for women's ordination #1

 

First things first.  When we discuss any matter of doctrinal, moral or ecclesiastical importance we ought to seek only one thing – the Will of God. His will is above any individual including the successor of Saint Peter.  Rarely, is papal infallibility invoked in the full sense of the word (‘ex cathedra’ or ‘from the Chair’). 

When it comes to the vexed question of the ministry of women we ought to approach this in a spirit of gentleness and humility. We do well to submit to the wisdom of those who have gone before us as well as those who have been given the gift of overseeing the Church that Christ founded. At the same time, we do well to question and to clarify even in areas that seem closed or settled. Less is settled in theological matters than we sometimes assume. What is settled is that God sent his only Son into the world to save us all and that the Church He founded is solidly supported by the Nicene Creed, the threefold ministries of deacon, priest and bishop as well as the sacraments including, especially, baptism and the Eucharist. 

As societies undergo rapid change, the Christian churches (and not just the Roman Catholic church) seem to be out of step in the eyes of many especially in the Western world. People regard with sceptism an institution that is governed almost entirely by men with considerable spiritual authority and influence.  Women account for over 50% of active membership of the Church; yet there were no signs of women at the meeting of cardinals that elected our recent Pope.  Men and women are gifted in so many ways.  Neglecting the gifts of one or other robs the Church of some degree of wisdom, intelligence and oversight.

The question of women’s ordination reflects a social reality that people do not accept fixed roles or inequalities in access to positions of authority and spiritual leadership. Moreover, the many gifts that women bring to ministry seem to be under-valued and under-utilised.  The framing of theology, morality and church governance seems very masculine.  In short, women are invisible except in relation to the model role of women who are submissive and out of sight when it comes to leadership, priesthood and authoritative declarations.  This reality or impression creates huge challenges for the credibility of the Church’s mission because many women feel excluded, not listened to and marginalised.

The starting point for a discussion on the possible ordination of women is baptism.  At baptism, male and female are united with Christ.  Saint Paul writes to the church in Galatia (3:28):

‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’

Through baptism all of us regardless of age, sex or other attributes are equal sharers in Christ’s priesthood, kingship and prophetic mission.  As matters stand the Church recognises the validity of a baptism undertaken by a lay person, male or female – in extreme and possibly life-saving circumstances – as valid.  Let there be no doubt about the validity of women’s ministry – in principle – in the case of baptism.

It is not in the least surprising – according to supporters of women’s ordination – that men only feature as presbyters or as named apostles in the New Testament.  Culturally, society in most of the Judean, Roman and Greek worlds had no concept of women playing a leading role in the worship, politics and governance of communities or societies.  This assumption of male leadership has natural and God given underpins the writings of the Old and New Testaments along with the emerging traditions of the Catholic church in the first and second millennia. The disruption in social norms arising from advancements in the role and status of women principally in the 20^th Century presents a new challenge to the Church and one that it is still grappling with (note that many authors would refer, here, to ‘she’ when referencing the Church using the classic Bride-Bridegroom analogy).

The priest-theologican, John Wijngaards writes:

Now the Last Supper, arranged for Jesus’ disciples, will have excluded outsiders. But we know it was not just the twelve who were there. For one thing, Barsabbas and Matthias, the two candidates who stood for the election of Judas Iscariot’s successor, must have been present to fulfil the requirements stipulated by Peter (Acts 1:21-22). Moreover, the two disciples of Emmaus, Cleophas and companion, recognised Jesus when he re-enacted the eucharist in their home (Lk 24:12-35). And, interestingly, Cleophas’s companion is most likely to have been his wife. She was one of the disciples who stood under his cross (Jn 19:25). How could they have recognised the eucharist if they had not been present at the Last Supper?

He goes on to write:

Passover meals had to be celebrated with the whole family, and a neighbour’s family if need be, including wives, daughters, grandmothers (Ex 12,1-11). So women must have been there. Would Jesus have forgotten his mother at this celebration – he who was so concerned about her that hanging on the cross he commended her to the Apostle John (Jn 19:26-27)?  And what about the other female disciples who were undoubtedly in Jerusalem at the time of the Last Supper? 

While I find Wijngaard’s argument speculative rather than definitive it is convincing to the extent that there is no scriptural evidence that women were not at the Last Supper Passover meal and it seems to me plausible that women were present given the nature of the meal and the role that women played throughout the ministry of Jesus from beginning to end.  It is important to remember that the distinction between apostles and disciples, between what we know, today, as ordained and not-ordained, is something that emerged gradually over time.  We are reading back into the New Testament stories our theological understandings today.  In principle, all disciples – men and women – are potentially ministers of the Eucharist at least in regards to taking, eating and sharing the consecrated elements (as is the case today when women are commissioned as Extra-Ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic church).