The weight of the magisterium

A third factor enters into the debate about ordination within the Roman Catholic Church.  In 1994, the saintly Pope John Paul II issued a very significant document entitled Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. He did not mince his words when he declared:

'the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women'

He went even further by declaring the following:

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.

In other words, Saint John Paul II declared that this matter was not up for discussion or dissent.  He said that ‘this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful’ and not just priests, bishops or theologians. This is a strong claim and created waves of opposition at the time and ever since. It was not a new teaching in so far as previous Popes had issues similar pronouncements. For example, in 1976, Pope Saint Paul VI signed off on Inter Insigniores – a document of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in which the Church did not consider itself free to ordain women. In a clarifying document entitled Responsum ad Propositum Dubium, Concerning the Teaching contained in ‘Ordinatio Sacerdotalis’ issued in 1995 and signed off by John Paul II the status of the teaching in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis was clarified further. It is worth quoting the text in full:

This teaching requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium (cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium 25, 2). Thus, in the present circumstances, the Roman Pontiff, exercising his proper office of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32), has handed on this same teaching by a formal declaration, explicitly stating what is to be held always, everywhere, and by all, as belonging to the deposit of the faith.

The last sentence leaves no room for wriggle – ‘to be held always, everywhere, and by all, as belonging to the deposit of the faith’.

To claim that a teaching belongs to the ‘deposit of faith’ is a serious one and to state that it must be held by all Roman Catholics (and by extension other churches with valid orders) is a mighty claim.  The full weight of magisterial authority was brought to bear on this question. In some instances, individual theologians and priests were, effectively, silenced.  The aim was to clarify, re-assert and close down any discussion on this matter.

The current Catechism of the Catholic Church also asserts traditional church teaching on this matter (CCC #1577):

"Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination." The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministries.

Pope Benedict XVI, who was Pope from 2005 to 2013 reaffirmed the traditional teaching on ordination.  Although Pope Francis did not, himself, address the question, it is clear that he held with tradition when, in May 2018, the Vatican issued ‘In Response to Certain Doubts Regarding the Definitive Character of the Doctrine of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis’.  The document issued with the approval of the Pope in the name of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirmed that:

Although Ordinatio sacerdotalis was not issued as an ex cathedra definition (on a par with the Nicene Creed or the Dogmatic Definitions of Papal Infallibility or the two Marian Doctines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption), its teaching is nonetheless said in the subsequent clarifying note to be taught ‘infallibly’ through what it referred to as ‘the ordinary and universal Magisterium’.

In this sense the doctrine belongs to ‘the deposit of faith’, and ‘denial of its definitive character is said to undermine confidence in the Church’s authoritative teaching role’.

It denied that this teaching could ever be overturned saying:

‘Spreading these doubts creates grave confusion among the faithful, not only with regard to the sacrament of Holy Orders as belonging to the divine constitution of the Church, but also with regards to the Ordinary Magisterium that can teach Catholic doctrine in an infallible manner.’

The matter is deemed to be (1) final, (2) unchangeable and (3) binding on all Catholics for (4) all time. The implication is clear: any Roman Catholic who dissents from this position is regarded as undermining the truth of the sacrament and the binding teaching of the Church. At this point it is worth noting that there appears to be widespread support among lay Catholic including even regular church-goers in Ireland for a change in practice.  While care is needed in interpreting various surveys as well as the results of the national consultation related to the Synod on Synodality conducted in Ireland, it does appear that Roman Catholics in Ireland do not share the views of the ‘ordinary magisterium’ on this matter. Mind you, that would not be the first time such a thing occurred here.

Since he became Pope last year, Leo XIV has not commented on the matter. However, it would be extraordinary to think that he would open any doors on this matter given that he was and is very much in continuity with Pope Francis and previous Popes both theologically and doctrinally.

I will explore this matter further next week by considering what some of the ‘dissidents’ have been saying.

Before concluding this particular blog, I should point out that the various teaching documents and magisterial pronouncements have been at pains to point out that women have a full part in the work of the Church and that the teaching on male ordination in no way implies that women are inferior.  The role and status of the  Blessed Virgin Mary is cited as an example of how one woman rose above the hierarchical church to become Queen of Apostles, bishops, priests and laity alike without, herself, having been ordained to preside at the Eucharist.

The argument for men only is not – in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church – a sociological or political statement or interpretation. It is, rather, a stated fact of Catholic tradition. It is premised on the belief not that the Church can choose to ordain or not but that it simply cannot ordain women; it lacks the authority to do so.