Women's ordination?

The world has changed dramatically since I was born in the middle of the last century. Rapid shifts in the roles of men and women – together with major improvements in living standards, education, and workforce participation, especially for women – have reshaped society in profound ways. Assumptions that once supported fixed or subordinate roles for women in patriarchal cultures have gradually given way to greater equality, at least in the more economically prosperous parts of the world.

Before the First World War, women had little or no role in politics or public decision‑making in most societies. The husband was assumed to be the “head of the household.” As recently as the 1970s in Ireland, married men were automatically considered the legal owners of the family home and held authority over financial and other matters. Married women were barred from employment in many sectors. The sexual revolution of the 1960s – closely linked to the arrival of the contraceptive pill – had dramatic effects on society and on women’s roles, and these changes eventually reached Ireland as well.

Much progress has been made, though we still have some distance to travel in achieving full social and economic equality. At the same time, new and troubling ideologies have emerged – or re-emerged –  including those associated with the so‑called “manosphere.” We are also painfully aware of the widespread reality of domestic and gender‑based violence, most often perpetrated against women.

The churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, have not been immune to these cultural shifts. Questions about the role of women – especially in relation to ordained ministry – have come to the fore especially in Europe and North America. Some have walked away from the Church, convinced that it remains hopelessly patriarchal or even misogynistic. In many churches of the Reformation, debates about women’s ordination began in the mid‑twentieth century. The first woman was ordained to the priesthood in the Church of Ireland in 1990, though not without controversy. Even, today, in the Church of England the question of ordination of women to the priesthood and order of bishops is controversial in places. Some Anglicans have been walked away to join the Roman Catholic church mainly on this matter.

Issues of gender, sexuality, family life, reproduction, and human identity remain “hot‑button” topics for many Christians. They matter deeply because we are embodied, relational, and complex human beings.

In future blogs, I will explore the arguments for and against the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church. I will outline the Church’s reasons for its current teaching, consider the case made by those who argue for change, and then offer my own tentative conclusion. These questions have significant implications for how we understand the Eucharist and the roles of men and women in the ministry of the Church.

Picture:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vijftig_misdienaars_in_2004_bij_50-jarig_bestaan_Sint_Martinuskerk,_Gennep.jpg