Word: vaticans
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Christ a Man. The decision came in the form of a papally endorsed 18-page decree issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.-In arguing for its view, the Vatican emphasized that Christ "was and remains a man." It placed even more emphasis on Christ's decision not to call any woman, not even the Virgin Mary, as an apostle, and on the church's "unbroken tradition" of male priests ever since. Declaring that priests must have a "natural resemblance" to Christ, it said that with a woman celebrating the Mass "it would...
Though the document cited Scripture, it relied more heavily on tradition, perhaps because the Vatican's own Biblical Commission concluded last spring that nothing in the Bible specifically forbids women priests. The new decree acknowledged that female ordination represented "an ecumenical problem" that would "perhaps cause pain." It insisted that its rejection of women as priests would "help in deepening understanding of the respective roles of men and of women." There was no question of equality involved, it said, because "priesthood does not form part of the rights of the individual" but derives from "the mystery of Christ...
...decision was indeed a blow to Catholic ecumenists. Said one top member of the Vatican's Secretariat for Christian Unity: "It was a pity that the congregation did not see fit to consult us. In future discussions with Anglicans, a lot will depend upon the nature of the arguments used. It will certainly hinder mutual recognition of ministers." Women activists were even more upset. Said...
Sister Margaret Ellen Traxler of the National Coalition of American Nuns: "These men in the Vatican, operating out of a wholly male environment, are totally out of communication with the world of reality. While I forgive them, I am dismayed...
...Rome, criticized the reasoning that priests must be men because Christ chose only male apostles. If so, he said, "the priesthood should be open only to fishermen and Jews." The shortage of missionary priests, according to American Moral Theologian Francis X. Murphy, is one element that may eventually change Vatican thinking. Says he: "Women will be ordained when there is necessity for it, as there is in the Third World. You can't have the church without the Eucharist...