c. 1998 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ In two separate statements released by two different committees, the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops this past week sought to thread the narrow needle of promoting an increased role for women in the church while remaining loyal to the Vatican’s insistence that a key church position _ the ordained priesthood _ remain off-limits.
It is a difficult line to walk when the distinction insisted upon by the Vatican in its understanding of the uniqueness of the priesthood is lost in a democratic culture with an equally strong tradition of pushing for more _ and more absolute _ equality.”This committee,”said the paper released this week by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Women in Society and the Church,”sees the work of the many women who serve in church ministry positions as a movement inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirit.”We are committed to promoting and expanding that reality as shaped by our tradition and permitted by church law,”it added.
But the other statement _ issued by the NCCB’s Committee on Doctrine _ spelled out the limitations of tradition and church law.”No one has right by baptism to ordination, for this sacrament is not essential for any person in his response to the call to holiness,”the doctrine committee said, adding:”Ordination to the ministerial priesthood … is a distinct gift. It is not essential for salvation, and is given not for one’s own salvation but for the service of God and of the church.” Sometimes the line gets pushed _ and held, as happened Thursday (Oct. 15) in Rochester, N.Y..
There, Mary Ramerman, a theologian and associate pastor at Corpus Christi Church, was removed from her post after the widespread publicity given the prominent _ and, it is argued, illicit _ role she has played in the dissident congregation’s celebration of the Eucharist, including the priestly elevation of the communion chalice and the recitation of prayers reserved for the celebrating priest.
Ramerman has exercised her semi-priestly role at Corpus Christi for a dozen years under the direction of the Rev. James Callen. Callen himself was ousted from the church last month by Bishop Matthew Clark for a host of actions that Vatican officials said crossed the permissible line, including Ramerman’s role.
Some of the difficulty confronted by the bishops in the paradoxical _ some would say, contradictory _ effort to both increase and limit the role of women can be seen in the two committees’ use of biblical material.”Scripture testifies to the key roles that women have played in Christian history,”the Committee on Women wrote.”Mary assented to becoming the mother of God; the woman at the well became the first missionary to the Samaritans; and women brought the news of the resurrection to men.”For 2,000 years,”the committee adds,”women have graced church history with their holiness, courage, intellectual gifts, and works of justice and mercy.” But when the doctrine committee scrutinizes Scripture, it finds that the Bible”attests to the fact that Jesus chose only men as members of the Twelve, and that this example was followed in the apostolic (early church) community.”And, in another place, they add:”Ordination to the ministerial priesthood is reserved to men because the church is bound to follow the example of the Lord, who chose only men as his apostles.” Without addressing the question of women’s ordination in a direct way, the Committee on Women recognizes the line drawn by the Vatican but wants to enlarge the legitimate role of women as much as possible _ implicitly pushing up against the Vatican restrictions without crossing over. “Growing numbers of educated, talented and experienced women are changing the face of the church and society,”the Committee on Women said, noting that”Positions that were once closed to women, such as chancellor and tribunal judge, are now open ….””In the past, we have encouraged church leaders to identify church roles, especially leadership roles, that are open to women,”the committee said.”We need now to shift our thinking. We assume that all roles in the church are open to women, unless stated otherwise by canon law.”The roles are open; we need to continue to identify, invite and educate the women who can fill them,”the committee said.
Yet even as women step forward to fill such roles, it is unlikely to quell the call for women’s ordination and, as they perform those leadership tasks with skill, more likely to undermine the Vatican’s insistence that its teaching denying women the priesthood will”be held definitively by all the faithful.”
DEA END ANDERSON
