Can Men Be Ordained?
Jan. 21st, 2004 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosThis essay on a vexing subject long an issue in the Church, is provided by leading feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether.
Can Men Be Ordained
By Rosemary R. Ruether
Professor of Feminist Theology at the Graduate
Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif.
A synod of bishops from the four corners of the
earth and a full panoply of Mother Superiors,
recently converged on the Holy City of Rome to
consider the vexed question of the ordination of
men.
The Holy See had received many tearful appeals from
the cruder sex claiming to have a call to the
priesthood directly from God Herself. But Her
Holiness had firmly replied to these appeals that
the call must have been a wrong number. Our Holy
Mother in heaven would never call to the ministry
those so obviously disqualified by reason of gender.
But the men had refused to take no for an answer.
Throwing down their picks and shovels, they had
declared they would do no more maintenance work for
the Church until there was equality of rites. They
sent petitions to the Holy See filled with arguments
for the ordination of men, both theological and
practical. Although, of course, they could cite no
example from Jesus Himself, the incarnation of Holy
Wisdom, since He had most evidently ordained no men
to the priesthood (or women either).
Finally Her Holiness decided to gather the Holy
Mothers of the Church together, with a number of the
best qualified peritae, who had spent a lifetime
studying the odd characteristics of the male gender,
from a safe distance, of course. They hoped to come
up with a definitive answer, once and for all, to
the vexed question of the ordination of men.
After long and careful study in which the Holy
Mothers had enjoyed many a good laugh on the subject
of men and their foibles, a final decree was drawn
up defining the reasons why men could not be
ordained. The decree as proclaimed by her Holiness
and the Holy Others departed for their respective
seats of Wisdom, feeling very pleased with
themselves. The decree Ad Hominem stated to their
satisfaction, and hopefully for all time, the
weighty reasons for their gut prejudice.
The first part of the decree deduced a good many
reasons from men's biological and psychological
natures that disqualified them from the priesthood.
It was said, first of all, the men were too violent
and emotional to be priests. Anyone who has watched
groups of men at football matches, ice hockey or
cricket games, not to mention political conventions,
has seen their volatile tendencies and penchant for
solving conflicts with fisticuffs. To ordain such
creatures would be to risk disgraceful brawls at the
altar. The male proneness to violence surely
disqualifies them from representing the One who
incarnates graciousness and peace.
The cruder and heavier physical frame of the male
clearly marks him out for the physical tasks of
society, digging ditches, mending roofs and the
like. The finer, more spiritual tasks of society are
intended by our Mother in Heaven for those more
refined spirits and bodies, women. This separation
of roles is clearly evident in scripture where the
males are said to have been created from dirt, while
women were created from human flesh. Moreover, women
were created last, clearly marking them out as the
crown of creation. It was even suggested by one
Mother Superior that Adam was rough draft, Eve being
the more refined and complete version of human
nature. The Mothers had a good many laughs on that
one, and some decided to make it into a bumper
sticker.
It was also felt that men were needed for military
defense. A man's place is in the Army, declared one
of the peritae, and all the Holy Mothers nodded in
agreement. Beside, men would look silly in red
dresses and lace. The sacred garb is clearly
intended for women.
Profound matters of a theological nature were also
discussed. One perita has prepared a long paper
proving from the symbolic order that men could not
be ordained. The division of humanity into male and
female is a profound mystery that symbolizes the
relationship of the transcendent and the immanent,
the spiritual and the material. Women represent the
spiritual realm, men the material. The material must
be ruled by the spiritual, just as Holy Wisdom
presides over the physical cosmos as her household.
Moreover, since the Church is female, those who
represent her clearly should be female as well.
There should be a physical resemblance between the
priest and the church as Holy Mother. Obviously this
means that all priests should be mature women. The
Church is also said to be the Bride of Christ and
brides are female. The priest, as representative of
the Church in relation to Christ, represents
Christ's bride. Therefore only women can be priests.
Finally, it was noted that most of the people who
come to church are women. Men tend to stand outside
the doors of the church, gossiping or sneaking off
to sports matches. To have a man at the altar might
distract a woman from her prayers. It was solemnly
noted that men are sexually attractive to some
women. For women to have to sit listening to men
preach and watch them stomping about the sanctuary
might lead their thought to descend from he higher
to the lower realm.
It was hoped that with so many clear reasons, both
from the theological and the practical realm against
the ordination of men, this would settle the matter.
Male impertinence would be silenced and they would
sink back into their proper sphere.
Roma locuta, causa finita.
This certainly made my morning!
Can Men Be Ordained
By Rosemary R. Ruether
Professor of Feminist Theology at the Graduate
Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif.
A synod of bishops from the four corners of the
earth and a full panoply of Mother Superiors,
recently converged on the Holy City of Rome to
consider the vexed question of the ordination of
men.
The Holy See had received many tearful appeals from
the cruder sex claiming to have a call to the
priesthood directly from God Herself. But Her
Holiness had firmly replied to these appeals that
the call must have been a wrong number. Our Holy
Mother in heaven would never call to the ministry
those so obviously disqualified by reason of gender.
But the men had refused to take no for an answer.
Throwing down their picks and shovels, they had
declared they would do no more maintenance work for
the Church until there was equality of rites. They
sent petitions to the Holy See filled with arguments
for the ordination of men, both theological and
practical. Although, of course, they could cite no
example from Jesus Himself, the incarnation of Holy
Wisdom, since He had most evidently ordained no men
to the priesthood (or women either).
Finally Her Holiness decided to gather the Holy
Mothers of the Church together, with a number of the
best qualified peritae, who had spent a lifetime
studying the odd characteristics of the male gender,
from a safe distance, of course. They hoped to come
up with a definitive answer, once and for all, to
the vexed question of the ordination of men.
After long and careful study in which the Holy
Mothers had enjoyed many a good laugh on the subject
of men and their foibles, a final decree was drawn
up defining the reasons why men could not be
ordained. The decree as proclaimed by her Holiness
and the Holy Others departed for their respective
seats of Wisdom, feeling very pleased with
themselves. The decree Ad Hominem stated to their
satisfaction, and hopefully for all time, the
weighty reasons for their gut prejudice.
The first part of the decree deduced a good many
reasons from men's biological and psychological
natures that disqualified them from the priesthood.
It was said, first of all, the men were too violent
and emotional to be priests. Anyone who has watched
groups of men at football matches, ice hockey or
cricket games, not to mention political conventions,
has seen their volatile tendencies and penchant for
solving conflicts with fisticuffs. To ordain such
creatures would be to risk disgraceful brawls at the
altar. The male proneness to violence surely
disqualifies them from representing the One who
incarnates graciousness and peace.
The cruder and heavier physical frame of the male
clearly marks him out for the physical tasks of
society, digging ditches, mending roofs and the
like. The finer, more spiritual tasks of society are
intended by our Mother in Heaven for those more
refined spirits and bodies, women. This separation
of roles is clearly evident in scripture where the
males are said to have been created from dirt, while
women were created from human flesh. Moreover, women
were created last, clearly marking them out as the
crown of creation. It was even suggested by one
Mother Superior that Adam was rough draft, Eve being
the more refined and complete version of human
nature. The Mothers had a good many laughs on that
one, and some decided to make it into a bumper
sticker.
It was also felt that men were needed for military
defense. A man's place is in the Army, declared one
of the peritae, and all the Holy Mothers nodded in
agreement. Beside, men would look silly in red
dresses and lace. The sacred garb is clearly
intended for women.
Profound matters of a theological nature were also
discussed. One perita has prepared a long paper
proving from the symbolic order that men could not
be ordained. The division of humanity into male and
female is a profound mystery that symbolizes the
relationship of the transcendent and the immanent,
the spiritual and the material. Women represent the
spiritual realm, men the material. The material must
be ruled by the spiritual, just as Holy Wisdom
presides over the physical cosmos as her household.
Moreover, since the Church is female, those who
represent her clearly should be female as well.
There should be a physical resemblance between the
priest and the church as Holy Mother. Obviously this
means that all priests should be mature women. The
Church is also said to be the Bride of Christ and
brides are female. The priest, as representative of
the Church in relation to Christ, represents
Christ's bride. Therefore only women can be priests.
Finally, it was noted that most of the people who
come to church are women. Men tend to stand outside
the doors of the church, gossiping or sneaking off
to sports matches. To have a man at the altar might
distract a woman from her prayers. It was solemnly
noted that men are sexually attractive to some
women. For women to have to sit listening to men
preach and watch them stomping about the sanctuary
might lead their thought to descend from he higher
to the lower realm.
It was hoped that with so many clear reasons, both
from the theological and the practical realm against
the ordination of men, this would settle the matter.
Male impertinence would be silenced and they would
sink back into their proper sphere.
Roma locuta, causa finita.
This certainly made my morning!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Oh dear.
Date: 2004-01-21 10:14 am (UTC)Re: Oh dear.
Date: 2004-01-21 10:18 am (UTC)Re: Oh dear.
Date: 2004-01-21 10:21 am (UTC)Or whatever the proper terms for male and female marsupials are.
Re: Oh dear.
Date: 2004-01-21 10:29 am (UTC)Please know that I *truly* do not mean to make light of your work. In fact, I'm mightily impressed by the type of world-building you're doing.
Re: Oh dear.
Date: 2004-01-21 10:33 am (UTC)We're provisionally referring to the series as "Sahûl", though actually that's the name of the continent. We've got working titles for three of the four planned books, but no actual series title yet.
Wombat World works just as well as anything else for now. ;)