A Critical Survey of the History and Development of the Present Ban on the Ordination of Women in the Roman Catholic Church
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A CRITICAL SURVEY OF THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESENT BAN ON THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Joanna Christian Waller, B.A. DIRECTOR OF STUDIES: Dr. Jenny Read-Heimerdinger SECOND SUPERVISOR: Prof. Janet Burton STATEMENT: This research was undertaken under the auspices of the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David and was submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of a Degree of PhD by Research in the Faculty of Theology of the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. March 2015 A critical survey of the history and development of the present ban on the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church The Roman Catholic Church maintains that women cannot be ordained to the ministerial priesthood because of its unbroken tradition that only men can be priests, based on the example of Jesus, who chose only men to be ‘Apostles’. Vatican documents published during the late twentieth century use the writings of several mediaeval theologians and canonists to support this ruling. The topic is of present-day importance for understanding the origins of the exclusion of women from the priesthood given the current shortage of priests in the Catholic Church. This thesis looks first at the present ruling in the Vatican documents, and then considers the mediaeval writings, canon law and theology, from scholars such as Gratian, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure and Duns Scotus, looking especially at their Commentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Subsequent chapters analyse in more detail the arguments from scripture and biology, drawing together strands of thought in the Middle Ages on these subjects, including judgements about women’s intellectual and emotional capacity, and the contemporary anthropological and Christological understanding of the Incarnation. Language and translation are also significant but often neglected factors in the discussion, which the thesis studies by highlighting the recovery of Greek writings in medicine and philosophy, along with choice of terminology and use of metaphor, in the mediaeval period and in modern Church documents. By this approach, a critical survey is made of the most salient aspects of the debate. This thesis seeks to dissect systematically the origins of the prohibition, based on attitudes towards women which, while not always intentionally misogynistic, were nonetheless rooted in a world view that, the thesis argues, is no longer relevant today. Contents Abbreviations iv Acknowledgements v 1. Introduction 1 1.a Misogyny and Prejudice – Then and Now 2 1.b Organisation of the Thesis 4 1.b.i Terminology and Language 4 1.b.ii Canon Law 5 1.b.iii Biology and Anthropology 6 1.b.iv Scripture 10 1.b.v Scholastic Theology 11 1.c Current Church Teaching 14 1.d Conclusion 16 2. Review of the current position 19 2.a Introduction 19 2.b The Vatican’s Position in the Late Twentieth Century 20 2.b.i Pontifical Biblical Commission Report (1976) 21 2.b.ii Inter Insigniores (1976) 22 2.b.iii Commentary on Inter Insigniores (1976) 27 2.b.iv Mulieris Dignitatem (1988) 34 2.b.v Christifideles Laici 36 2.b.vi Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 37 2.c Responses to the Vatican Position within the Catholic World 38 3. The Legal Position on the Prohibition on Women’s Ordination – Gratian’s Decretum 41 3.a Introduction 41 3.b Gratian’s Sources 42 3.b.i Scripture 42 3.b.ii Church Fathers 45 3.b.iii Other Writings 49 3.c Roman Law 51 3.d Use of Gratian and Canon Law by the Mediaeval Canonists and Scholastics 53 3.e Conclusion 57 i 4. The Activity of Scholastic Theologians 60 4.a Paris as the Centre of Learning in the Thirteenth Century 60 4.a.i Peter Lombard and the Book of the Sentences 61 4.a.ii Translation and the Spread of Learning from Greece 65 4.b Key Authors and Commentators on the Sentences Referred to in Modern Documents 65 4.b.i Bonaventure 66 4.b.i.1 Bonaventure on the Sentences 67 4.b.i.2 Image of God 68 4.b.i.3 Christ as Mediator and in Persona Christi 70 4.b.i.4 Authority in Natural Law 76 4.b.i.5 Scripture and Authority 78 4.b.i.6 Christ as Bridegroom 81 4.b.i.7 Conclusion on Bonaventure 82 4.b.ii Thomas Aquinas 85 4.b.ii.1 Commentary on the Sentences 86 4.b.ii.2 Women as Prophets 87 4.b.ii.3 Sacrament and Sign 91 4.b.ii.4 Deaconess 96 4.b.ii.5 The Nature of the Female 98 4.b.ii.6 Language in Aquinas 99 4.b.ii.7 Conclusion on Thomas Aquinas 101 4.b.iii John Duns Scotus 102 4.b.iii.1 Scotus on the Sentences 103 4.b.iii.2 Scotus on Justice 104 4.b.iii.3 Nature and Authority 107 4.b.iii.4 Teaching and Preaching 109 4.b.iii.5 Conclusion on Scotus 111 5. The Argument from Scripture 112 5.a Introduction 112 5.b Genesis 1:26–28 114 5.c Genesis 2:4b–25 116 5.d Use of the Genesis Material in the Patristic Period 121 5.e. Use of the Genesis Material in the Mediaeval Period 130 5.f Deborah 137 ii 5.g Writings of Paul 141 5.h Women in the Gospels 147 5.i The Exclusion of Women from ‘The Twelve’ 154 5.j Conclusion 156 6. Biology 159 6.a Introduction 159 6.b Greek Ideas and their Influence on Mediaeval Writers 160 6.c Women’s Weakness of Intellect 166 6.d Pollution and Defilement 168 6.d.i Blood 168 6.d.ii Touch 177 6.d.iii Sex and Childbirth 179 6.e Conclusion 183 7. Language 186 7.a Introduction 186 7.b Misogynistic Language, Grammatical Gender and the ‘Male-as-Norm’ 187 7.b.i Misogynistic Language 187 7.b.ii Grammatical Gender and the Male-as-Norm 191 7.c Translation and the Spread of Learning from Greece 194 7.d Etymology and Definition of Important Terms 201 7.d.i Homo, Vir, Femina, Mulier 202 7.d.ii Ordo, Ordinare 207 7.d.iii The Hierarchy of Orders: Deacon, Priest, Bishop and Others 215 7.e Metaphor 222 7.f Conclusion 232 8. Conclusions 235 8.a The Status of Women in the Church 236 8.b Legal Restrictions 237 8.c Scholastic Writers 239 8.d Biology 242 8.e Language and Metaphor 245 Bibliography 252 iii Abbreviations CCEL Christian Classics Ethereal Library CDF Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum PG Patrologia Graecae PL Patrologia Latinae RSV Revised Standard Version of the Bible iv Acknowledgements This thesis originated with a suggestion from Dr. John Wijngaards, of the womenpriests website and many other initiatives. I am very grateful to him for his scholarly and practical help and advice throughout. My family has been very tolerant of the house gradually filling with books, journals and piles of paper. They have all been quietly supportive, and patient, listening with slightly glazed eyes to my enthusiastic explanations of what I’m up to. The staff of the Franciscan International Study Centre, where my interest in theology began, have supported, advised and taught me for many years. I would like to thank particularly Dr. Fr. Joseph O’Hanlon, Dr. Philippe Yates and Anne Moynihan. Dr. Séamus Mulholland, O.F.M., gave me endless guidance and advice throughout the research period of the degree. I would also like to thank the staff of the Postgraduate Research Office and the library at Trinity St. David; Dr. Gabrielle Malcolm, who provided me with information about drama and performance; Gemma Tucker, librarian at the University of Kent who found books and journal articles; and Marie Selwood, editor and proof-reader, for her close reading of the final text. Any remaining errors or omissions are my responsibility. Dr. Gary Macy kindly sent me material that filled in gaps in my knowledge. I am indebted to all of them. Finally, Dr. Jenny Read-Heimerdinger supervised my work for the final stage, and I am sincerely grateful to her for her efforts. v 1. Introduction 1. Introduction In this thesis, I intend to consider the origins of the reasons why the Roman Catholic Church today excludes women from ordained ministry. The current position of the modern Roman Catholic Church is based mainly on arguments drawn from tradition and, hence, I will take a historical approach to the subject. The Church documents issued on this topic in the second half of the twentieth century, especially since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s,1 make specific reference to the writings of the scholastic doctors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and beyond. Much of Church doctrine today is founded on the fundamental work of teachers such as St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas and this is the case with the Church’s teaching on the Sacrament of Orders. Women featured strongly in the Gospels, and in the writings of the first century AD, as characters in the stories of the people who began to found Christian communities around the eastern Mediterranean region. They played a significant role, alongside the men, as leaders of communities, teachers and prophets, and as witnesses to the major events in the life of Jesus. As time went by, for a number of reasons, women were gradually excluded from positions of authority, from ministry of all kinds. This situation gradually became formalised, until, by the ninth and tenth centuries, legislation explicitly forbade women from receiving the Sacrament of Orders and, thus, from formal teaching or holding positions of authority.