FINAL PROJECT

LAY ECCLESIAL MINISTRY PROGRAM, Diocese of Las Vegas, NV, 2008

CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE

JUSTICE AND GENDER ISSUES IN

CHURCH MINISTRY AND GOVERNANCE

Submitted By:

Susan Provost Maggie Saunders Mary Wagner William McManus

(Members of St. Thomas More Catholic Community) Justice and Gender Issues in Church Ministry and Governance

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ● 4

I. DISCOVERING HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS FOR WOMEN IN CHURCH MINISTRY AND GOVERNANCE ● 5

 The deaconate of women is mentioned in many early sources  The ordination rites of women deacons have been preserved in ten precious manuscripts  (In addition, see all Appendices)

II. DISCOVERING BIBLICAL EQUALITY ● 9

 The need to interpret Sacred Scripture anew for every age (Dei Verbum)  Genesis 1-3: Two Different Creation Stories  The consequent, ‘true’, non-gender-specific image of God  Images of God in Scripture  Canonical Scriptural ‘evidence’ of women leaders in salvation history

III. ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE ● 21

A. What the Current Prohibition is About ● 22

B. Church’s Arguments against Women in Ordained Ministries ● 24

C. Addressing the Church’s Arguments against Women in Ordained Ministries ● 27

 Because Jesus was male, the ordained person—as Christ’s representative—must also be male  Jesus didn’t choose any female apostles  The “husband is head of his wife, just as Christ is head of the church” [Eph 5:23]  “As the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be subject to their husbands in everything.” [Eph 5:24]  “…women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak” [1 Cor 14: 34]  “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” [1 Tim. 2: 12-13]  What Paul Really Said About Women  Paul’s Ideas vs. Embedded Jewish, Greek and Roman Attitudes

2 IV. SOME ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WORKING TO EDUCATE AND PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ISSUE ● 40

TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont’d)

V. APPENDICES ● 45

 Catholic Church Social Teaching Documents with Respect to this Issue ● 46  Brief History/ Events Significant to Women’s Ordained Ministry in the Church ● 48  List (w/ countries of origin) Female Deacon Epigraphs and Literary References ● 54  Women in Church History: 21 Stories for 21 Centuries ● 57  Ordained Women of Other Faiths ● 58  “Breaking Bread” Fresco from Catacombs of Priscilla ● 63  Mosaic “Episcopa Theodora et al” from Church of St. Praxedis in Rome ● 64  PowerPoint Slide Presentation (available upon request)

VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY ● 65

VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WEBSITES ● 68

3 LEMP Final Project -- Catholic Social Justice Issues

Justice and Gender Issues in Church Ministry and Governance

Opening Prayer (suggestion) from St Paul’s letter to the Romans (15:4-9) – Cycle A, Rdg II, 2nd Sun Advent—

“For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, but so that the Gentiles might also glorify God for God’s mercy.”

INTRODUCTION

Shifting US demographics coupled with priest shortage is leaving many Catholics without access to the sacraments and to a communal spiritual life.

Of the more than 19,000 Catholic parishes in the United States, 2,000+ have a pastor who serves more than one parish 8,000 are served by one priest 3,238 have no priest at all (“the old and the cold” have been left behind) only 4,000 have more than one priest.

Internationally, the situation is frequently the same.

In the spring of 2007, the South American bishops of Brazil issued a document pointing out that 75 percent of their weekly celebrations were without a priest. "We must have the courage to change . . . Conservative tendencies must not stop the church from making prophetic gestures. The access of women to the ordained ministry is a pending debt." http://www.priestsunday.org/dialog_change.html

Today, this decline of clericalism has meant that priests collaborate in ministry with a wide variety of specialized lay ecclesial ministers, most of them women, who serve as pastoral leaders, Directors of Faith Formation, youth ministers, pastoral associates, even chancellors and executive co-coordinator of the Canon Law Society of America.

Richard Gaillardetz (The Church in the Making, 2007) in his useful review of the explosion of lay ministry since Vatican II noted that of the 20,000 lay ecclesial ministers engaged in full-time work in the United States currently, more than 80% are women—a statistic that both encourages and confounds.

In addition to the decline of available priests, the Catholic Church is facing tremendous losses of membership.

4 “In the marketplace of American faith, Catholicism is the big loser. Catholics have lost more members to other faiths, or to no faith at all, than any other U.S. religion, according to the new survey released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The survey, based on interviews with 35,000 U.S. adults, found that 31 percent of Americans were raised Catholic, but only 24 percent still identify as Catholic. Perhaps more worrisome for church leaders, while 2.6 percent of Americans converted to Catholicism, four times as many -- 10.1 percent -- of cradle Catholics have left for another faith or no faith at all. Roughly 10 percent of all Americans are former Catholics, the study reported.” -- Trotter, NCR, March 7, 2008

“One of the most important challenges confronting the Church today is how to make its message more compelling and get its vision and teaching effectively translated into personal and institutional living..….First, the Church must respond to the insightful feminist critique that the anthropology upon which its social teaching is built is flawed. It defines women’s ‘nature’ and social roles in discredited, stereotypical Western cultural categories. It implicitly, perhaps unconsciously, treats the male experience as normatively human. It assumes a dualism (body/soul, flesh/spirit) that distorts its social judgments. Only by correcting this set of biases will Catholic social teaching become able to lay out a fully adequate and life-giving vision of social solidarity. . . Teaching intended for the universal Church needs to become more visibly the result of listening to the experience of all the local and regional churches.” -- DeBerri and Hug, pp. 38-39

The ministerial need, then is to investigate the role of women in ministry and leadership of the Church in the past and present and to promote, based on those often mostly unknown historical facts, the greater participation of women in leadership roles within the Church as a whole, particularly in parish and diocesan positions, up to and including the possibility of women being ordained as deacons (still officially an open question because it is an matter of discipline not doctrine).

I. DISCOVERING HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS FOR WOMEN IN CHURCH MINISTRY AND GOVERNANCE

(see also, all Appendices)

Women in Early Church Tradition

“We should remind ourselves from the start that our information about the first ten centuries of the Church is incomplete. Yes, the writings of the Fathers tell the story of the existence of women deacons in the eastern half of the Christian world during the first millennium, and so do ancient documents and archeological sites, and yet these reveal only glimpses of what must have been a very colorful and varied tale. Antioch in Syria, for instance, one of the principal centers of Christian life, lost its collection of patristic writing in 637 during the Islamic invasion. The same fate befell Alexandria in 642.

5 Constantinople’s libraries were sacked by the Crusaders in 1207 and by the Ottoman army in 1453. Moreover, the fragmentary sources preserved elsewhere do not contain full or systematic descriptions of church life. Much is taken for granted, since people at the time would not normally record things familiar to their contemporaries. A common practice is often mentioned only in passing. Add to this that most writing was done on flimsy papyrus, which is a perishable material.” -- [Wijngaards, Women Deacons in the Early Church, p. 11]

 As it is, the deaconate of women is mentioned in many early sources [ibid, p. 14ff].

1. Pliny, procurator of Asia Minor, reports in a letter to the emperor that he has arrested a number of Christians, among them their leaders. “All the more it seemed necessary to me to find out the truth, even by applying torture, from these two slave women, who were called ‘ministrae’ (AD 111)” 2. St Clement of Alexandria (150-215) testifies to women deacons: “The apostles, giving themselves without respite to the work of evangelism as befitted their ministry, took with them women, not as wives but as sisters, so that they might serve as their co-ministers, serving women living at home – by their agency the teaching of the lord reached the women’s quarters without arousing suspicion. We are also aware of all the things Paul prescribed on the subject of women deacons in one of the two letters to Timothy.” 3. Origin (c. 185-254), a Christian scholar in Alexandra, comments on women’s deaconate as a valuable institution: “The text [1 Timothy 3:11] teaches with the authority of the Apostle that even women are established as deacons in the Church…this text teaches at the same time two things: that there are, as I have said, women deacons in the Church, and that women, who have given assistance to so many people and who by their good works deserve….to be accepted in the deaconate.”

“If we could have visited a Christian community during the first century of the Church’s existence, we would have met three kinds of ministers: “overseers” (episcopoi), “elders” (presbyteroi), and “servants” (diakonoi). We might also have observed that these ministers were dedicated by the community to their task through prayer and the imposition of hands. (Acts 6:6, 14:23)….by the time St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, died for his faith (AD 110), the three ministries of bishop, presbyter, and deacon were widely established. But it would be a mistake to imagine that these three functions had the same contents that they have for us today…The ministry that is most clearly recognizable in today’s terms would have been that of the bishop; he had full pastoral charge of the local community and presided over its eucharist—in many respect he did what a parish priest does today. Only gradually did bishops acquire authority over wider areas….During the first two centuries there existed no priests (sacerdos), except for Christ. The whole people of God sacerdotal.” --ibid., p. 11 The ministry of deacons too underwent many changes…

6 In the Didascalia (3rd Century) and the Apostolic Constitutions (4th Century) the distinct roles of ‘widow’ and ‘woman deacon’ are beginning to be spelled out.

“Let also the woman deacon be honored by you in the place of the Holy Spirit.” ---Apostolic Constitutions II, AD 380, (The oldest ordination rite so far discovered)

“The full recognition of Christianity by Emperor Constantine resulted in more adult baptism, and this in turn boosted the need of more ordained deacons. Some historians believe that the ordination of women to the full deaconate dates from this period. Whether this is true, or whether the Church simply enhanced a practice already started in apostolic times, from now on a complete sacramental ordination became the norm for the Byzantine part of the Church … (roughly seven centuries from 300 to 1000, covering Asia Minor, Greece, Cyprus, Syria, and the Greek-speaking colonies of southern Italy. Remember that these regions still formed part of the universal “Catholic Church” – the split between East and West didn’t occur until 1054!” --ibid., p. 17

 “The ordination rites of women deacons have been preserved in the following ten precious manuscripts. We list them here with their library catalogue numbers.

1. The Codex Barberini—Vatican Library gr. 336 (AD 780) 2. The Bessarion Codex – Grottaferrata (9th/10th century) 3. The Sinai codex – gr. 956 (10th century) 4. The Paris Codex – Coislinus gr 213 (AD 1027) 5. The Messina Codex – Oxford, Bodleian auct. (AD 1130) 6. Codex Vaticanus gr 1872 (12th century) 7. Codex Vaticanus gr 1970 (12th century) 8. The Athens Codex – National Library of Greece (12-14th century) 9. The Cairo Codex – library of the Patriarchate of Alexandria (14th century) 10. The Mount Athos Codex – St Xenophon monastery (14th century)

“The ancient calendar of saints for the Greek Byzantine part of the Church fixed feast days for twenty-six women deacons….Seven women deacons (5/16) are remembered as having been martyred with Bishop Abdjesus in 5thC Persia.” -- ibid., p. 93

Because only a few tombs have survived the ravages of time, it is safe to estimate the 32 surviving ones represent approximately 32,000 women deacons….this figure is not extravagant if we recall that 42 women deacons alone ministered at Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople in 535AD. – ibid., p. 95

“It is noteworthy that in spite of the cultural and social restrictions laid on women by Roman culture, the phenomenon of women’s deaconate did occur there too. In Gaul, we have St Radegunde and St Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. It is highly significant that a number of local Church

7 synods in Gaul laid down that “women should no longer be ordained deacons.” [Synod of Orange, 441AD] -- ibid., p 96

Assessment of Scholars (ibid., pp. 122-127)

Cipriano Vagaggini (Member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission): “Women deacons were ordained at the foot of the altar inside the sanctuary in clear and deliberate opposition to what was done at the ordination of readers, subdeacons, or other ‘offices’ – specifically, equally to the male ordination, in the moment of ordination within the eucharist, the use of the ‘Divine Grace’ formula, the horarion, the communion after the male deacons from the hands of the bishop in the sanctuary, the fact of receiving the chalice from the bishop…With all this it is certain, that within the history of the one undivided Church, the Byzantine tradition has affirmed that, in nature and dignity, the ordination of the woman deacon belongs to the group “bishop, priest, deacon” and not to the group “reader, subdeacon.”

Christoff Bottigheimer, Professor of theology, Catholic University of Munich, Germany; expert on ecumenism and sacramental theology.

Peter Hunermann, Professor of theology at Tubingen, Germany; former president of the Catholic Theological Association of Europe

Abraham Andreas Thiermeyer, Lecturer in theology and liturgy, Eichstatt, Germany.

Peter Hofrichter, Dean of church history and patrology at Salzburg University, Austria.

Anne Jensen, Professor of ecumenical theology, history of early Christianity, Graz, Austria

Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGeral, Orthodox theologian, lecturer, organizer of the international theological conferences of Orthodox Women in Damascus and Istanbul.

(and at least 15 others mentioned, but too numerous to list here)

Epigraphic evidence exists of women bishops. Until at least the ninth century the Church gave women the full sacramental ordination of deacons. Women priests existed in the West during the 4th and 5th centuries according to literary evidence, and according to epigraphic evidence. (see “Epigraphs and Literary References” Appendix) Again, please see all Appendices

This historical evidence for inclusion of women in Church ministry and governance is in fact, as it is noted as follows, fully substantiated by Holy Scripture.

II. DISCOVERING BIBLICAL EQUALITY

8  The need to interpret Sacred Scripture anew for every age (Dei Verbum)

“Since God speaks in Sacred Scripture in and through human fashion, the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words. To search out the intention of the sacred writers, attention should be given, among other things, to “literary forms.” For truth is set fore and expressed differently in texts which are variously historical, prophetic, poetic, or of other forms of discourse. The interpreter must investigate what meaning the sacred writer intended to express and actually expressed particular circumstances by using contemporary literary forms in accordance with the situation of their own time and culture (as taken from St. Augustine, in “On Christian Doctrine”). For the correct understanding of what the sacred author wanted to assert, due attention must be paid to the customary and characteristic styles of feeling, speaking and narrating which prevailed at the time of the sacred writer, and to the patterns [people] employed at that period in their everyday dealings with one another…. It is the task of exegetes to work toward a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through preparatory study the judgment of the Church may mature.” -- Dei Verbum,( par. 12)

“For there is growth in the understanding of created realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts (see Luke, 2:19, 51) through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through the preaching of those who have received episcopal succession. For as the centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her.” - -- Dei Verbum,(par. 8)

“Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church. Holding fast to this deposit, the entire holy people united with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers (see Acts 2, 42, Greek text), so that holding to, practicing and professing the heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful, a single common effort (taken from Collected Writings of St Cyprian).” -- Dei Verbum, (par 10)

 Genesis 1-3: Two Different Creation Stories

9 “God said, “Let us make ‘man’ in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion….God created ‘man’ in the divine image; male and female they were created.” [Gen. 1: 26-27]

Both male and female are created in God’s image. What is essential to this idea of “image bearing” is the dominion that men and women are given dominion over the earth. There is nothing in this first chapter to suggest anything other than an equality of male and female created together in the image of God.

v.s.

“The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.” [Gen. 2: 22]

Many look to this version of the creation story to ‘prove’ that because Adam came first, he is in authority. However, the norm among the patriarchs is not primogeniture but God’s blessing on the second or third born (e.g. Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his brothers, Ephraim over Manasseh, etc.). The man and the woman were created sequentially in Genesis 2 in order to demonstrate the need they have for each other, not to justify an implicit hierarchy…

Also, in this version, ‘man’ (male and female) is given responsibility over the garden but no where is man given authority over woman.

When God says he will make a helper (ezer) for the man, there is nothing to indicate that this is a subordinate position. When ‘ezer’ is used elsewhere in the Bible it is to speak of God’s being Israel’s helper who comes to their aid. There is nothing hierarchical implied by the use of the term.

 The consequent, ‘true’, non-gender-specific image of God

Who or what God is, is ultimately UNKNOWABLE and INDESCRIBABLE

Even the sum of all our images is inadequate

The Jewish people didn’t even dare to name God, except for YHWH (“I AM WHO AM”)

1. Unfathomable (Ex. 3:14) – during Moses’ call God says to him, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: “I AM sent me to you.” 2. Hidden even while making the Covenant (Dt 4:12) – “The Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.” 3. Incomparable (Is 40:18) – “To whom can you liken God? With what equal can you confront our God?”

10 4. Great beyond comprehension (Job 36:26) – “God is beyond our knowledge; the number of God’s years is beyond searching out.” 5. Uncircumscribable by any image (Ex 20:3-5) -- the First Commandment: “You shall not have other gods before me; you shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth.” 6. Unimaginable (Acts 17:29) – Paul’s speech in Athens – “…We ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.” 7. Unapproachable (1Tm 6:16; Jn 1:18) – “…God, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see.” 8. Inscrutable (Rom 11:33) – “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are God’s judgments and how unsearchable God’s ways!” The methods used in God’s outreach to the world stagger human comprehension, but are at the same time a dazzling invitation to abiding faith! 9. Seen only dimly (I Cor 13:9-12)-- “For we know only partially and we prophesize partially……At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face…then I shall know fully as I am fully known.”

Theologians: 2nd Century Christian apologist, St. Justin Martyr - God can’t even be given a name (it’s “hopeless madness” to do so)

4th Century St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church –

“If you have understood, then what you have understood is not God”….

He recommended baptizing “In the name of the Triune God, from whom, through whom, and in whom all things exist, now and forever.”

13th Century St. Thomas Aquinas, Philosopher, Theologian, Doctor of the Church

“…..that which is the substance of God remains beyond our intellect and so is unknown to us. Hence the supreme knowledge which we have of God is to know that we do not know God, insofar as we know that what God is surpasses all that we can understand.”

“ ….and because God’s goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone, God produced many and diverse creatures, that what was wanting to one in the representation of divine goodness might be supplied by another.” - as in Johnson’s, Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit, p. 39

St. Thomas defended the expression Qui est (the One Who Is) as The most appropriate name for God.

 IMAGES OF GOD IN SCRIPTURE

11 A. Natural Images

1. Wind -- In Hebrew the word for spirit, ruah, means moving air or wind - Jesus said of the wind in (Jn 3:8) - “The wind blows where it chooses; you hear the sound of it, but you do not see where it comes from nor where it is going. But you know it is passing by when you see its effects. So it is with the Spirit of God” - The strong wind that blows back the Red Sea so the escaping slaves can run free (Ex 14:21) - The wind that blows through the valley of the dry bones, breathing life into the vast multitude (EZ 37:1-14) - The mighty Pentecost wind that shakes the house where Jesus’ disciples, women and men alike, are praying, impelling them to public witness of the Good News (Acts 1:13-14; 2:1-4) - The breath in the throats of animals and people – its presence gives life (Gen 2:7, 7:15); its withdrawal means death (Ps 104:29-30) - The whole community of creation is sustained by the breath, the Spirit of God, who ‘rides on the wings of the wind” (Ps 104:3) in profound and free connection…….The theology of the ‘radical contingency of being”…..we are moment by moment sustained by God 2. Fire - That led the Israelites thru the desert by night (Ex 13:21-22) - That appeared as tongues over the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-3) - That appeared to Moses when God called him to be the leader of the Israelites (Ex 3:2-6) 3. Light - at creation God brought Light to the dark void (Genesis) - Jesus, Light of the World: (John 8:12-30) 4. Water of - Life – eg., Woman of Samaria (John 4:4-26) - Cleansing (Baptism) 5. Cloud - That led the Israelites thru the desert by day (Ex 13:21-22) - That opened at Jesus’ Baptism to proclaim that Jesus was - That opened at the Transfiguration to proclaim 6. Bread of Life Manna in the Desert and Jesus’ Body 7. Vine and the Branches - “A vine from Egypt you transplanted; you drove away the nations and planted it…..protect what your right hand has planted…” (Ps. 80:9-17) - (Is 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Hosea 10; Mt 21:33) - “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own,….so neither can you unless you remain in me.” (Jn 15:1-17). Also, the vine itself doesn’t produce grapes (only the branches do!) We are called to be fruitful branches of Jesus’ cross 8. Silence - as when Elijah is called to reestablish the Covenant and to restore the pure faith (I Kings 19:11-13)

B. Personal Images (that promote human responsibility and help to define our call as Christians)

12 1. Good Shepherd who goes after the 1/100 which is lost

2. Father who takes back his prodigal son

3. Mother (and other women) -- Woman/Mother Wisdom – in Hebrew Scriptures, the grammatical gender of the word wisdom is feminine - hokmah in Hebrew, sophia in Greek “She is the fashioner of all things” (Wis7:22) “She is your life” (Prov 4:13) “She knows the solstices and changes of the seasons, the constellations of the stars, the natures of animals and the tempers of wild beasts, the variety of plants and the virtues of roots, and the ways of human reasoning” (Wis 7:17-22) “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well” (Wis 8:1) -- the world itself is shaped by her guidance “By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just” (Prov 8:15) -- King Solomon, while rejoicing to learn what is just, admitted “but I did not know that she was their mother’ (Wis 7:12) “Because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things” (Wis 7:24) --- this is the same divine presence spoken about in the Jewish rabbinic tradition of the shekinah, the female symbol of God’s indwelling……. “Come and see how beloved are the Israelites before God, for withersoever they journeyed in their captivity, the Shekinah journeyed with them.”….to give them comfort and hope in their suffering. “While remaining in herself, she renews all things” (Wis 7:27) – When things become damaged, the power to refresh them pours out from her. “In every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets” (Wis 7:27) – she weaves a web of kinship to all who believe -- Widow who pesters an unjust judge (us) until justice is done (Luke 18:1-8) – a “different” way of viewing the woman’s entreaty for a fair decision (prayer is not the verbal entreaty of a reluctant God, but the way we relate & respond to a pursuing God – p. 10 of John Shea’s The God Who Fell From Heaven) -- Woman who searches for a lost coin -- Mother hen who gathers her chicks under her wing (Luke 13:34) -- Mother eagle who spreads her wings and bears her young upon them, taking them out of the nest to learn to fly (Deuteronomy 32) -- Grief-stricken mother bear who has lost her cubs (Amos) -- Woman in labor (Isaiah 42:14) – “For a long time I have held my peace. I have kept still and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a woman in labor – I will gasp and pant.” Indeed, the image of ‘being born’ again (in the Spirit) is often used

13 As are images of the womb that bore us and the breasts that nurture us.

That is, the inspired writers imaged God as BOTH father AND mother, i.e., a Parent - an everlasting creative agent who works everywhere and anywhere, yet without denying the reality of their offspring’s freedom

4. Servant a. Suffering Servant (Isaiah) b. Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples (Jn 13:1-20) “as I have done to you, so you also should do.”

5. Gardener who cares for and preserves the world and its life c. The Sower & the Seed (Mt 13:3-23, Mk 4:3-20, Lk 8:4-15) d. Fig tree -- Barren (Lk 13: 6-9) gardener pleads to give it one more year e. Fig tree – Sign of Summer (Mt 24:32-35, Mk 13: 28f, Lk 21:29-31) In the same way that the fig tree sprouts leaves, so will all be accomplished. f. The parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt 13:31) – smallest of seeds, but largest of plants – compared to the Kingdom of Heaven

Gardeners create conditions in which life other than their own can grow and prosper

6. Potter who shapes us (individually and as community) for divine glory (Jeremiah 18:2-6) 7. Lovers (male and female) who value life passionately (enough to become incarnated in our world and enough to die for the beloved) Lovers find the world and everything in it attractive & precious

Why can’t the Church find within itself the courage to publicly address God in any way but ‘Father.’?

What would be the hierarchical structure today (if it existed at all?) if our Church had been praying the Lord’s Prayer in the true Aramaic for the last 2000 years?

When Jesus instructed his disciples to pray to God, he wanted them to understand that God is a loving approachable life-giving Being (as close as a father); he had to instruct them in the language of the day – the scientific knowledge of which, then ‘knew’ that all life came from the seed of the male. Now that we’ve ‘known’ (only since 1827 with the discovery of the human female ovary) that life comes from both the male and the female, …..it is logically, theologically, and morally wrong to continue to limit the concept and growth in understanding of God to ‘male only’ language in our prayers. This scientific discovery is as revolutionary as Galileo’s that the earth revolves around the sun; the challenge to the church is to not let it take 400 years this time for science to affect practicum. (cf., Dei Verbum—need to translate Scripture for the realities of the day, cf., God Beyond Gender, Ramshaw) If the Church could bring itself to pray to God in non-gendered language, it would be much easier to see the possibility that the genders indeed are equal.

14  Canonical Scriptural ‘evidence’ of women leaders in salvation

It is important to list as many women as possible to counteract the received tradition of all churches, where women are totally omitted from the foundational accounts.

First Testament: Sarah (Genesis 11-25) Hagar (slave to Sarah, surrogate mother, survivor, only woman in scripture to see God and name the God she saw, single parent of Ishmael, mother of a nation) Shiphrah and Puah (Midwives in Egypt, who through the fear of God spared the newborn sons of the Hebrews, contrary to the orders of the king.)-- Exodus 1:15- 21 – The account of these two brave midwives is omitted entirely from Lectionary #389, Monday of Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, which skips from verse 14 to verse 22, thus excising the story of these valiant women who put their own lives at risk by defying the pharaoh’s law of death in order to uphold God’s law of life! (www.futurechurch.org/ watw/womeninbibleandlectionary.htm, Fox) Jochebed (Moses’ mother, saved Moses at Birth, set in motion events leading to Exodus) Miriam (Moses’ sister, saved Moses at Birth, set in motion events leading to Exodus) Bithiah (Pharoah’s daughter, saved Moses at Birth, set in motion events leading to Exodus) Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2) Huldah (7th century BCE contemporary of Jeremiah, one of the few women or men literally labeled a prophet, consulted by King Josiah the reformer). Verses 15-19 have been neatly sliced out of the middle of the lectionary passage [2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3] for weekday reading #373 (Wednesday of the twelfth week in ordinary time, Year II). (Fox, ibid.) Deborah (Judges 5:24)—named a prophet and judge of Israel and recognized as a mother of Israel, is also passed over in the lectionary. As prophet and judge, Deborah advised her people, planned a military strategy against the Canaanites, appointed a general and then led the victorious battle. Her song of victory in Judges 5:1-31, considered one of the most ancient extant compositions of the Bible, is not used in the lectionary, although Gideon, Jotham and Jephthah from the Book of Judges are in the weekday lectionary. (Fox, ibid.) Tamar (ancestor of Christ, mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy) – Gen. 38 – forced father-in-law to obey the Law and honor her right to levirate marriage Rahab (ancestor of Christ, mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy) – Joshua 2: 1-24; James 2:25 (she saved Joshua’s spies & without her Jericho never would have been captured) Ruth (ancestor of Christ, mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy) – Ruth 1-4

15 Judith – jeopardized her life for her people, killing an invading general, but her initiative, determination and courage in saving her nation are nowhere presented in the lectionary. (Fox, ibid.) Esther – (raised up as an instrument in the hand of God to avert the destruction of the Jewish people), but nowhere in the lectionary is there ever an account of the bravery with which she saved her people from annihilation. (Fox, ibid.) Bathsheba (ancestor of Christ, mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy) – 2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Kings 1:11-21, 28-31; 2:13-21; 1 Chronicles 3:5 Mother of the Maccabee brothers – Although the heroism of her sons is recounted on the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (#157), the passage stops short of the tribute paid to her, who encouraged their bravery and who had to watch all of them die. (Fox, ibid.)

Second Testament Women of Expectant Faith  Elizabeth (courageous, righteous prophet)  Mary of the Infancy Narratives [Luke 1-2]  Anna, Prophet and Herald [1Chronicles 4:4; Luke 2:36-38]

Women Healed by Jesus  The Raising of Widow of Nain’s Son [Luke7:11-17; Mt 8:5-13; Jn 4:43-54]  The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter [Mk 5; Mt 9; Lk 8]  The Woman Healed of a Hemorrhage [Mk 5; Mt 9; Lk 8] —This woman, once again nameless, must plot her approach to Jesus carefully. When she touches him, he calls her from her invisibility and raises her up as a model of faith for all…she is an example of those who are ‘good soil’, where the seed of the Word of God can take root and produce ‘a hundredfold.’  The Healing of Simon’s Mother-in-law [Mk 1; Mt 8; Lk 4]  A Crippled Woman can Stand Erect [Lk 13: Mk 3; Lk 6 and 14; Mt 12] – Jesus again shows compassion for another long-suffering woman, this one who moved herself beyond the silence and invisibility of exclusion and oppression, into the synagogue! Wherever women are ‘bent’ from poverty, abuse, battering, pornography, illness or just sheer exhausting work, this story is heard as a beacon of healing and freedom. (Malone, p. 50)  The Syrophoenician Woman (faithful in hostile, pagan Gentile area; ‘even dogs eat scraps that fall from the table’; Jesus healed her daughter of demons) Women Changed by Jesus  The Samaritan Woman at the Well [John 4] A despised outcast, she makes her act of faith (proclaiming like Peter, that Jesus is the Messiah) and sets off to proclaim the Messiah to all in her locale-- in a manner befitting a true apostle. The last verse of this account (‘and because of her many came to believe’) has been removed from the lectionary reading!  A Woman Caught in Adultery Forgiven [Jn 7-8]

16  The Anointing Women --Unnamed in the house of Simon, the leper [Mark 14:3; Mt 26:6-13]. Mark’s is the earliest version and contains remarkable features that are later toned down by the other evangelists (Malone, p. 48-49)…this takes place in the darkening days before the arrest and execution of Jesus, the preceding chapter being full of warnings to the disciples about fidelity, and the immediately following piece containing the betrayal of Judas. Mark placed the story of the woman’s fidelity and loving care of Jesus as a contrast with the upcoming infidelity of the male disciples. Anointing on the head was a widely-recognized ancient biblical tradition for portraying kingship, an act usually performed by a religious functionary of high importance. The ‘anointed one’, the ‘Christos’, is a title so usually associated with Jesus that Christians have come to use it as his second name. Most significantly, in Mark’s version, we are given the first visual representation of the anointing of the Christ—and it is done by a nameless woman. Jesus himself points out the significance of her action and defends her against the complaints of the others. Furthermore he directs that “this story be told wherever the good news is preached”, but this has not happened because it has been dropped from the lectionary in favor of the more conventional versions of the story in the other 2 gospels. (and the version that’s read most frequently is the one with the woman of ill repute.) --Unnamed in house of Simon, the Pharisee [Luke 7] --Mary in house of Martha and Lazarus [John 12:1-8]  Daughters of Jerusalem [Luke 23] Women of Prominence  Pilate’s Wife (female outsider divinely inspired to plea on behalf of Jesus) [Mt 27]  The Mother of Zebedee’s Sons (followed Jesus from Galilee; was at foot of Cross)— Mt 20; Mk 10; Mt 27  Lois and Eunice (grandmother, mother of Timothy; integrity is the basis of religious education) [2 Tim 1; Acts 16]  Prisca (Priscilla in Acts), founder of house-churches in Rome, Corinth and Ephesus, “coworker in Christ who (with her husband Aquila) risked their necks for my life….” [Acts 18:1-8; Roms 16:3; Cor. 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19] – preceded Paul in the missionary work of the church and after Paul’s conversion perhaps in the year 50CE, he joined them in their tent trade and in their house-church in

17 Corinth. She and her husband had previously been expelled from Rome by the Emperor Claudius, and they are the earliest names that have come down to us associated with the founding of the ‘Roman’ church!!! She is the teacher of Apollos, the same Apollos described as an ‘eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures’ [Acts 18:24]. He had spoken ‘with burning enthusiasm’ in the assembly, but had known only the baptism of John, until Priscilla and Aquila ‘explained the way of God to him more accurately’, suggesting that she was a highly respected and authentic teacher in Ephesus. (Malone, p.70)  The ‘prominent women’ of Thessalonia [Acts 17:4]  The ‘influential’ Greek Women of Beroea [Acts 17:10-12] (Paul’s mission)  Damaris of Athens (court of the Areopagus), companion of Dionysius [Acts 17:34]

Women and Discipleship  The Galilean Women who ‘followed’ Jesus (Mark used the technical biblical word for ‘discipleship’ – Malone, p.47) – Joanna (wife of Herod’s steward Chuza), Salome, Susanna and “many others who provided for the Twelve out of their resources.” [ Mt 28:1, Mk 16:1, Lk 23:55, Luke 8:3]. A whole group of women who, in an unheard of manner, had left their homes and country and had followed Jesus to the end, braving both danger and opprobrium that accompanied being the disciples of a theologically-suspect preacher and then, condemned criminal.  The Galilean Women at the Cross and at the Tomb –[Mark 15:40-41, 47;16:1-8; Matthew 27:55-61; 28:1-10; Luke 23:49-56; 241-12; John 19:25-27; 20:1-3, 10-18]. When the world had turned to darkness and all the others had abandoned Jesus…when the Temple curtain was torn in two, they alone remained to hear the cosmic cry of Jesus to God about being forsaken! Apart from the single exception recorded by Mark of the Roman centurion remaining at the cross, they are the only ones there! – They are the ones who handed on the stories of the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus!  Mary of Magdala (see discussion below)  Martha and Mary [Luke 10:38-42]— Martha’s anxiety is chastised, and the honor that Jesus gives to Mary, saying that “she has chosen the better part, and it shall not be taken from her” is clearly the point –that receptive listening to Jesus is crucial to receiving him and that her desire to be a disciple shall not be denied her. Her position at the Lord’s feet and her attention to the message indicate that Jesus has welcomed her as a disciple (see Acts 22:3). In a society where women did not receive instruction in the Jewish Torah from the rabbis (and not even speak to their own husbands in public), the female disciple of Jesus is nothing less than shocking, yet Jesus says this shall not be taken from her.

18 The different roles of women in NT biblical literature should give us pause when we relegate only certain jobs to only certain people in the Christian community. Luke speaks of Jesus’ power to transcend the role models of every age. We too must discard the narrow vision of stereotyped individuals and roles to focus on the God- given gifts of the individual and the larger needs of the community.” …This does not mean we denigrate the kitchen chores ….but it does mean we must study, and apply to the 21st Century, the intended overall meaning of salvation accounts, paying particular attention to Jesus’ words and actions, and to the tradition of early ‘church’ community.  Martha’s Proclamation of Jesus as Messiah [John 11:1-44]. After challenging Jesus about his delayed arrival possibly causing the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus reveals to her the mystery of the resurrection of the dead, such a revelation otherwise being made only to chosen members of the twelve. Martha responds with a firm act of faith, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” And thus assumes an apostolic role.  The Poor Widow [Mk 12; Luke 21]

More Women and Discipleship  The Mother of Jesus  Tabitha/Dorcas in the Greek (“Upper Room” Church, Peter called to raise her from the dead) – Acts 9  Rhoda (the one who recognized Peter at the door after his miraculous prison release by an angel) – Acts 12  Mary (Mother of John/Mark – companion of Paul, founder of Hellenist house-church in Jerusalem , the place to which Peter flees when released)—Acts 12: Acts 13: Acts 15 (Malone, p. 69)  Lydia (first European convert, head of the original church house established in Philippi) and the Women of Philippi —as a Gentile woman she had lived on the margins of the Jewish community and followed Jewish religious life as far as possible; after listening to Paul’s preaching, she and ‘her household’ were baptized; she then invited Paul to make her home his centre while he was in Philippi and, as the text tells us, she ‘would take no refusal’, implying that women did exercise their authority immediately in their Christian communities, caring for its needs, presiding at its celebrations and hosting traveling missionaries from other communities. Acts 16:14-15, 40  Phoebe (the Greek term ‘servant/deacon’ was applied to her) and the Women of Rome – Romans 16:1 Phoebe, named by Paul as ‘sister’, ‘deacon of the church at Cenchreae’, and ‘a prostatis of many and of myself as well.’[Rom 16:1-2]. Although commentators have attempted to reduce the significance of the titles ‘deacon’ and ‘prostatis’ to make Phoebe a kind of generalized helper or servant of Paul’s, Paul gives her the same authority as

19 the male deacons he names, e.g., Timothy (Malone, p. 72). When Origen (early 3rd century theologian) wrote about Pheobe he understood her to be officially ordained for the ministry of the church; later in the 4th century, John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote of her “You see that these were noble women, hindered in no way by their sex in the course of virtue; and this is as might be expected for in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female.” (Malone, p. 123).  Junia (“outstanding among the Apostles”) – Rom. 16:3-15, St. John Chrysostom’s comment as well (see below)  Chloe, leader of house-church (1 Cor. 1:11)  Nympha and ‘the church in her house’--Col 4:15  Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Peris (“labor in the Lord”) – in each case, the word used being the technical term for ‘missionary’ labors. --Romans 16  Euodia and Syntyche (“struggled together with me in the Gospel with Clement and the rest of my fellow- workers” )– Phil. 4:2-3

As partial as this list is, in its totality it leaves no doubt that the good news of Jesus not only shows no demeaning word whatever towards women, but in fact is emphatic on empowering women to be so much more than even the men were able to be. There is no doubt that the invitation to co-discipleship seemed to be always part of the intention of Jesus in his words and actions, and that in the first post-Resurrection years there never was a debate about the full inclusion of women in Christian leadership and mission. It is also clear though, that this inclusive message seemed never to have been strong enough to survive the encroachment and strangulation of societal norms as Christianity sought to ‘fit’ more in its various milieus. It is astounding that “traditional exegesis, in its false assumption of an institutional episcopate and priesthood descending directly from the men who accompanied Jesus, felt free to ignore these women, or see them in the traditional roles of housekeeper and cook.” (Malone, p. 70). What is equally astounding is that to this day not all men or women are equally open to the new known insights about women in the gospels! Why must women today feel like they’re clutching at straws when it’s so obvious that in the stories women’s fidelity is always painted against the backdrop of male infidelity (that the women’s presence to the end is deliberately written into the text in contrast with the cowardice and desertion of the male followers).

III. ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE

The fundamental consideration: If the possibility exists that God, without violating God’s own gospel, can call women as well as men to be ministers of that gospel, then the church has the obligation of providing that women as well as men be blessed (i.e., ordained) in those like calls. Basic human realities need to be examined…. Would God insist that a woman bear the Word of God in her womb but that women cannot proclaim that Word in the Roman Catholic community? Can women image God? Jesus? Does the baptism of women imply something

20 different from the baptism of men? Why, both explicitly and implicitly, does the conclusion remain that there is something more divine about maleness than there is about femaleness? Did Christ intend the church to be a hierarchy in which only men fill ministry and leadership offices?

Our thesis: Biblical, historical and theological considerations converge not only to allow, but indeed, to insist that women serve as full partners with men in all dimensions of the church’s life and ministry. To categorically deny women the opportunity to obey the Spirit places us in the position not only of acting unjustly toward women but, more important, of standing in opposition to the work of the sovereign Holy Spirit. “Just as discrimination in the area of natural rights is contrary to God’s will, so also is discrimination in the area of spiritual rights. All persons should have the right to spiritual freedom. Certainly the Scriptures teach that both women and men have the right to know God, the right to act on that knowledge, the right to learn about God, and the right to serve God as God calls. Discrimination is any act that restricts those spiritual rights and thus harms or diminishes a person’s spiritual standing or limits a person’s opportunities to serve God.” (Grenz, p. 15)

A. WHAT THE CURRENT PROHIBITION IS ABOUT

Not implementing to this day, the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Not ‘listening to the least’ as Jesus did his whole ministry. (c.f., Listening to the Least, McFarland)

This is not a feminist issue, but a CHRISTIAN issue.

The ‘good news’ for women, rooted in the gospel portrait of the relationships between Jesus and women, from biblical times to the present, has been variously interpreted and as will be examined in this paper, during most of Christian history from the 4 – 20th centuries, has been presented to women as a negative message of exclusion, subjugation, trivialization and often quite astonishingly, even hostility on the part of the clergy. Two examples will suffice (both from Malone, p. 18-19). Peter Damian, 11th C saint, who was assisting Pope Leo IX in the task of cleaning up the image and role of the clergy wrote this shocking diatribe that is not all that unusual in the writings of church leaders about women (the fact that he is addressing priests’ wives does nothing to soften the utter nastiness of his comments): “I speak to you, O charmers of the clergy, appetizing flesh of the devil, that castaway from Paradise, poison of minds, death of souls, companions of the very stuff of sin, the cause of our ruin. You, I say, I exhort you women of the ancient enemy, you bitches, sows, screech-owls, night-owls, bloodsuckers, she-wolves,…come now, hear me harlots, prostitutes, with your lascivious kisses, you wallowing places, for fat pigs, couches for unclean spirits….” Pope Pius XII in a sermon to newly-weds on 9/11/41, right in the midst of WWII, spoke of the man and woman entering marriage on a ‘perfectly equal footing’ because of their equal creation by God, but then went on to stress the need for the male to be head of the wife ‘as a result of the sin of Eve:’: “Although in fact St Paul said that as many have been baptized in Christ and who have put on Christ are all sons (sic) of God and that there is neither male nor female, because all are one in Christ Jesus, it is not so, however, in the church and in the family, which are visible societies…”

21 Fortunately, there has been a marked surge in “women’s” studies over the last century, sparked and fed by: archeological findings of documents, letters, diaries, and epigraphs; studies of legal systems of church and state through the ages; examinations of property deeds; and new understandings of more accurate translations of the original scriptural languages. But, most of these new discoveries point out that centuries of ‘androcentric’ scholarship, that is scholarship done from the point of view of male dominance and exclusivity, have laid bare only partial truth about God and God’s message. The task then, of including women in the Christian story (scriptural and ‘his’torical) has admittedly been ‘compensatory’ (i.e., re-translating texts to better understand what was really meant about women and filling in the gaps of Christian ‘his’tory by concentrating on women’s contributions), but must of necessity remain so in order to supplement the omissions and/or counter the misinformation. Although the efforts of relatively recent exegesis (extracting the biblical meaning as it was intended at the time of writing) and hermeneutics extracting the biblical meaning for today through the process of interpretation) have been termed ‘feminist’ because of their admitted deliberate focus on including women’s presence, the truths that are being sought are Christian – with all of its ‘true’ complexity and diversity! E.g., for whatever reason, few Christians today are aware that all four synoptic gospels report that Jesus entrusted the Resurrection experience and message to women or e.g., that of the 6 house churches named in the NT, five were founded and administered by women or e.g., that the original church of Rome was founded by Prisca and her companion Aquila (years before Paul had his conversion and arrived on the scene). Yet these ‘facts’ (and hundreds of others) have only come to ‘popular’ scholastic awareness because of the ‘feminist’ efforts to seek out truths ‘that were there all the time’. Furthermore, although there has never been a time in the Christian story when women were not physically present, and although the spiritual identity of every single male Christian leader (whether pope, bishop or emperor) was formed by mother, life-giver, and sometimes wife, lover, mentor, teacher and friend, Christians today have inherited the structures of dogma, theology, creed, liturgy and commandment, all built on a foundation which assumes a comparative irrelevance of women’s fidelity, wisdom and participation.

This presentation then, makes no pretence of impartiality as it seeks to: 1. demonstrate the scriptural vision of female/male co-discipleship; 2. examine the historical precedence for an ecclesiology that once mirrored that vision; and 3. highlight current efforts within the Roman Catholic church that seek to restore Christ’s vision.

Ironically, the (secular) UN has adopted as one of its Millennium Development Goals for 2015 “Promote gender equality and empower women” A goal, the Church never should have lost the initiative of over the last 2,000 years!!! (In fact, if the Church more assiduously sought to be in practice, the foretaste of God’s eschatological community, reflecting Christ’s vision in its present corporate life through structures that promoted community and mutuality, welcoming the contribution of both male and female in all its aspects, perhaps the UN wouldn’t need to lead the way on this).

The need being addressed -- The church would rather deny the sacraments to the faithful than allow women to minister and lead (even as they did in the earliest home churches)

According to a 2000 study done by the US Bishops, 27% of U.S. parishes did not have a resident priest. Additionally, an estimated 58,000 parishes and 112,000 mission stations worldwide were without a priest according to the 1997 Vatican Statistical Yearbook. (www.futurechurch.org)

Opportunities, needs, and potential exist….

22 The situation in the Roman Catholic Church today is a story of missed opportunities and unused potential….a story of “a long way to go”, but “authorities that be” only wanting to retrench. The opportunities and potential for change have been there since Lumen Gentium was promulgated in 1964, it being categorized (c.f., Wilkins in Commonweal) as “one of the most remarkable shifts of ecclesiology ever found”, remaining to this day astonishing in just how “reforming” the bishops at Vatican II meant to be!!! Essentially: 1. They no longer presented the church as a self-sufficient society but as a pilgrim church on a journey with all humanity; 2. They accepted the suggestion of Belgian Cardinal Léon-Joseph Suenens that the chapter on the people of God should be placed before the one on the hierarchy; 3. The vote on collegiality (ie., the doctrine that bishops form a governing college with the pope) produced overwhelming majorities on every point (which no one expected); 4. The bishops decided to restore the permanent deaconate, “as in the early church”; 5. They approved the equal dignity of the ordained and the priesthood of all believers (a constant theme in Protestantism—that’s actually been ‘real’-ized in Protestantism ironically enough, with the Catholics having taken the “first step” albeit only theologically); and 6. Again, congruent with Protestant emphases, they called for the purification of the church and for continual reform.

B. CHURCH’S ARGUMENTS AGAINST WOMEN in ORDAINED MINISTRIES

(Summary taken from “The Papal ‘No’”, Halter)

The magisterium, the teaching authority of the church, holds that women have a threefold mission determined by their sex: virgin, wife and mother.

Available to men is a mission facilitated by their sex: priesthood.

Jesus never mentioned ministerial priesthood, but Catholic teaching developed since Vatican II holds that he established an ordained clergy through his maleness and his choice of only men to join the group of twelve.

Since according to Catholic teaching, God does not make this call to women, Rome holds itself unable to validate or even acknowledge a woman’s call to priesthood.

The following are key themes of Vatican teaching regarding the reasons why women should not be ordained into the priesthood

Creation

It teaches that Adam (not Eve) physically resembled the savior who was to come, and so only a male being sexually modeled after Christ, is qualified to be a priest.

It is based upon natural law, in which male and female live in a mutually dependent relationship.

23 Paul’s teaching that male as “head” of the female, who is the “body”, is used as reinforcement to an all male priesthood. Vatican II repudiated this teaching, but the teaching is still used even today.

Pope John Paul II frequently used the term “feminine genius” to extol the virtues of women’s biologically capacities and religious roles as virgin, wife and mother.

The Church’s Divine Constitution

The church was established by Christ, and hence it must be maintained in accordance to Christ’s “positive will”. In cases where he was silent (as he was on the priesthood) the hierarchy reserves the right to determine his will.

The college of twelve apostles comprises Jewish men called by Christ (Luke 6:13) to sit on the heavenly thrones and judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:20). Jesus charged these men with carrying the gospel (good news) to the world. The twelve were entrusted with founding and nurturing the earthly church, including provisions for leadership succession.

A priest is a vehicle of salvation, because through ordination he has been given the ministry entrusted by Christ to Peter, and he exercises the “maternal authority” of Mother Church, obedience to which is required for salvation. Only men may exercise this maternal authority.

Tradition

Church fathers (early teachers of the faith) taught that women were not to be priests. While they employed sexist and even misogynist language, according to the Vatican, that did not affect their pastoral practice or teachings.

The “deposit of faith” is the entire collection of revealed teachings and church tradition whose protection and promulgation is reserved to the church’s teaching authority.

Scripture

Scripture alone is not sufficient to show that only males can be priests. However, because much teaching in the past was based on what was then understood about scripture, the teaching about priesthood remains.

Metaphors and Images

The nuptial analogy is a Christian extension of images from the Song of Songs, a love poem in the Old Testament, in which, according to Catholic teaching, the lover is Jesus and the beloved is the church. Jesus is male, and the church is female. Priests represent Christ, and they embody “spiritual fatherhood” as well as the “maternal authority” of the church.

In the church, likewise, priests have both male and female roles to play: male as person, female as church member. Women have nothing to represent which they are not; hence they are always only female.

24 In “persona Christi” describes the priest’s cultic function. He stands in the person and the role of Christ. Maleness is required for this role. A female priest could not be recognized as Christ and would confuse the faithful.

Church-as-woman has Mary the mother of Jesus as its models and norm. The church, like Mary, is passive and receptive.

Sacrament of Holy Orders

The Church has no authority to change the substance of a sacrament, hence holy orders must remain closed to women. There will always be seven sacraments for men and six for women.

Authority

The magisterium, the teaching authority of the church, determines and enforces church law. According to certain procedures, the church teaches “infallibly” and pronounces teachings to be “definitively held”.

Infallibility derives from God’s revelation and keeps the church from error in matters of faith and morals. All decision making power ultimately is tied to priestly ordination.

Discipline and punishment are necessary to preserve the deposit of faith and to fight heresy. These tools include silencing the unorthodox clerics and theologians and excommunicating Catholics charged with heresy.

Modern World

Women’s progress in society prompts the church to examine women’s roles more closely and to encourage their accomplishments in society.

But women’s rights in society are not the same as those in the church, where women’s participation is divinely limited.

The priesthood has two kinds of roles to play. Priests are both father and mother, priest and church, head and body, male and female. They must be effective models of each role in relation to its place in the earthly hierarchy, which mirrors the heavenly hierarchy.

Justice

Priesthood is not a matter of justice. No one has a “human right” to ordination.

Reception and Assent

Reception and assent of a teaching by the faithful are required for that teaching to be valid.

The faithful receive a teaching and assent to it when they put it into practice. A believer cannot be forced into receiving a doctrine or teaching that seems untrue.

25 C. ADDRESSING THE CHURCH’S ARGUMENTS AGAINS WOMEN IN ORDAINED MINISTRIES

Canon 212:3 (Although Pope John Paul II’s 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis declared an end to the official debate over female ordination, we plea for this discussion to continue, in part, under our rights and responsibilities given in this Canon.)

In accord with the knowledge, competence and preeminence which they possess, the Christian faithful have the right and even at times, a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of faith and morals and reverence towards their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons.

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 Because Jesus was male, the ordained person—as Christ’s representative—must also be male; a woman cannot be an ‘image’ of Christ.

The contemporary Catholic appeal to Eucharistic representation as barring women from the priesthood arose as the result of an important theological development, namely, the designation of the ordained priest as acting ‘in the person of Christ” (in persona Christi) —originally attributed to Thomas Aquinas, but more fully taught in Vatican II documents, i.e., “the priest acts not only through the effective power conferred on him by Christ, but in persona Christi, taking the role of Christ, to the point of being His very image, when he pronounces the words of consecration.” The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (mistakenly, according to many theologians) concluded that those who take Christ’s role must have a natural resemblance to him and that therefore, “his role must be taken by a man”, citing “we can never ignore the fact that Christ is a man.” (from the “Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood”, Paul VI, 1976).

Although we acknowledge that the officiant at the Lord’s Supper does fulfill a certain representational function, we must point out that this representation is more vocal than actual. The word that the minister speaks, rather than the minister’s person determines the validity of the sacrament (hence, e.g., the possibility that Eucharist offered by a pedophile priest is ‘still valid’). Thus, a fit minister of the sacrament, one whose ministry makes the sacrament valid and efficacious, is not one whose person/gender/nationality represents Christ but one whose word, whose proclamation, speaks the Word of Christ.” (Chapman in Grenz, p. 204). If we don’t require the priest to resemble Christ by being a Jewish rabbi, why do we require the priest to be male? “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” [Gal. 3:28].

Actually, if we pay attention to the words of Scripture that recall the Eucharistic event (the words that are repeated in all of our Eucharistic prayers), we say “...he took bread and gave you thanks. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: Take this, all

26 of you, and eat it:…When supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples …. Do this in memory of me.” Jesus addressed many more than the imagined ‘12 male apostles’ and commanded all of them to ‘do this’ in memory of him.

Furthermore, since many communicants view the Eucharistic celebration as an event in which the priest acts as Christ, offering our Lord’s body and blood to God, or simply as a reenactment of the Last Supper in which the priest acts the part of Jesus, an all-male clergy actually perpetuates theological misconceptions about the Eucharist, obscuring the central affirmation of Catholic Eucharistic theology which holds that Christ and his sacrifice are contained and communicated within the consecrated elements, “in Whom and with Whom and through Whom” all of his people are to find, participate in, adore, receive, and share and from which we are all to bring him to the world.

Additionally, to address arguments by those who hold that Jesus’ maleness is ‘ontological’ (the essence of his eternal reality) and retained in his exalted state…..Aside from the fact that since Jesus is God and we can have no certitude about his eternal being-ness, Roman Catholic scholars (basing their theology on Scripture!!!) have long- dismissed this position. The great declarations of the Incarnation in the New Testament emphasize that Christ became human, not that he became male. John announces that ‘the Word became flesh’ [John 1:14]; and in speaking of Jesus Christ as “being born in human likeness” [Phil. 2:7], Paul purposely used the general Greek word anthrōpos (human), rather than the gender-specific anēr (man). The Nicene Creed clearly declared that our Lord became a human being (from enanthrōpeō), thereby taking to himself the likeness of all who are included within the scope of his saving work. For the Nicean Council writers, specifically, Bishop St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the Church (converted to Christianity by his pious wife Nonna) the focus on the inclusiveness of Jesus’ humanity was a theological necessity based on an important theological principle: “what the Son did not assume in the incarnation he could not redeem.” (Grentz, p. 206) Requiring maleness for ministry opposes the inclusive significance of Christ’s saving work; a priestly ministry of women and men jointly (which mirrors the reality of the early post-Resurrection years!!!) is the only theologically sound image of the universally redemptive Christ. Roman Catholic E. J. Kilmartin wrote (Gretz, p.208):

“Since the priest directly represents the Church united in faith and love, the old argument against the ordination of women to the priesthood, based on the presupposition that the priest directly represents Christ and so should be male, becomes untenable. Logically the representative role of the priest seems to demand both male and female office bearers in the proper cultural context; for the priest represents the one church, in which distinctions of race, class, and sex have been transcended, where all are measured by the one norm: faith in Christ.” His thesis (based on Paul’s image of the Body of Christ) is our summary….We do not reflect the divine image as isolated individuals but as a corporate whole, the ‘fellow’- ship of Christ’s disciples who make up his body…the church, the Eucharist, the community of believers of every race, class and sex, is the ontological representation of Christ. If the clergy is to be the ontological representation of our Lord according to “Christ’s one new created reality” [Eph 2:15] in which distinctions of race, class and gender are overcome [Gal. 3:28], the church—if it claims to represent Christ—is best represented by an ordained ministry consisting of persons from various races, from all social classes, and from both genders.

27 Finally, a word about the significance of sexuality in the constitution of the human person….Our maleness or femaleness (and varieties thereof) is an indispensable dimension of our existence as a bodied human creature. So Jesus’ maleness was integral to his personality and to the mission he chose; in fact only a male could have offered the radical critique of the power systems of his day (and sadly of our day 2,000 years later!!!) ….But rather than enthroning the male as God’s ideal for humankind, the maleness of Jesus provided the vehicle whereby his earthly life could reveal the radical difference between God’s ideal and the structures that characterize human social interaction (still!). Only the enfranchised can grant rights to the disenfranchised; to be a liberator of both male and female, Jesus needed to be male. Jesus freed males from the role of domination that belongs to the fallen world, in order that they can be truly male; Jesus freed women (hard to believe!) from the patriarchal system where sex determined worth and rank. In the church we can best reflect the liberating significance of Jesus’ incarnation as a male by following the principle of egalitarian mutuality that he pioneered (and that managed to survive in some form, as we have shown, until 1000CE).

While the necessary soteriological maleness of Christ is recognized, the ontological humanness of Christ must be honored.

The moral challenge to choose complementarity over hierarchy still remains.

 Jesus didn’t choose any female apostles

The arguments set forth most strongly in "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis" and "Inter Insigniores" indicate that current teaching is primarily based on Christ's manner of acting in selecting the Twelve as a model for ordained ministry. Special emphasis is placed on the presence of the Twelve at the Last Supper, yet it is implausible that only the Twelve were present at the Last Supper. • In [Mark 14: 47-52], an unnamed bystander runs from the garden of Gethsemane naked. Tradition holds that this was Mark, himself, who was not a member of the Twelve. Another possibility is that it was Lazarus. In either case, if the youth was present in the garden, was he not also present at the supper? • [Luke 24:13-35] indicates that a disciple named Cleopas recognized Christ in the breaking of the bread on Resurrection Sunday. It would seem that Cleopas was present at the Last Supper, for else how would he associate "the breaking of bread" with Jesus? • In none of the accounts that we have of the Last Supper is any exclusive reference made to the presence of the Twelve or those with the title Apostle. • The Eucharistic prayers of the Church also use the word disciple, preserving the traditional suggestion of a wider participation. • Our Blessed Mother was at the foot of the cross in Jerusalem on Good Friday. It is implausible that she did not share the paschal feast with her Son the night before, in this city so far from home. It is recorded that Our Blessed Mother was later present in the upper room [Acts 1:14]. • Likewise, it is plausible that the meal was prepared by a number of women: would they not have shared in it, as was normal Jewish practice for Seder meals? • [Luke 10:1-2] indicates that Christ ordained 72 people other than the Twelve. Saint Eusebius interprets [Luke 10:1-2] in this fashion in Book 1.12 of "The History of the Church".

28 • It is implausible that Christ, whose attitudes toward women were so shocking in their day, would not have permitted women to serve him in priestly ministry [John 4:27]. • Mary Magdalene and other women were the first to come to faith in the resurrected Lord, and they witnessed to the Eleven in all resurrection accounts. • “Scholars continue to debate exactly when and how the offices of bishop (elder- presbyter) and deacon before the end of the first century, became associated with presiding over the Eucharistic celebrations of their communities (and in the case of the apostles, whether they ever did).” – Stasiak, p. 59. In other words, the gospels paint a plausible picture of the Last Supper as a banquet more akin to a wedding feast foreshadowing that heavenly wedding banquet where we will eat and drink with the Master with the Father. Perhaps the Twelve sat at the head table, but it plausible that others were present.

Definition of ‘apostle’ = ‘one being sent’

While Luke generally intends it to mean one of the ‘original twelve’ + Paul, the other NT writings indicate that there were many more apostles in the early communities, (men and women both ‘who had witnessed the Risen Christ’ and who were at Pentecost)

After the death of Jesus c. 30 CE, his followers gathered in Jerusalem, where women as well as men participated in the foundational Pentecostal event, when, it is believed, the Christian church received its identity and its mission to the world (were we to check back on any pictures of this event that we may have seen, it is highly likely that, apart from Mary the mother of Jesus, there is not a woman in sight!). Yet, as the author of the Acts of the Apostles reports, ‘they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.’ [Acts 2:1-4] This period of the 30s and 40s is without any written source, so the events are conjectured from comments at a later period. What we do know is that women and men in considerable numbers came to be ‘followers of the Way’…we hear of sermons preached about the Spirit being poured out on ‘all flesh’, and about sons and daughters prophesying – ‘even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” [Acts 2:17-18]. Christianity offered new choices to those who heretofore had no choice about their state of life; slaves, women, the poor, the Gentiles and other marginal people were inserted into a pattern of life that benefited all. Specifically, the free association of the sexes was practically unheard of in the ancient world and brought opprobrium on the Christian community in many places (Paul deliberately reported that he arrested men and women alike). This new, radical life structure sought to implement an inclusive community of shared discipleship, instead of the normative roles of society and marriage.

Consider a few women that have straightforwardly been named ‘apostles’:

Mary his mother, ‘the first Apostle’, who right at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, states the reason for Jesus’ coming – ‘to bring down the powerful from their thrones, and lift up the lowly.’[Lk 1:52]— she is the premier spokesperson of the good news of salvation, not the submissive, retiring stereotype that she had become in later ages…to quote Pope Paul VI (cf., Malone, p. 45): “the modern woman will note with surprise that Mary of Nazareth, while completely devoted to the will of God, was far from being a timidly submissive woman…on the contrary, she was a woman who did not hesitate to proclaim that God

29 vindicates the humble and the oppressed, and removes the powerful people of this world from their privilege positions.” Mary Magdalene, called ‘the Apostle to the apostles’ by Bernard of Clairvaux as late as the 12th Century and by many others before. Pope Hippolytus (d. 236) addressed the role of women in early Christianity.. “Lest the female apostles doubt the angels, Christ himself came to them so that the women would be apostles of Christ and by their obedience rectify the sin of the ancient Eve… Christ showed himself to the male apostles and said to them., ‘It is I who appeared to the women and I who wanted to send them to you as apostles.’” (Brock, p. 43) Gregory of Antioch (d. 593) (Brock, p.15) in Oratio in Mulieres Ungentiferas XI, PG 88, 1863-64: “portrays Jesus as appearing to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary at the tomb and saying to them: “Be the first teachers to the teachers. So that Peter who denied me learns that I can also choose women as apostles.’” Her leadership of Jesus’ women disciples is a constant in all the gospels, as is her mission to proclaim the Resurrection (ie., without her and the other women we would be left with no eye- witness accounts of the Resurrection!!!) She so in fact fulfilled all the requirements of being an apostle, and was for centuries recognized as such on her July 22 feast day, by the recitation of the Creed (as befitted all ‘apostles’). Phoebe, named by Paul as ‘sister’, ‘deacon of the church at Cenchreae’, and ‘a prostatis of many and of myself as well.’[Rom 16:1-2]. Although commentators have attempted to reduce the significance of the titles ‘deacon’ and ‘prostatis’ to make Phoebe a kind of generalized helper or servant of Paul’s, Paul gives her the same authority as the male deacons he names, e.g., Timothy (Malone, p. 72). When Origen (early 3rd century theologian) wrote about Pheobe he understood her to be officially ordained for the ministry of the church; later in the 4th century, John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote of her “You see that these were noble women, hindered in no way by their sex in the course of virtue; and this is as might be expected for in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female.” (Malone, p. 123). Junia in Rome, missionary of whom St. Paul wrote “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. [Rom 16:7]. We might note that Paul had had to defend vigorously his own calling to be an apostle, so he was not likely to use the term loosely for anyone else, unless he was convinced of the person’s authenticity. It is clear that Junia was a woman with authority in the early church and was significant enough to be arrested for her activities. John Chrysostom, (Doctor of the Church, d. 381) said “Oh how great is the devotion of this woman, that she should be even counted worthy of the appellation of apostle!”. -- see Bristow pp.57 Sadly, the apostleship of Junia so bothered many later male commentators that she was changed into a male apostle—Junias—and only recently discovered by female exegetes to be ‘female.’

30  The “husband is head of his wife, just as Christ is head of the church” [Eph 5:23]

See Bristow pp 32-49….one must examine what Paul actually wrote in Greek rather than just a translation !!!

for ‘head’, Paul did not use arche (“leader”, “boss”, “chief”, “ruler”), but he purposely used kephale (“one who went before the troops into battle”)

 “As the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be subject to their husbands in everything.” [Eph 5:24]

(See Bristow, pp 38-41)

One might assume Paul is telling wives to obey their husbands as a subject would obey their king, but….. first of all, Eph. 5:21 must be noted: “Be subject to one another out of reverence to Christ.” (it’s impossible for a group of people to be obedient to one another)

for ‘subject to’, Paul did not use hupakouo (hoop-ah-KOO-o) as in a slave being subject to the master Paul did not use peitharcheo (peith-ar-KAY-o) – as in obedience to God or to a ruler, but he purposely used hupotasso (hoop-o-TASS-0) in its ‘middle voice’ form – i.e., he’s asking the wives to voluntarily “give allegiance to”, “tend to the needs of”, “be supportive of”, “be responsive to”, “to place oneself at the disposition of” the Greek derivative, hupotassomai, which describes taking a position in a phalanx of soldiers…there being no reference to any rank or status…its inferring an equal sharing of the task for which the soldiers were ordered by the general…. In that sense, Paul could tell all the members of the Church to be subject to (hupotassomai) one another, …..for this is not a ranking of persons as ruler and ruled. It is a concise appeal for the Church to have its members live out their call to be “the body of Christ and individually members of it” [1 Cor. 12:27; Rom. 12:15; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; Eph. 2:16, 3:6, 4:4,16; Col. 1:18]; to be willing to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” [Gal. 6:2]. Bristow, p. 41

In summary: Paul’s deliberate choice of words with its subtle (and now long lost) analogy to the military phalanx implies that the husband is the head when he ‘sticks his neck out’ and goes first into battle, and that the wife is subject to her husband only by standing in formation with him, sharing the risks with him and obeying the same orders as he is obeying (i.e, their joint mission in the Lord). Since Christ’s aim was not to ‘boss’ the church, but to purify and

31 sanctify it, in the same sense, husbands are to be head of their wives, not to lord anything over them, but to love them and serve them, even be willing to die for them, and wives are to be supportive of and serve their husbands.

 “…women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak” [1 Cor 14: 34]

For ‘silent’ Paul did not use phimoo = to forcibly ‘shut up’ but he purposely used sigao (sig-AH-o) = an awed quiet or purposeful silence (used to describe, e. g., the apostles’ response to the Transfiguration and Jesus’ silence before Pilate)

For ‘speak’ there are 30 Greek word translations – so when Paul wrote that women are not allowed to ‘speak’ in church, greatest care must be taken that the correct meaning is derived.

For ‘speak’ Paul did not write that women are not to preach, or teach, or declare, or give a discourse, or proclaim, or affirm or aver, or speak for something, or any other of the distinctive meanings found in many of those 30 words!!! But he purposely used laleo (the only Greek word that simply means ‘talk’), essentially to instruct the women not to converse during worship.

Because women in Paul’s churches had gathered previously and separately in the far-removed balconies of the Jewish synagogues to observe the men at worship (and were accustomed to freely catching up on news with their neighbors), they didn’t know that now when they gathered with the men in the churches, they couldn’t ‘talk’.

Indeed, Paul acknowledged and approved of women praying and prophesying during public worship and this is widely recorded:

“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and …on my male slaves and on my female slaves in those days I shall pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy” [Acts 2:17-18]

Besides Paul himself, seven men and four women are identified as prophets in the Book of Acts [Acts 11:27, 13:1, 15:32, 21:9,10]. These women were the daughters of Philip, one of the original seven deacons of the church in Jerusalem [Acts 6:5]. Paul referred to the act of women praying and prophesying during public worship, and did so in a casual manner, as if such a practice were well-established [1 Cor 11:4-5]

32  “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” [1 Tim. 2: 12-13]

Jewish women were not included in formal education. It was permissible for a man to teach Scripture to both boys and girls, but a woman could not teach even the youngest of children in a school and more than one rabbi believed that ‘if a man gives his daughter a knowledge of the Law, it is as though he taught her lechery’ and ‘there is no wisdom in woman except with the distaff.’

But whenever Paul established a church, he insisted that women were to be educated in the faith. In outlandish variance with Jewish and Greek customs he began this passage in 1 Timothy with ‘let a woman learn.’ Paul’s desire that women be educated in the faith was both radical in thought and difficult in execution. Women were not used to listening to lectures or thinking about theological concepts, or studying at all. Normally bound to the solitude of home or limited in social contact to their own husbands and children, these women had an opportunity to visit with one another in classroom settings. Therefore, Paul had to instruct them to learn, but in ‘silence with all subjection.’ [1 Tim 2:11] i.e., in hesuchia (restful silence, meditative study) with hupotassomai (being responsive to others’ needs to listen, their own need to hear, and the teacher’s need to communicate). At the beginning of Paul’s efforts to facilitate women learning, there would have been no women educated enough to teach others, so of course, the instruction that no women be permitted to teach or have authority in matters of faith. Finally, because of the potential scandals that might arise, unfairly, in an attempt to educate women in the Church, Paul urged Christian women to dress modestly and adorn themselves with good deeds [1 Tim. 2:9-10].  What Paul Really Said About Women

Throughout most of church history, the apostle Paul has held the reputation of being what one might call the “Great Christian Male Chauvinist” toward women.

Although women had fared well with Jesus, appearing as central figures in many of the greatest parables and episodes of the Gospels, their degradation apparently began with St Paul.

Paul’s writings about women have been cited throughout the centuries as authority for the notion that women are second-class citizens in the kingdom of God and the Church.

However, Paul was not a believer in the inferiority of women. He did not advocate a secondary roe for women in the church. He did not teach the notion of a divine hierarchy with husbands ruling over their wives. Instead, the apostle Paul consistently championed the principle of sexual equality within the church and the home. He carefully selected his words in writing about women and marriage, challenging the social roles for women in his age and the philosophy and theology that defined these roles.

33 Unfortunately, the Gentiles whom Paul sought to convert to a faith in Jesus Christ brought with them the Greek notions of female inferiority.

Those who first quoted Paul and interpreted his writings were themselves bearers of centuries of Greek philosophy. They understood Paul from the viewpoint of their own culture and customs which had designated female sexuality as a force to be controlled and dominated, culture that subordinated women as wives, mistresses, and slaves. The ideal Athenian woman, according to Xenophon, a disciple of Socrates, was one who “might see as little as possible, hear as little as possible, and ask as little as possible.”

From the classic period, especially in the teachings of Aristotle, came the conviction that women are inferior to men….“The courage of a man is shown in commanding, of a woman in obeying.” Aristotle left to the world a fascinating assortment of lectures on various subjects, including a collection on natural history. In his discourse on insects, he noted that a single bee will lead a vast swarm of bees to a new location, where they will industriously build a new nest and establish their complex society. And because the swarm follows one individual, Aristotle unquestioningly assumed that this single leader must be male, the “king bee.” Centuries passed before naturalists corrected this false impression with objective observation ! (Bristow, p. 5)

Church leaders who themselves were a product of Greco-Roman culture and education interpreted Paul’s writings from the perspective of those philosophies, even to the point of assuming that when Paul wrote of the husband being the head of the wife, he was simply restating Aristotle’s analogy of the husband being to his wife like one’s soul to one’s body.

Tertullian (160-230CE), Roman lawyer and leading defender of the Christian faith, used the traditional interpretation of Eve’s sin to condemn all women…He wrote “woman…do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of your lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the devil’s gateway; you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree; you are the first deserter of the divine law; you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God’s image in man. On account of your desert—that is, death—even the Son of God had to die.” (in Bristow, p. 28)

Gregory of Nyssa (331-396), one of the fathers of the Eastern church taught that marriage and sexual intimacy were detrimental to one’s spirituality…that if Eve hadn’t sinned and human beings had remained in a state of innocence, then the human race in Paradise would have been multiplied by some means other than copulation.

Augustine (354-430 CE), wrote that God made woman and man only in order to provide a means for the continuation of the human race and regarded marriage as “a covenant with death”, imagining that if sin had not entered the world, reproduction would have been accomplished, without ardent or wanton incentive, and with calmness of soul and body. Augustine deeply influenced the thinking of subsequent generations to the point that his theology became authoritative for the Church, further supporting sexual bias in favor of male church leaders. It is shocking to note that he wrote with approval (!) of his mother Monica having had to learn to ‘walk on eggshells’ in order to escape the wrath of her husband, Patricius, and that he described the women companions of his mother, who frequently bore the marks of bruises on their faces and bodies. They were, he solemnly stated, doubtless to blame for their predicament, as women are made for submission, and any attempt to change that opens them to the punishment they deserve. (Malone, p. 154)

34 Aquinas (1225-1274CE) did more than any other to systematize Christian beliefs and to harmonize them with Greek philosophy. In this monumental task, Aquinas interpreted the writings of St. Paul through the mind of Aristotle and the Greek depreciation of women became solidly infused with Christian theology. The Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas assumed that Paul’s calling the husband the ‘head’ meant the same as Aristotle’s philosophy that described the relation of a husband to his wife is, in a certain way, like that of a master to his servant, insofar as the latter ought to be governed by the command of his master. Thomas missed the point of Paul’s analogy, how being the head as Christ is the head of the Church means being a servant of all, being willing to give up life itself for the body. Furthermore, he disregarded all of Paul’s writings that would defend the notion that women and men are equal in the eyes of God, stating instead, “only the male actually or habitually knows and loves God, not the female, for man is the beginning and end of woman, just as god is the beginning and end of every creature. Woman, therefore, can fulfill her divine destiny only in the matter of bearing children for man; she was not fitted to help man except in generation, because another man would have proved a more effective help in anything else.”

Contrarily though, Paul’s writings and models place the highest possible value upon marriage. Paul could pay no greater honor ton the institution of marriage than he did, patterning marriage after the bond between the Savior and those whom he loved more than life itself.

In Jewish worship, the front doors of the synagogue and the main floor, the meeting hall itself, was used exclusively by men. Women might be present in public worship, but only in a separate chamber, silent and unseen.

Paul’s practice of having women and men together in worship and his approval of women as well as men leading in worship must have shocked his Jewish and pagan contemporaries.

Jesus set an example for his church, he taught both women and men. Many of these women were mentioned by name in the Gospels. At times this value Jesus gave to women as disciples embarrassed his male followers. Once when Jesus was found talking to a woman of Samaria about her faith, his male disciples watched with guarded silence. The marveled that he was speaking with a woman about her faith.

The importance of the place of women in the church is indicated by the fact that Paul (then Saul) arrested both men and women believers. If he found any persons belonging to “The Way”, both men and women, he might have brought them bound to Jerusalem. Since Paul began his relationship with Christianity by treating women the same as men, it seems unlikely that he would favor one over the other after his conversion.

In Paul’s letters, he acknowledged the value of women leaders within the churches. Some years after leaving Philippi, he wrote to the congregation there, entreating two women leaders, Euodia and Syntyche, to end a dispute between them the fact that he named these women indicates their importance within the church.

The sign of the new age according to the apostle Peter, is the pouring out of God’s Spirit so that both men and women, both young and old and both slave and free may speak for God. It is strange that the Church under the Apostles regarded this as a new age in Christ and yet forbid the women the right to give inspired messages to the Church. It was not until later, after the age of the Apostles, when the Greek attitude about women became dominant within the Church, that women were forbidden to preach.

35 Women exercised the gift of prophecy in the age of Paul. Besides Paul himself, seven men and four women are identified as prophets in the Book of Acts. Paul referred to the act of women praying and prophesying during public worship, and he did so in a casual manner, as if the practice were well established.

When Paul wrote in his letter to Corinth that “women should be silent in church” he was not saying that women should not preach. In practice, sexual equality among Christians led to disregard for orderliness and courtesy during worship, especially on the part of women who were not accustomed to listening to public speakers or to participating in public worship. To such women, Paul said, “Hush up”.

Whenever Paul established a church he insisted that women were to be educated in the faith. His desire that women be educated in the faith was both radical in thought and difficult in execution. Normally bound to the solitude of home or limited social contact to their own husband and children, these women had an opportunity to visit one another in classroom settings. Therefore Paul instructed that women are to learn, “in silence with all subjection”. He was telling women that they must learn, and do to do so, they must be quiet and respectful.

Paul faced a problem. He envisioned a unity between Jews and Gentiles through a common faith in Christ. In the Church, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, slaves and masters, women and men would all be equal. But he had to take into consideration the etiquette and dress of the time so as not to offend or shock anyone. In attempting to unify both Gentile and Jewish believers into one church, Paul felt the need to address the question of head coverings and hairstyles. In 1 Corinthians, he wrote specific instructions in an attempt to uphold one central principle: “Be without offense both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God, as I also in all things please all, not seeking my own advantage, but that of the many, in order that they may be saved”. Paul wanted his readers to accommodate themselves to practices that would not offend either Jewish or Gentile believers. What a woman did with her head held different social significance from what a man did with his. For a Jewish woman to loosen her hair in public would have been even more dramatic than for a woman to throw her wedding ring away. The principle behind the instructions is of being sensitive to what message our dress codes and styles convey to others.

Before Pentecost, women were not recognized as spiritually equal with men. But on that day, Peter proclaimed that both sons and daughters would prophesy and both men slaves and women slaves would receive the Holy Spirit.

The fact that angels came to women affirms the spiritual authority women may enjoy from God and that they may exercise within the church of Christ.

Soon after the age of the apostles, a notion arose within the church that true holiness and piety is achieved by a believer only if that person withdraws from entangling relationships with others and lives a life of solitude and denial. Celibacy became a means, if not a mark of holiness.

Greek philosophy warned men that love for a woman and sexual interest distracts a man from the higher pursuit of wisdom. Women, therefore, were seen as hindrances to intellectual and spiritual growth, a view not unlike that held by Christian hermits, forerunners of the monastic movement in church history. Early in the 2nd century, Soranus of Ephesus, one of the most noted Greek physicians in Rome at that time, taught that sexual intercourse was harmful and that “permanent virginity” was desirable.

36 Paul’s goal of unifying Jews and Gentiles in the church of Jesus Christ compelled him to address the issues of sexual mores and marriage customs among both cultures. His longest treatment of these issues is found in 1 Cor. 7:1-17, 25-40. He carefully distinguishes between those teachings that came from the Lord and those that were his own.

Paul instructed against premarital sex. It is better to marry than to be on fire.

The unmarried caress for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but the married one cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife and he has been divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin care for the things of the Lord, in order that she may be holy both in body and in the spirit; but the married one cares for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Being married can hinder one’s service to the Lord by dividing one’s loyalty between Christ and wife or husband. He was telling unmarried people to remain that way; because of the present hardships that believers must endure, he was saying, it is better not to have the responsibilities and cares that marriage bring. It is better to be unmarried if one must face persecution. However if one has decided to be married and is not under hardship of persecution, let him “keep his betrothed”. In other words, marry her.

Paul often reminded his readers that adultery is wrong, but he extended this truth to condemn the methods men employ to commit “legal adultery” as well.

Paul refused to echo the notion that women are the property of their husbands.

A husband cannot engage in sexual intercourse as he wills and with whom he wills, because his body is under the authority of his wife; and the same is true for a wife, for her body is under the authority of her husband.

Nowhere did Paul intimate that the purpose of marriage is procreation. Nor did he leave any room for the notion that sexual intercourse is harmful, demeaning or evil. He said that God’s design for marriage is that “the two shall become one flesh,” leaving no doubt that sexual, and not just spiritual intimacy was intended.

The notion that a celibate person is thereby more spiritual did not come from Paul but from the Greek philosophy of Stoicism. Moreover, the notion that single adults are not as spiritual as married persons would be challenged by Paul, as well by the example of Jesus and himself.

Paul’s plea for sexual purity and equality whether one is single or married, embodies the one idea of Christianity that was absolutely new to the ancient world. No other religion nor any philosophy had affirmed sexuality as a gift from God that must be exercised within specific moral boundaries, and no other religion nor any philosophy had so outspokenly declared the equality of men and women before God.

*** Paul’s Ideas vs Embedded Jewish, Greek and Roman Attitudes

Contrary to the reputation that he’s acquired, Paul’s instructions concerning women and marriage were in constant conflict with the teachings of Greco-Roman philosophers and Jewish rabbis

“A female is a deformed male” - (Aristotle) vs. Male and female are one in Christ, Paul declared (Gal.3:28) Woman was created because man needs woman [1Cor 11:9]

37 Men and women are to be separate during worship, Jewish custom dictated, and only men counted in determining a quorum (minyan) for worship. vs. Women as well as men are to lead in worship, Paul noted. (Cor. 11:4) “neither woman without man nor man without woman”—specifically concerning public worship! [1 Cor 11:11]

Women are inferior to men in their ability to reason, Aristotle argued. “If a man gives his daughter knowledge of the Law, it is as though he taught her lechery.” (1st C Rabbi Eliezer) vs. Women are to learn, Paul insisted. (1 Tim. 2:11)

Sexual intercourse is harmful, many Stoics believed, and marriage distracts a man from study of philosophy. Marriage and sexual intimacy are a gift from God, Paul observed. (1 Cor. 11:12; Eph. 5:31; compare Gen. 1:27, 2.22-25)

A man who is not married is not even a man, declared the Jewish Mishnah. However, in such a time as this, it is better for a believer who is unmarried to remain single, taught Paul.(1 Cor. 7:7, 25-35, 39-40)

A man’s courage is in commanding, a woman’s in obeying, asserted Aristotle. Husbands and wives are to be responsive to the needs of each other, Paul instructed. (1 Cor. 7:3-5; Eph. 5:22-33)

Prostitution is an ancient and hallowed institution, the Greeks espoused. Sexual intimacy must be confined to marriage, Paul insisted. (1 Cor. 6:15-20, 7:1-2, 36-38)

Ever since Eve, the Jews were taught, women have been morally weak and a source of temptation to men. Woman is the glory of man, stated Paul (1 Cor. 11:7) ------

With Aquinas’ interpretation of the words of the apostle Paul based upon the authority of Aristotle and Augustine, the depreciation of womanhood was completely infused into Christian theology. The understanding of subjection of the woman that Aquinas held, however, was not the one that had been commended by Jesus for all his disciples (Mark 10:42-45) nor the one that had been commended by Paul for all church members, including husbands and wives.

Surely in the long history of Christian teachings regarding the relationship of women and men, the model that gained favor in the Church was not the one voiced by Paul, but by a pagan philosopher five centuries older, defended in the sanctuaries and cathedrals of the Christian faith by quoting the words of Paul, as translated, out of context, without reference to the ideal close to Paul’s heart that he so earnestly sought for the church, that there be sexual equality among Christians, “neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.

38 IV. SOME ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CURRENTLY WORKING TO EDUCATE AND PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ISSUE

A. FUTURE CHURCH

The following is from www.futurechurch.org......

There is significant evidence that there were churches in the fourth to sixth centuries that remained in communion with Rome and also had women priests. Dr. Giorgio Otranto, Director of the Institute for Classical and Christian Studies at the University of Bari, Italy, discovered iconographic evidence of women presiding over the Eucharist in ancient catacomb frescos. Otranto cites a letter from fifth century Pope Gelasius I scolding bishops in southern Italy for allowing women "to officiate at the sacred altars, and to take part in all matters imputed to the offices of the male sex..." He also points to the letters of a ninth century Italian bishop, Atto of Vercelli, substantiating the use of the word "presbytera" to refer to women priests. In the early 1970s Roman Catholic married men and women priests were ordained in Czechoslovakia by Bishop Felix M. Davidek to meet the needs of the underground church and to minister to Catholic women in prison. Women in all parts of the world feel called to priestly ministry. In her book Like Bread, their Voices Rise (1993), Sr. Frances Bernard O'Connor, CSC, shares her interviews with women from Bangladesh, Uganda, and Brazil. Women in all of these countries state that they too feel called to ordination, and believe women should be allowed to exercise priestly leadership. Women and men from England, Ireland, Belgium, Australia, Germany, France, Canada, and the Netherlands have organized to work for women's ordination.

B. ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMENPRIESTS Although the MagIsterium completely refutes their position, the Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) organization claims it is an international initiative within the Roman Catholic Church. The mission of “Roman Catholic Womenpriests North America” is to spiritually prepare, ordain, and support women and men from all states of life, who are theologically qualified, who are committed to an inclusive model of Church, and who are called by the Holy Spirit and their communities to minister within the Roman Catholic Church. The group "RC Womenpriests" receives its authority from Roman Catholic bishops who stand in full Apostolic Succession. These bishops bestowed sacramentally valid ordinations on women, with all documents pertaining to these ordinations having been attested to and notarized. All minutes of the ordinations, including data about persons, Apostolic Succession, and rituals, together with films and photos are deposited with a Notary Public. (see Appendix for listings of the 70 ordination events since 1970) Bishop Patricia Fresen (former Dominican nun of 45 years and a former seminary professor in South Africa) who oversees the movement’s formation program for candidates in English-speaking countries, reported (NCR, 12.7.07)

39 that she has five assistant program coordinators, and that they can barely keep up with all the applicants. Among Catholics generally, reactions range from joy to disdain. The first ordinations in 1974 resulted in formal excommunication for the Danube Seven (ironically enough on the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene, “Apostle to the Apostles”) by the Vatican, the decree being signed by then Cardinal Ratzinger. Subsequent ordinations have solicited no Vatican reactions, leaving it to local dioceses to decide the best response. Roman Catholic Womenpriests believes: 1. Women and men are created equal by God and can therefore equally represent Christ; 2. Jesus offered an example of inclusiveness and respect of persons that led, in the early Church, to the practice of ordaining women and men from all states of life as deacons, priests, and bishops; 3. That no intrinsic connection exists between priesthood and mandatory celibacy; 4. We are called by the Holy Spirit from within our communities to follow Jesus as our model of empowerment and generous service, rejecting all forms of domination and control; 5. We are called to live as a community of equals, inclusive and respectful of differences; 6. We are called to transform hierarchical structures by creating new, community-based structures for discernment and the recognition of the gifts of all; 7. We are called to a model of ministerial priesthood that is grounded in our common Baptism, in prophetic obedience to the Spirit, in a teaching authority based on Scripture and Tradition, and in "reading the signs of the times"; 8. We are called to renew Theology, Liturgy, and Pastoral Practice to better reflect the spirit and teachings of the Second Vatican Council as expressed in Gaudium et Spes. Roman Catholic Womenpriests pledges to: 1. Exercise collegial leadership in all our decision-making processes. 2. Operate on the principle of subsidiarity in governance, recognizing that decisions affecting local and regional communities are made at those levels. 3. Honor the spiritual authority of women, the faith experience of women, and the history of women's service to the church and the Gospel by giving all our members an equal voice in governance. 4. Support candidates seeking ordination by helping them discover their particular giftedness and their call to a specific pastoral ministry. 5. Elect all office holders by democratic process, after extensive consultation with all members, ordained and non-ordained. 6. Set term limits for administrative office holders. 7. Institute a periodic review of structures.

40 8. Hold one another to mutual accountability, spiritual authenticity, and moral integrity consistent with Gospel values. 9. Support ourselves financially, each according to her or his profession. Roman Catholic Womenpriests envisions: 1. The RCWP initiative as a renewal movement within the Roman Catholic Church that is transitional, and whose goal is to achieve full equality for women and men within the Church. 2. RCWP as a communion of local and regional entities whose common purpose is to promote the ordination of women and men in full Apostolic Succession as a matter of justice and faithfulness to the Gospel. They hope that in the future Christian communities can return to choosing and ordain their own leaders, whether married men, women or gays; they hope that in the future, offices won’t be needed, but that, as in the early church, people will be ordained to use their various gifts—ordained to do liturgies, but also ordained to feed the hungry, to visit the sick. C. THE DUTCH DOMINICANS (Material is abstracted from McClory, Robert J., “The Dutch Plan: Will Innovation Save this Church?”, NCR, 12.14.07) According to the Catholic Institute for Social-Religious Research, there were in the Netherlands in 2006: 4.3 million Catholics/ 16 million people – a decrease of 700,000 since 2000 and a decrease of 1.3 million since 1980. This reality is even starker since 60% consider themselves Catholic in name only and never go to Mass and since Sunday Mass attendance is only 7% of the 4.3 million. Also, in 2006: 950 diocesan priests (ordinations 10-15/yr for whole country) 1990: 2,150 diocesan priests 1980: 3,400 diocesan priests In September, 2007 the Dutch province of the Dominican religious order distributed to all 1,425 parishes in the country, “Church and Ministry”, which proposes that because of a serious shortage of priests and a revised theology of ministry coming from Vatican II, the time is at hand for parish communities to designate laypersons to preside at the Eucharist in place of priests—a form of ordination from below. The booklet also declares that current church law, which bars women and married men from priestly service, stems from a “historically outdated philosophy of humankind and an antiquated view of sexuality.” In “Church and Ministry”, the Dominicans put forward such “new possibilities’ as this: “Men and women can be chosen to preside at the Eucharist by the church community; that is, ‘from below’, and can then ask a local bishop to ordain these people ‘from above.’ If however, “a bishop should refuse confirmation or ordination” of such person “on the basis of arguments not involving the essence of the Eucharist, such as a requirement that deacons or priests be celibate,” parishes may move forward without the bishops’ participation, remaining confident “that they are able to celebrate a real and genuine Eucharist when they are together in prayer and share bread and wine.”

41 Similar declarations have come from progressive theologians and other reform-minded Catholics for years, but this document, approved by an entire province of a respected religious order, is particularly dramatic. Holland’s eminent Dominican theologian, Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx, contended in his 1980 book Ministry: Leadership in the Community of Jesus Christ that the church had gone awry by connecting the faithful’s right to Eucharist to some “magical power” of the hierarchy to ordain, thereby disconnecting it from the community of Christians. He noted that the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century had declared any ordination of a priest or deacon illegal, as well as null and void, unless the person being ordained had been chosen by a particular community to be its leader. Schillebeeckx’s ideas, expressed in some 400 books and articles, published in 14 languages, have influenced several generations of Catholic thinkers. Although he has endured years of Vatican scrutiny and the Vatican has publicly rejected some of his ideas, he has managed to escape both silencing and censure and is looking forward to the publication of his latest book, a collection of 60 of his homilies, with a title still being fine-tuned, but something like “Weren’t Our Hearts Burning Within Us: Theology as a Model for Proclamation.” Today at 93years of age, he reflects on the state of Catholic Christianity with uncertainty… he says he fears the institutional church “no longer has enough movement toward Jesus Christ” and that today’s deeply spiritual, compassionate youth are “choosing their own vision of Christianity”…. Yet, he remains “always optimistic”… “I believe in God and in Jesus Christ”…. “and what else would one need?”

CONCLUSION:

Of course, this presentation has barely introduced the expertise, scope, depth and diligence of hundreds of scholars; hopefully, it will inspire the reader to studiously and vociferously challenge the distortion and deprivation of the Christian story with regard to gender equality. As for ourselves, our conviction deepens daily concerning the flawed and partial realization of Christ’s vision. Our gratitude grows with each new discovery; and although despair resurfaces as each post-Vatican II decade passes with evermore pervasive reform retraction attempts, it is countered by a Hope that can never be extinguished, that Christ’s kin-dom will indeed be realized in God’s time and that we will see it.

FINAL PROJECT

LEMP, 2008

42 CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE

APPENDICES

Submitted By:

Susan Provost Maggie Saunders Mary Wagner William McManus

CATHOLIC CHURCH SOCIAL TEACHING DOCUMENTS with respect to

Justice and Gender Issues in Church Ministry and Governance

(from Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret by DeBerri and Hug)

43 Gaudium et Spes, Second Vatican Council, 1965 [pp. 62-65]

 Human dignity depends on freedom to obey one’s conscience (#16)  All must work for the common good (#26)  The Church and humanity experience the same earthly situation (#40)  History, science, and culture reveal the true nature of the human person (#41)  The Church needs to purify itself continually (#43)  Strenuous work is needed…to liberate people from ignorance (#60)  Everyone has a right to culture, thought, and expression (#60)  Women should participate in cultural life (#60)  Development of the whole person should be fostered (#61)  Christian thinking should be expressed in ways consistent with culture (#62)

Octogesima Adveniens, Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI, 1971 [pp. 73-74]

 Given the wide diversity of situations in the world, each local church has responsibility to discern and act (#4)  Women possess an equal right to participate in social, cultural, economic and political life (#13)

Statement of the Synod of Bishops, 1971 [pp. 76-78]

 A modern paradox: forces for achieving human dignity seem strong (#7), but so do forces of division (…lack of participation) (#9)  Affirms the right to development as a basic human right (#15)  Dialogue with the participation of all…is needed to correct these injustices (#28)  Jesus gave himself for the salvation and liberation of all and associated himself with the ‘least’ (#31)  Anyone who ventures to preach justice should be perceived as being just (#40)  Rights within the Church must be respected for all, especially women and lay people (#43)  Rights include: decent wage, security, promotion, freedom of thought and expression, proper judicial procedures, and participation in decision-making process (#’s 45-46)

Redemptoris Missio, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1990 [pp. 99-102]

 Internal and external difficulties have weakened the Church’s missionary activity to non-Christians (#2)  The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of the Church’s mission (#21)  The gospels point to a pluralism, reflecting different experiences of communities, within the Church’s fundamental unity (#23)

44  The Spirit works in the Church and also in the heart of every person (#28)  Through inculturation, the Church becomes more intelligible and more effective (#52)  There is a new consensus among peoples about the value of the affirmation of the dignity and role of women (#86)

The Puebla Conference Document, Third Meeting of the Latin American Episcopal Conference, 1979 [pp. 172-175]

 Abuse of power has resulted in repression and violation of human rights (#’s 41-42)  Present church structures do not meet people’s need for the Gospel (#78)  Indifferentism, not atheism, is a major problem among intellectuals and professionals (#79)  The people are demanding justice, freedom, and respect for rights (#87)  Church supports the people’s yearning for a ‘full and integral liberation’ (#141)  New social structures and the role of the laity need to be emphasized for Church to fulfill its mission (#’s 152-154)  Freedom is the gift and task of human beings (#321)  Equality of all peoples, freedom, justice and self-determination are legitimate aspirations of the people (#’s 502-504)  Women have been pushed to the margins of society (#834)  Women possess full equality and dignity, and have a significant role to play in the mission of the Church (#’s 841, 845)

A Brief History of Events Significant to Women’s Ordained Ministry in the Church

30CE Women disciples witness the death and burial of Jesus. Mary of Magdala, the first witness of the resurrection, was commissioned by Jesus to be the apostle to the apostles [John 20:1-18].

45 30-35 Council of Jerusalem and momentous decision to preach to the Gentiles. 40s, ff Women administer house churches (Prisca , Chloe, Nympha, Lydia, and Mary the mother of John Mark, among others) as well as being evangelists 49 Persecution of Christians in Rome. Prisca and Aquila are expelled and start the Corinthian house-church (where Paul joins them). 50s Mission of the disciples continues, including the apostle Junia, Deacon Phoebe, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Peris, Euodia, and Syntyche. 60 Execution of Paul at Rome. 64 Fire of Rome and Neronian persecution of female and male Christians. 66-70 Destruction of the Temple. Scattering of Christians and Jews. 90s Adoption of Household Codes, which begins theological attempts to exclude women from core of Christianity 107 Letters of Ignatius of Antioch: one of first references to the Eve/Mary dichotomy 111 Correspondence of Pliny and Trajan, including the description of the torture in order to extract information about the lives of Christians of two Christian women slave deacons 112ff Age of Gnosticism: light and spirit are good, darkness and material things are evil. A person cannot be married and be perfect 150ff St Clement of Alexandria (150-215) testifies to women deacons 177 Blandina and Perpetua crucified in Lyons, France (both women were horribly tortured and as a result, egalitarianism in missionary efforts resurfaced) 178 Irenaeus becomes Bishop of Lyons and begins writing against gnostic heretics, including women (in order to escape restrictive patriarchal marriages women had begun to widely adopt ascetical virginity and were ‘preaching and teaching boldly and who ever were insisting on celebrating a form of the eucharist.’) He claims apostolic succession for himself, lays foundation for scriptural canon, and begins attempts to remove the public ministries of teaching, preaching and Eucharistic presidency from women in order for Christianity to be more acceptable to Roman rule. 180 (Approximately) The beginning of the apocryphal literature, outlining the lives of Thecla (co-apostle to Paul, revered as a saint on Oct.23rd, until Vatican II calendar revision), Mary Magdalen, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, among others. Clement of Alexandria begins writing to encourage Christians to marry. 200 (Approximately) Pope Hippolytus addressed the role of Women in early Christianity.. “Lest the female apostles doubt the angels, Christ himself came to them so that the women would be apostles of Christ …Christ showed himself to the male apostles and said to them., ‘It is I who appeared to the women and I who wanted to send them to you as apostles.’” 200ff The writings of Tertullian against pagans, Gnostics, heretics, and women. 202 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, gored in the arena at Carthage, N. Africa. From Perpetua’s own account, Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, we have the oldest piece of Christian literature available to us from a woman’s hand! We are allowed to enter into both of their lives as wives and mothers while imprisoned (Felicitas is pregnant and Perpetua is nursing a newborn), their physical and mental tortures, Perpetua’s preparation for her death, her love for her child, her sadness at disappointing her father for her faith’s sake, her ministry to and leadership of the other prisoners, her account of her dreams which she knew as God’s voice helping her to deal with the horror that was to come. 2-3rd C Egyptian Christian inscription reads: “Artemidoras...fell asleep in the Lord, her mother Paniskianes being an elder [Presbytera]”.

46 225 (Approximately) Didascalia Apostolorum is written describing church orders, including the Orders of Deaconess and Widow, and their Rites. (Approximately) Origin (c. 185-254), a Christian scholar in Alexandra, comments on women’s deaconate as a valuable institution. Bishop Cornelius of Rome reports on over 1500 women ministers there. 3rd C Bishop Diogenes set up a memorial for Ammion the Elder [Presbytera]. 3-4th C Presbytis Epiktō ordained on Greek isle of Thera 313 Constantine grants universal toleration to all religions of the Roman Empire. 325 Council of Nicea: Among other edicts is the one removing deaconesses from the orders of the clergy. 330s Bishop Athanasius visits Rome and stays as a guest in Marcella’s house on the Aventine. 340ff Marcella and other women begin women’s urban monasticism in Rome. 352 Council of Laodicea: women are not to be ordained. This suggests that before this time there was ordination of women. 361-3 Anonyma, about whom we know that she ministered in Antioch during the persecution of Julian the Apostate 380 Apostolic Constitutions II contains the same laying on of hands ordination rite for women deacons (as for male deacons) 4th C “Episcopa Theodora” mosaic in the Church of St. Praxides in Rome St. Ephraem (306-373) writes “…Mary gave us the bread of life…” St. Jerome (347-420) instructs the women of his time to “imitate the Virgin Mary in her priestly ministry” 381 Macrina, sister of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa (Constantinople Council teachers), sets up her convent with her mothers and whole household. 382 Jerome begins his translation of the Bible into Latin and begins his association with the monastic communities of Marcella and Paula in Rome, the latter whose learning he praised, admitting that her mastery of Hebrew and the Psalms was better than his own (Grenz, p. 40) Death of Blesilla, daughter of Paula. Jerome is expelled from Rome and he and Paula set up their communities in Bethlehem. 386 Melania and Rufinus found their Bethlehem monasteries near those of Paula and Jerome. 390 Death of Bishop Q (mother or wife of Pope Siricius) 397 Olympias, ordained by Bishop Nektarios, friend of St. Gregory of Nazianze and later of St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, whom she greatly helped during his conflict with the Emperor and exile. 401 St. Augustine wrote, “Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman.” 4th-5th C Epitaph in Sicily refers to Kale the Elder [presbytis]. 440 Pope Leo I begins his episcopacy in Rome--the beginning of papal authoritative activity. 441 Synod of Orange decrees that ‘women should no longer be ordained deacons’ 5th C Persia – seven women deacons are martyred with Bishop Abdjesus (ancient Greek Byzantine feast day was 5/16…along with 19 other women deacons’ feast days) 450 (Approximately) St Genevieve, patron of Paris, saved Paris from Attila, Feast Day is Jan.3 451 Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (Canon 15) provides instruction for ordaining women, using the same word that is used for men (cheirotonia) and declares any ordination of a priest or deacon illegal, as well as null and void, unless the person being ordained had been chosen by a particular community to be its leader. 481 Queen Clotilde persuades King Clovis to accept Christian baptism, leading to the conversion of the Franks and the Franco-Roman alliance. 517 Council of Epaon: End of the Western Orders of Deaconess and Widow.

47 533 2nd Council of Orleans prohibits ordination of women to the deaconate. 535 42 women deacons recorded as serving at Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople 555 St Radegunde is Deaconess at Noyon, France. She founded the convent of the Holy Cross, Poiters, France. Roman Catholic Feast Day is August 13. 567 2nd Synod of Tours prohibits ordination of women to deaconate. 570s Queen Bertha of Kent requests missionaries from Rome. 590s Augustine sent to Canterbury in response to Bertha’s request; 10,000 Englishmen are baptized on Christmas Day (due to Bertha’s request). 619 Queen Ethelburga marries Edwin in Northumbria; Edwin is baptized on Easter and founds the Episcopal church of York. 664 Synod of Whitby and beginning of the dominance of Roman Christianity over the Celtic form. 692 Local Council of Trullo uses the term “cheirotonia” for the Ordination of Deaconnesses, the very same word that is used for the Ordination of men to the Priesthood and the Episcopate. 700 Birth of Leoba, Anglo-Saxon missionary. 780 Codex Barberini contains ordination rites of women deacons 820 Bishop Theodora is the bishop of the Church of St. Praxedis (see Appendix Photo of the Church’s mosaic) 829 Council of Paris removes women from any contact with liturgical acts. 9-10th C The Bessarion Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 9th C Bishop Atto of Vercelli of Italy, in one of his letters, substantiates the use of the word ‘presbytera” to refer to women priests in his area. 956 The Sinai Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 1027 The Paris Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 1130 The Messina Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 12th C Codex Vaticanus contains ordination rites of women deacons 12-14th C The Athens Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 1300s Bishop Pelagio complains that women are still ordained and hearing confessions. 14th C The Cairo Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 14th C The Mount Athos Codex contains ordination rites of women deacons 1800s Catacombs discovered along with 1st and 2nd century Christian art. E.g., the fresco in the Catacombs of Priscilla, depicting a celebration of the Eucharist in which the leader is a woman and in a mosaic in the Church of St Praxides of Rome, an inscription denoting “Episcopa Theodora”. 1827 Scientific discovery of the human female ovary. No longer can it be maintained that all life comes from the male (and is merely nurtured by the female until birth). Female and male are co-creators with God of human life. 1906 Pius X approves prayer which ended with “Mary, Virgin Priest, pray for us”, having written “she was so closely united to the Sacrifice of her Son from conception to His Passion, that she was called by some Fathers of the Church the ‘Virgin Priest.’ 1911 “St. Joan’s International Alliance” begins in London as the “Catholic Women’s Suffrage Society”. It is known for bringing the women’s suffrage movement to America, its crusades against prostitution, slavery and the slave trade, and for its affecting policies of the United Nations to this day. 1961 St. Joan’s International Alliance (on the permanent register of the Council of the Laity in Rome) submits to the Holy Father its first official request for women to become deacons. 1962 St. Joan’s International Alliance requests that lay men and women be present at the Council, as observers and experts.

48 1965ff St. Joan’s International Alliance requests revisions of Canon Law with the effect that seventeen articles of Canon Law, discriminating against women, have been modified or revoked. 1970 Ludmilla Javorova and nine other Czech women are ordained priests by Bishop Felix Davidek in the Roman Catholic Rite to serve the needs of women imprisoned by Communists (unknown until ‘90s) 1971 Catholic Bishops Conference of Canada declares itself in favor of the ordained ministry for women. 1972 Sally Priesand is ordained a Reform Jewish Rabbi. 1974 Eleven women are ordained as Episcopal priests, prompting that denomination to approve women priests. 1975 “Women’s Ordination Conference” is founded, catalyzed by other Christian communions (United Church of Christ, the Anglican, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the Episcopal) ordaining women. It seeks to maintain its Catholic identity while honoring the prophetic call of the Spirit. 1976 Inter Insigniores: Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declares that the Church, in fidelity to the example of the Lord, does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination. 1977 Gallup poll shows that 36% of respondents support women’s ordination. Jacqueline Means becomes first woman to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in America. 1978 National Women’s Ordination Conference in Baltimore is held Berenice Mosely is elected to head the governing body of the Presbyterian Church. 1985 Maryland-based Priests for Equality circulates ''Toward a Full and Equal Sharing,'' a scholarly document that calls for full participation by women at all levels of ministry, including the priesthood. Amy Eilberg is ordained a Conservative Jewish Rabbi. Rev. Maria-Alma Copeland becomes first African American Pastor of the American Lutheran Church. 1988 US Bishops issue pastoral letter, ''Partners in the Mystery of Redemption: A Pastoral Response to Women's Concerns'' 1988 Rev. Barbara Harris is elected as the first female Bishop in the 450yr history of the Anglican Church. 1990s Public revelation surfaces that women were secretly ordained priests to serve in underground churches behind the Iron Curtain. FutureChurch is founded, “while respecting the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church…to advocate widespread research/discussion of the need to open ordination to all baptized Catholics who are called to priestly ministry by God and the people of God….to formaulate and express the Sensus Fidelium…” 1992 Bishops of the United States issue statement calling sexism a ‘moral and social evil.’ Gallup poll reports that among American Catholics under age 35, 80% support women’s ordination. 1993 Gallup poll reports that 66% of American Catholics support women’s ordination —“an increase of 20 percentage points in the just the last 7 years.” 1994 Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone, John Paul II, proclaims that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women," since the priesthood is a special role specially set out by Jesus when he chose a dozen men out of his group of male and female followers. The Vatican revokes its approval of the gender-inclusive New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The Vatican issues the English-language edition of the catechism, purged of inclusive language.

49 1995 Canon Law Society of America affirms ordination of female deacons as having been sacramental (in some times and places) and offers suggestions for contemporary reintroduction of the order. 1996 “International Movement We Are Church” is founded after obtaining 2.5 million signatures for a “renewal of the Roman Catholic Church according to the intention of the Second Vatican Council.” It is currently prominent in 20 countries worldwide. “Women’s Ordination Worldwide” is founded. Predominantly Roman Catholic, it is working with other Orthodox and Protestant traditions where women are not yet ordained. Its 3rd International Conference is in 2010. 1998 John Wijngaards, licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, resigns from Roman Catholic priesthood, to devote himself f/t to the campaign for women’s ordination. 2001 Out of the Depths: The Story of Ludmila Javorova, Ordained Roman Catholic Priest is published. Rev. Javorova wrote to Pope John Paul II laying out the full details of her ordination but has received no reply. The Vatican has subsequently given the married clergy from the underground Church of Czechoslovakia the choice to work as deacons in Latin Rite Church or to transfer to the Eastern Rite Church to work as married priests. Spiritus Christ community in Rochester, N.Y., ordains Mary Ramerman. 2002 Roman Catholic Womenpriests begins when a Roman Catholic bishop ordains seven women in a boat on the Danube River. The Danube Seven: Christine Mayr- Lumetzberger (Austria), Adelinde Theresia Roitinger (Germany), Gisela Forster (Germany), Iris Muller (Germany), Ida Raming (Germany), Pia Brunner (Germany), Angela White/Dagmar Celeste (USA) were excommunicated by the Vatican, with then Cardinal Ratzinger signing the decree on the feast day of St. Mary of Magdala. Voice of the Faithful is founded. 2003 Bishops of RCWP ordain two bishops, Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Gisela Forster, and one priest, Patricia Fresen (South Africa). 2004 Over the last 20 years, Catholic ordinations decline 21% while in that same time period, ordinations in the major Protestant religions increase 21-35%. 2004 Six people are ordained as deacons in RCWP: Genevieve Benay (France), Monika Wyss (Switzerland), Astride Indrican (Latvia), Victoria Rue (USA), Jane Via (USA), Michele Birch-Conery (Canada) The Greek Orthodox Church decides to restore the order of the deaconate for women, citing authoritative sources that the church had ordained women as deacons at least through the Middle Ages!!!! 2005 Thirteen people are ordained in RCWP: Bishop: Patricia Fresen Priests: Genevieve Benay (France), Victoria Rue, Jean Marie Marchant Michele Birch-Conery Deacons: Marie David, Jean Marie Marchant, Rebecca McGuyver , Dana Reynolds, Kathleen Strack, Kathy Vandenberg, Regina Nicolosi (all in USA) 2006 Seventeen people are ordained in RCWP: Bishop: Ida Raming Priests: Eileen McCafferty DiFranco, (Merlene) Olivia Doko, Joan Clark Houk, Kathleen Strack Kunster, Rebecca McGuyver , Bridget Mary Meehan Dana Reynolds, Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg, Monika Wyss, Jane Via, Regina Nicolosi Deacons: Andrea Johnson (USA), Judith McKloskey, Cheryl Bristol, Juanita Cordero, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Mary Ellen Robinson

50 Of the 20,000 lay ecclesial ministers engaged in full-time work in the US, more than 80% are women (c.f., Gaillardetz) 2007 Twenty-three people are ordained in RCWP, including the two women ordained priests in St Louis Nov. 11. By Bishop Fresen’s count, 50 people (37 in the US and Canada), including six men, have now been ordained worldwide by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. There are four bishops in the movement. 2008 Mercy Sr. Sharon Euart, canon law instructor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, is named first female executive coordinator (i.e., chief administrative officer) of the Canon Law Society of America. 2008 Anne Leahy, a career diplomat to many foreign nations, has been appointed as Canada’s ambassador to the Vatican. She is the first woman to hold the post. In 2002 she was the federal coordinator for World Youth Day in Toronto.

Locations of 61 Known DEACON INSCRIPTIONS (Mosaic, Epigraphic, etc.) in the EAST (Madigan and Osiek, pp. 207-209) Asia Minor Cappadocia Greece Maria of Archelais Aegean Caria Agaliasis Arete, from Aphrodisias Unnamed, from Thasos Cilicia, Korykos Athanasia Mainland Charitina Agrippianē, from Patras Theodora Athanasia, from Delphi Theophila Eirēnē, from Thessaly Timothea Nikagora, from Athens Galatia Tetradia, from Thessaly Domna Nonna Pelopponesus Philogonis Alexandria, from Elis Lycaonia Andromacha, from Achaia

51 Basilissa, from Iconium Goulasis Macedonia Kyria Agathē, from Philippi Unnamed Agathokleia Lydia Matrona of Stobi Epiphaneia Posidonia, from Philippi Epiphania Theodosia Lampadia, from Smyrna Theoprepeia Phrygia Laodicea Combusta Aurelia Faustina Thrace Celsa Eugenia, from Nicopolis Elaphia Magna Masa Lower Moesia Mesalina Celerina Paula Unnamed Elsewhere in Phrygia Palestine Dipha Anastasia Eistratiegis Basilis Matrona of Axylos Elladis Nunē Eneon? Pribis Maria of Moab Severa Nonna Pontus-Bithynia Sophia Aeria Zoe Alexandra Basilikē Syria \Eugenia Zaortha

Locations of the 4 Known DEACON INSCRIPTIONS in the WEST Africa Proconsularis Rome Accepta Anna

Dalmatia Gaul Ausonia Theodora of Ticini

52 Locations of 39 Known DEACONS in LITERARY SOURCES IN THE WEST (Madigan and Osiek, pp. 209-210)

Armenia Dionysia Nektaria?

Asia Minor Egypt Constantinople Theodula (legendary?) Amproukla (Procla?) Basilina Celerina Elisanthia, Martyria, Palladia Eusebia Nicarete Palestine Olympias Manaris of Gaza Pentadia Severa of Jerusalem Sabiniana Susanna Unnamed of Caesarea, by Palladius Cappadocia Daughters of Count Terentius (at least two)

Caria Eusebia Xenē (legendary) Syria, mostly Antioch Cilicia Anastasia Marthana Axia Casiana Chalcedon area Eugenia Matrona of Cosila Jannia Unnamed, by Callinicos Justina (legendary) Publia Chersonesus Romana Theophila Valeriana Unnamed, by Theodoret Galatia Magna of Ancyra ------

53 Pontus Phoebe (Rom 16:1-2) Lampadion Graptē (Hermas Vis. 2.4.3)

Locations of 2 Known DEACONS in LITERARY SOURCES IN THE WEST

Gaul Radegunda Respecta

Locations of 12 Known PRESBYTERS in the EAST AND WEST (Madigan and Osiek, p. 210)

Egypt Bruttium Artemidora, mummy Leta, inscription

Phrygia Rome Ammion, inscription Episcopa Q, inscription Episcopa Theodora, mosaic, Church of Cappadocia St. Praxides Firmilian’s prophet (description in letter to Cyprian Sicily Kalē, inscription Aegean Epiktō, inscription Africa (Hippo) Guilia Runa, mosaic inscription Dalmatia Flavia Vitalia, inscription Gaul Unnamed Sacerdota, inscription Martia, inscription

54 Women in Church History: 21 Stories for 21 Centuries.

Turpin, Joanne.

THE FIRST CENTURY: PRISCA THE EVANGELIST

THE SECOND CENTURY: PERPETUA OF CARTHAGE

THE THIRD CENTURY: APOLLONIA OF ALEXANDRIA

THE FOURTH CENTURY: MACRINA OF CAPPADOCIA

THE FIFTH CENTURY: PUCHERIA OF CONSTANTINOPLE

THE SIXTH CENTURY: BRIGID OF KILDARE

THE SEVENTH CENTURY: HILDA OF WHITBY

THE EIGHTH CENTURY: LIOBA, ANGLO-SAXON MISSIONARY TO GERMANY

THE NINTH CENTURY: LUDMILA OF BOHEMIA

THE TENTH CENTURY: ADELAIDE, EMPRESS OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

THE ELEVENTH CENTURY: MARGARET OF SCOTLAND

THE TWELFTH CENTURY: HILDEGARD OF BINGEN

THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY: CLAIRE OF ASSISI

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY: CATHERINE OF SIENA

THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY: CATHERINE OF GENOA

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY: TERESA OF AVILA

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: LOUISE DE MARILLAC

55 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: ANNE MARIE JAVOUHEY

THE NINTEENTH CENTURY: ELIZABETH LANGE

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: JEAN DONOVAN

THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: DOROTHY STANG

Some ‘modern’ beginning dates for ordination of women in other faiths (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women) (A partial list of either the approval of female ordination in principle or the ordination of their first women clergy by Christian and Jewish faiths in recent centuries) The feminist movement has raised the public's consciousness about the unfairness of gender discrimination. Modern-day secular society has responded by eliminating sexism in employment, education, accommodation, etc. A large portion of the public has accepted that women should be given the same career opportunities that men have long enjoyed. In the 21st century, the largest institutions in North America which will still deny equal rights to women are among conservative Christian denominations: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and many denominations within Protestantism, like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Southern Baptist Convention. These groups interpret Bible passages as requiring women and men to follow defined, sexually determined roles. In opposite-sex marriage, for example, men are to lead and women are to be submissive to their husbands. In religion institutions women are not to be placed in a position of authority over men. A logical result of these beliefs is that women are not to be considered for ordination. There is no wiggle room here, unless their theologians take a different approach to biblical interpretation. As gender discrimination becomes as abhorrent to the public as racism, these denominations may well be under increased pressure to conform to the non- sexist secular standard. Faith groups will be expected to evaluate candidates for ordination on the basis of the candidates’ knowledge, sense of calling from God, personality, commitment, ability, etc -- but not on the basis of gender. Gender discrimination will be viewed by many as a millstone around the necks of conservative denominations. It will present a serious barrier to the evangelization of non-Christians. Whenever religious institutions are perceived by the general public as operating to a lower ethical standard than the rest of society, religious conversion becomes more difficult to achieve. When some denominations started to ordain women: Early 1800s: A fundamental belief of the [Society of Friends-http:// www.religioustolerance.org/quaker.htm] (Quakers) has always been the existence of an element of God's spirit in every human soul. Thus all persons are considered to have inherent and equal worth, independent of their gender. This

56 led naturally to an opposition to sexism, and an acceptance of female ministers. In 1660, Margaret Fell (1614–1702) published a famous pamphlet to justify equal roles for men and women in the denomination. It was titled: "Women's Speaking Justified, Proved and Allowed of by the Scriptures, All Such as Speak by the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus And How Women Were the First That Preached the Tidings of the Resurrection of Jesus, and Were Sent by Christ's Own Command Before He Ascended to the Father (John 20:17). In the U.S., in contrast with almost every other organized religion, the Society of Friends (Quakers) has allowed women to serve as ministers since the early 1800s. • 1853: Antoinette Brown was ordained by the Congregationalist Church. However, her ordination was not recognized by the denomination. She quit the church and later became a Unitarian. The Congregationalists later merged with others to create the United Church of Christ. • 1861: Mary A. Will was the first woman ordained in the Wesleyan Methodist Connection by the Illinois Conference. The Wesleyan Methodist Connection eventually became The Wesleyan Church. • 1863: Olympia Brown was ordained by the Universalist denomination in 1863, in spite of a last-moment case of cold feet by her seminary which feared adverse publicity. After a decade and a half of service as a full-time minister, she became a part-time minister in order to devote more time to the fight for women's rights and universal suffrage. In 1961, the Universalists and Unitarians joined to form the [Unitarian Universalist Association-http://www.religioustolerance.org/u-u.htm] (UUA). The UUA became the first large denomination to have a majority of female ministers. In 1999, female ministers outnumbered their male counterpart 431 to 422. • 1865: Salvation Army is founded and has always ordained both men and women. However, there were initially rules that prohibited a woman from marrying a man who had a lower rank. • 1880: Anna Howard Shaw was the first woman ordained in the Methodist Protestant Church, which later merged with other denominations to form the United Methodist Church. • 1888: Fidelia Gillette may have been the first ordained woman in Canada. She served the Universalist congregation in Bloomfield, Ontario, during 1888 and 1889. She was presumably ordained in 1888 or earlier. • 1889: The Nolin Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church ordained Louisa Woosley. • 1889: Ella Niswonger was the first woman ordained in the United Brethren church, which later merged with other denominations to form the United Methodist Church.

57 • 1892: Anna Hanscombe is believed to be the first woman ordained by the parent bodies which formed the Church of the Nazarene in 1919. • 1909: The Church of God (Cleveland TN) began ordaining women in 1909. • 1911: Ann Allebach was the first Mennonite woman to be ordained. This occurred at the First Mennonite Church of Philadelphia. • 1914: Assemblies of God was founded and ordained its first woman clergy • 1917: The Congregationalist Church (England and Wales) ordained their first woman. Its successor is the United Reformed Church. They now consider it sufficient grounds for refusing ministry training if a potential candidate is not in favor of the ordination of women. • 1920's: Some Baptist denominations. • 1920's: United Reformed Church in the UK • 1922: The Jewish Reform movement's Central Conference of American Rabbis stated that "Woman cannot justly be denied the privilege of ordination." • 1922: The Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren granted women the right to be licensed into the ministry, but not to be ordained with the same status as men. • 1930: A predecessor church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ordained its first female as an elder • 1935: Regina Jonas was ordained privately by a German rabbi. • 1936: United Church of Canada. • 1944: Anglican communion, Hong Kong. Florence Li Tim Oi was ordained on an emergency basis. • 1947: Czechoslovak Hussite Church • 1948: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark • 1949: Old Catholic Church (in the U.S.) • 1956: A predecessor church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ordained its first woman minister. • 1956: Maud K. Jensen was the first woman to receive full clergy rights and conference membership in the Methodist Church. • 1958: Women ministers in the Church of the Brethren were given full ordination with the same status as men. • 1960: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sweden • 1967: Presbyterian Church in Canada • 1971: Anglican communion, Hong Kong. Joyce Bennett and Jane Hwang were the first regularly ordained priests.

58 • 1972: Reform Judaism • 1972: Swedenborgian Church • 1972: Sally Priesand became the first woman rabbi to be ordained by a theological seminary. She was ordained in the Reform tradition. • 1970's: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America • 1974: Methodist Church in the UK • 1974: Sandy Eisenberg Sasso became the first woman rabbi to be ordained within the Jewish Reconstructionist movement. • 1976: Episcopal Church (11 women were ordained in Philadelphia before church laws were changed to permit ordination) • 1976: Anglican Church in Canada ordained six female priests. • 1976: The Rev. Pamela McGee was the first female ordained to the Lutheran ministry in Canada. • 1977: Anglican Church of New Zealand ordained five female priests. • 1979: The Reformed Church in America. Women had been admitted to the offices of deacon and elder in 1972. • 1983: An Anglican woman was ordained in Kenya • 1983: Three Anglican women were ordained in Uganda. • 1984: The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints authorized the ordination of women. This is the second largest Mormon denomination; it is now called The Community of Christ. • 1985: According to the New York Times for 1985-FEB-14: "After years of debate, the worldwide governing body of Conservative Judaism has decided to admit women as rabbis. The group, the Rabbinical Assembly, plans to announce its decision at a news conference...at the Jewish Theological Seminary..." Amy Eilberg became the first female rabbi. • 1985: The first women deacons were ordained by the Scottish Episcopal Church. • 1988: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland • 1988: Episcopal Church chooses Barbara Harris as first female bishop. • 1990: Anglican women are ordained in Ireland. • 1992: Church of England • 1992: Anglican Church of South Africa • 1994: The first women priests were ordained by the Scottish Episcopal Church. • 1995: Seventh-day Adventists. Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, MD ordained three women in violation of the denomination's rules.

59 • 1995: The Christian Reformed Church voted to allow women ministers, elders, and evangelists. In 1998-NOV, the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) suspended the CRC's membership because of this decision. • 1998: General Assembly of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Anglican Church in Japan) • 1998: Guatemalan Presbyterian Synod • 1998: Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands • 1998: Some Orthodox Jewish congregations started to employ female "congregational interns." Although these 'interns' do not lead worship services, they perform some tasks usually reserved for rabbis, such as preaching, teaching, and consulting on Jewish legal matters. • 1999: Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (ordination as either clergy or elders) • 2000: The Baptist Union of Scotland voted to allow their churches to either allow or prohibit the ordination of women. • 2000: The Mombasa diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya. • 2000: The Church of Pakistan ordained its first women deacons. It is a united church which dates back to the 1970 local merger of Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and other Protestants. • 2004: At the Australian Anglican Church's General Synod, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity voted in favor of female consecration, but not by the required 2/3rds majority. The next synod is scheduled for 2007. • 2004: The Greek Orthodox Church decides to restore the order of the deaconate for women, citing authoritative sources that the church had ordained women as deacons at least through the Middle Ages. • 2005 The Lutheran Evangelical Protestant Church,(LEPC)(GCEPC) in the USA elects Nancy Kinard Drew first female Presiding Bishop. • 2006: The Episcopal Church elects Katharine Jefferts Schori first woman Presiding Bishop, or Primate. • 2007: The Worldwide Church of God, a denomination with about 860 congregations worldwide has decided to allow women to serve as pastors and elders. This decision was reached after several years of study.

Some Protestant churches have allowed women to become bishops: • 1980: United Methodist • 1989: Episcopal Church in the U.S. • 1992: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany • 1996: Lutheran Church in Sweden

60 • 1997: Anglican Church of Canada • Unknown: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark • Unknown: Anglican Curch of New Zealand • 1998: Presbyterian Church in Guatemala • 1998: Moravian Church in America • 1999: Czechoslovak Hussite Church • 2000: Australian Anglican Church

Fractio Panis (Latin: Breaking of Bread) is the name given to a fresco in the Greek Chapel (Capella Greca) in the Catacomb of Priscilla, situated on the Via Salaria Nova in Rome. The fresco, like the whole of the decorations of the chapel, dates from the first half of the second century. The painting is found upon the face of the arch immediately over the altar tomb, upon which beyond all reasonable doubt the Eucharist was

61 performed. The clothing and hairstyles worn by the participants suggest that most of them are women.

Fractio panis, in the Catacombs of Rome

62 This archaeological photograph of a mosaic in the Church of St. Praxedis in Rome shows, in the blue mantle, the Virgin Mary, foremother of women leaders in the Church. On her left is St.Pudentiana (related to the Roman Pudens, sometimes thought to be the same Pudens named by St. Paul in 2 Timothy 4:21) and on her right St. Praxedis, both leaders of house churches in early Christian Rome. Episcopa Theodora, "Bishop Theodora " is the bishop of the Church of St. Praxedis in 820 AD. Around her head is a square frame, indicating that she was living when this portrait was taken. Bishop Theodora, about 820 AD and Praxedis, about seven hundred years earlier, stand shoulder to shoulder, the living and the departed both wearing their Episcopal crosses. This attests to a conscious succession in church office from Mary, through Praxedis and Pudentiana to Theodora, who at the time of her portrait was the bishop of the church of St. Praxedis.

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66 67