Katie Lynch

Mr. Campbell
Religion 12
October 16, 2018
Women’s Role in the Catholic Church

Section 1: Mary

Mary undoubtedly has the most important female role in the Church. She is the most

perfect creation, as she was born without Original Sin. The Redemptoris Mater, an encyclical of

Pope John Paul II, states “by virtue of the richness of the grace of the beloved Son, by reason of

the redemptive merits of him who willed to become her Son, Mary was preserved from the

inheritance of original sin.” Due to the holy plan God had for her, she was the product of the

Immaculate Conception. Believing in the Immaculate Conception is a dogma in the Catholic

Church. It is the belief that Mary was born without original sin.

Additionally, Mary is known quite famously as the “Virgin Mary.” This is another dogma

of the Catholic Church. Mary’s perpetual virginity is not believed by Protestants, who think

Mary had other children. This is simply incorrect. Pope Leo I states, "His [Christ’s] origin is

different, but his [human] nature is the same. Human usage and custom were lacking, but by

divine power a Virgin conceived, a Virgin bore, and Virgin she remained" (Sermons 22:2 [A.D.

450]). Plus, Vatican II confirmed this teaching by naming Mary the Ever-Virgin, meaning she

was virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ.

The Catholic Church places a lot of emphasis on Mary’s virginity. The Catechism says

that “The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real

and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man” (#499).
 Lynch 2

Undoubtedly, it is a crucial Catholic teaching. However, so is Mary’s Assumption into Heaven.

It differs from the Ascension, as this was Jesus’s entering into the Kingdom. Mary was taken up,

in body and soul. In this way, she makes the perfect role model for all Catholics and Christians.

It is true that she was the only human conceived without original sin. However, she was still

saved by her Son when He died on the cross. It is important for Catholics to revere Mary because

she is who we should all strive to be. We can pray to Jesus through her. Her “yes” to God made

seeing Heaven a possibility.

Although influential women exist in Church history, such as Mary, Mother of God, and

Mary Magdalene, the first to discover the Resurrection of Jesus, women do not share the same

role as men. They can be saints, but their influence on the Church, doctrine, teachings, and

sacraments are limited to being ordained as nuns or serving as religious sisters while men can be

deacons, brothers, priests, bishops, cardinals, and pope.

According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, there has been a 37%

decrease in total priests in the U.S. since 1970. Throughout the world, religious sisters have

decreased by 34% from 1970 to 2016. Some believe it is time to allow women to be ordained as

priests. Not only is this believed for the sake of the decreasing numbers in priesthood, but also

because of the recent sexual abuse scandal. A movement to rebel against Church doctrine has

been established. However, according to Pope Francis, "With regards to the ordination of

women, the church has spoken and says no. Pope John Paul [II] said so with a formula that was

definitive. That door is closed." In this quote, he is referring to Pope John Paul II’s Ordinatio

Sacerdotalis where he affirms the Church’s strict belief concerning female priests. He says the

Church has no authority to ordain women.

 Lynch 3

In contrast, Pope John Paul II states the importance of the recognition of the vocation of

women in his later Apostolic Letter, Mulieris Dignitatem. In the 1988 document, a time period in

which the feminist movement was prominent, he wrote in paragraph 1 of the Introduction, “that

is why, at his moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women

imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling.” He goes on to

discuss the importance of Mary, which I explain above. He confirms that men and women were

made in the image and likeness of God as equals. However, in original sin lies the problem.

Chapter 4 of this Apostolic Letter identifies original sin as the cause of the distinction of roles

between man and woman. Pope John Paul II cites Genesis 3 and Paul’s Letter to Timothy as

sources for this distinction. Clearly, the Church maintains the distinction between male and

female, only with special reverence towards Mary as a ground-breaking woman chosen by God.

It is believed that women cannot become ordained priests because Jesus chose all-male

apostles. Apostolic succession is defined as the passing on of spiritual authority dating back to

the Apostles and carried on by each pope. On the other hand, women held leadership roles in

early Christianity. Romans chapter 16 in the NABRE declare a female minister/deacon. Plus, the

Catechism states:

"Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in

perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and

woman… [each] possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from

God their Creator" (CCC, no 369).

However, the Church maintains that the two genders have specific roles within the

Church. St. Thomas Aquainas states in Summa Theologiae under Article 1 of Question 92 that

two kinds of subjection exist, one before and one after the Fall.
 Lynch 4

“One is servile, by virtue of which a superior makes use of a subject for his own benefit;

and this kind of subjection began after sin. There is another kind of subjection which is

called economic or civil, whereby the superior makes use of his subjects for their own

benefit and good; and this kind of subjection existed even before sin (ST q.92, a.1).”

He goes on to say that “so by such a kind of subjection woman is naturally subject to

man, because in man the discretion of reason predominates (ST q.92, a.1).” As one of the most

revered saints to this day, Aquainas’s words carried a particular weight at his time and

throughout Church tradition. Although this subjectivity is no longer taught in the Church, the

Church itself traces its roots back to this mentality.

This controversial topic is one that Pope John Paul II attempted to put to rest, but with the

recent sexual abuse scandal with male priests in the Catholic Church and the increasing advocacy

for gender equality and women’s roles within the Church, it is not one that will ever disappear

completely. Women can be active members in the Church as laypeople and effectively carry out

their role of vocation in the family as a mother, or commit to virginity her whole life and serve

God in that way. Plus, women can discern the vocation as a sister and commit her life to serving

the community and prayerful meditation. Each congregation has its own focus as well.

Woman’s role in the Church is certainly a highly disputed topic, especially because of the

all-male hierarchy. The Church strongly attempts to defend its position. Perhaps the only answer

is that the only true answers can come from God.

 Lynch 5

Works Cited
Aquainas, Thomas. “Question 92. The Production of the Woman.” SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The
Production of the Woman (Prima Pars, Q. 92),
www.newadvent.org/summa/1092.htm#article1.
“BibleGateway.” Romans 16 NABRE - - Bible Gateway,
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans 16&version=NABRE.
Crary, David. “Women as Priests? Some Say It's Time but Admit It's Unlikely.” Religion News
Service, 27 Aug. 2018, religionnews.com/2018/08/24/women-as-priests-some-say-its-
time-but-admit-its-unlikely/.
Evert, Jason. “Why Can't Women Be Priests?” Why Can't Women Be Priests? | Catholic
Answers, 1 Jan. 2002, www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/why-cant-women-be-
priests.
“Frequently Requested Church Statistics.” CARA, cara.georgetown.edu/frequently-requested-
church-statistics/.
“Mary: Ever Virgin.” Mary: Ever Virgin | Catholic Answers, www.catholic.com/tract/mary-ever-
virgin.
McClory, Robert. “Pope Francis and Women's Ordination.” National Catholic Reporter, 16 Sept.
2013, www.ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/pope-francis-and-womens-ordination.
Pope John Paul II. Redemptoris Mater. March 25, 1987.
Pope John Paul II. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. 1994.
Pope John Paul II. Mulieris Dignitatem. 1988.
United States Conference of Bishops. Sexual Abuse of Women, www.usccb.org/issues-and-
action/human-life-and-dignity/sexual-abuse-of-women/index.cfm.