Rocco Palmo’s latest “Almost Holy” column is up at BustedHalo. The quality of his writing is consistently impressive. I like his voice, though I’m not really into the Vatican-watching aspect of his blog. This week, he comments on the latest batch of women who think they’ve been ordained as priests:
If you look at the polls, you’ll hear that 70% of Catholics questioned would support a change of the Church’s teachings to allow the ordination of women to the priesthood.
In the days before Gallup, an ancient ruler in the Middle East once took a poll of his own. Hearing the leanings of the crowd, he went ahead with their will… and crucified Jesus. So remember that polling isn’t always the best means of policy-setting.
So what do I think about all this? I think it’s a shame these women have the wrong idea about ordination. I don’t think women should be priests. Jesus had male and female disciples, but after praying to His Father, he chose only men to be his apostles. Modern priests are the successors of the twelve apostles. They were all men, so today’s priests should all be men. In addition, Jesus loved His mother so much that He made it possible for her to be bodily assumed into heaven (which we celebrate next Tuesday). If He didn’t make His own mother a priest, why should ordinary women today be priests? For most of you, I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir, but the whole concept almost makes me ashamed to share the adjective “Catholic” with those women. (Though it should be noted that these “womenpriests” get excommunicated from the Church, whether they think they are or not.)
</ mini rant>
August 10th, 2006 12:15 am
Definitely like the analogy that you quoted from Palmo.
And your comments are beautifully written :)