13.
THE
QUESTION WAS:
Which of the following can be
permitted in rare circumstances?
a.
Ordination
of a female priest
b.
Baptism
by a lay person
THE ANSWER IS….B….A
Catholic lay person can baptize a person who is dying if a priest cannot make
it on time.
But the Catholic Church does NOT have
permission from Jesus to ordain a woman priest. This is one of those
irreversible, infallible doctrines….if we accept Jesus’ promise that the Holy
Spirit will guide the Church into all truth, we must accept it, even if we
don’t understand the benefit. It’s just how things were designed.
Therefore, people can march and
protest for the next 2,000 years against the doctrine, but it won’t make an
iota of difference….because the Catholic Church, which is the “pillar and foundation
of truth” (1 Tim 3:15) is incapable of reversing doctrines like this….The Holy
Spirit will always prevent the Church from erring, and will always preserve
truthful doctrines through the Church.
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show
you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
shall show [it] unto you." - John
16:13-14
Therefore,
while other Churches reverse themselves time and again on core doctrines, the
Catholic Church can always claim constant teaching…. truthful teaching. We have
no right to make up our own teaching if it departs from what was handed down
through the apostles and their successors by Jesus.
In an article in the “Seattle
Catholic,” writer Peter W. Miller made these arguments regarding the ordination
of women:
“It has been the constant teaching of
the Church that ordination of women is against natural law. Priesthood is no
more accessible to a woman than motherhood is to a man. In the Old Testament,
men were exclusively chosen by God to offer sacrifices and when Christ selected
twelve apostles, He chose all men. The argument is sometimes put forward that
Christ chose male disciples because he lived in a male-dominated society.
Although the observation of the times may be accurate, Christ repeatedly
demonstrated his lack of regard for cultural norms. He certainly showed little
hesitation associating with lepers, adulterers and Samaritans, as well as
cleansing the temple of merchants and revoking the practice of divorce. God did
not become man to conform to the popular opinions of the time. He commanded the
current and future world conform to His law. “ [Seattle Catholic]
Since the time of the apostles, the
Church has always maintained a male priesthood. St. Irenaeus and Tertullian of
the early Church, both condemned heretical sects that attempted to admit women
to priestly orders. Far from its current accusations of "sexism" and
"repression of women", the Church was appointing women as abbesses
and superiors at a time when women couldn't own property. Additionally, many
women throughout history have been honored as saints, including St. Catherine
of Sienna who was extremely respected (and feared) by the popes of her day. In
fact, the Blessed Virgin, the holiest mortal ever to walk the earth (besides
Christ who was both God and man) was a woman. Although she is universally
venerated as the queen of all angels and saints, even Mary was not selected by
Christ to perform priestly duties. Instead were chosen twelve men of apparently
questionable character who committed acts of denial and betrayal. “ 8/3/01
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