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	Vatican Ban on Women Priests Flawed, Will Increase Support for Women's Ordination

"The Vatican's attempt on November 18 to claim that the Catholic Church's ban on women priests is an 'infallible' teaching will only increase support in the church for women priests," said Linda Pieczynski, President of Call to Action (CTA), the national church reform group. "Each time the Vatican has raised its voice louder on the issue, more Catholics study the arguments and opt in favor of women priests. Currently, two-thirds of American Catholics favor women priests, the highest percentage ever, even after repeated attempts by the Vatican to close the discussion over the past 20 years."

CTA is urging American Catholics to write to their own bishop, to Bishop Anthony Pilla, head of the U.S. National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), and to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). "We're asking that they prayerfully allow the Holy Spirit to fill them with wisdom and understanding, thus enabling them to reflect on the Gospel of Jesus, the essentials of the Catholic tradition, the dignity and equality of every human person, and the pastoral needs of the people of God as they initiate a new level of dialogue with each other and with the Catholic people," said Pieczynski.

Pieczynski continued, "If history is any indicator, Catholics won't accept this latest attempt to declare the issue eternally dead. The flawed process by which the statement came about and the strong merits of the case for ordaining women will speak louder than the Vatican st5atement."

The problems with the statement's process include: * The claim of infallibility is coming not from the Pope, but from a member of his Cabinet, Cardinal Ratzinger of the CDF. Cardinal Ratzinger is claiming that this teaching "has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium." This usually implies that bishops around the world concur and are teaching it and that, in fact, the church has always taught it.

* The CDF didn't consult with bishops from around the world before speaking up. In fact, twenty bishops representing twenty national episcopal conferences from various countries were consulted by the Pope in March 1994 on this topic, and there was substantial resistance from a significant number of them about declaring this as infallible teaching. (National Catholic Reporter, 6/17/94)

* Cardinal Ratzinger ignored the reports from 140 U.S. dioceses (out of a total of 171) three years ago. The ban on women's ordination was the issue sparking the most controversy in these dioceses at local hearings leading up to the planned women's pastoral.

* Also ignored was the 1993 vote of 110 U.S. Bishops against the draft pastoral letter containing the ordination ban, and a statement in June 1995 signed by 12 U.S. Bishops, with the tacit support of many others, objecting to the Vatican's publishing of a 1994 statement against the ordination of women "without any prior discussion and consultation with our [NCCB] conference."

* Cardinal Ratzinger communicated the statement to the head of the NCCB three hours after the close of their four-day meeting Nov. 13-16, with no advance warning and no opportunity for the bishops to discuss it among themselves and provide input or reaction.

Dr. Robert Ludwig, theologian, Director of Campus Ministry at DePaul University, and CTA Board member noted, "Cardinal Ratzinger is also ignoring the conclusion of a group of biblical scholars appointed by Pope Paul VI to study the issues. The Pope's own Biblical Commission concluded in 1976 that there is nothing in the scriptures that prohibits ordaining women."

As Fr. Richard McBrien, theology professor at Notre Dame University stated Nov. 19 in the New York Times in response to Cardinal Ratzinger's action, "There are literally millions of Catholics in the U.S. alone who see no reason why women can't be ordained, and they're not going to decide they're not Catholics and stop going to church...it is the Pope and the Vatican who will be seen as being out of step."

"Not only is Cardinal Ratzinger not hearing the Spirit speaking through many bishops worldwide and through the papal biblical commission, he is also not giving attention to the church's own declarations about the dignity and equality of every human person," said Pieczynski. "How can I encourage my three young daughters to become active in a church where women are second-class citizens denied the use of their God-given talents and the call of God's Spirit precisely because they happen to be women?"

"Cardinal Ratzinger also is not hearing the cry of the whole church for more priests to serve the needs of the eucharist-starved Catholic people," said Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ, coordinator of FutureChurch, a national coalition of parish-based Catholics working with CTA to counter the priest shortage by opening up the priesthood to women and married men. "Worldwide, 43 percent of Catholic parishes no longer have resident pastors, according to the 1988 Vatican Directory. The median age of Catholic priests in the U.S. will be 60 in 10 years. Many United States parishes have been reduced to one aging priest and no one to take his place. There is a global cry for more pastors and for the Mass to be made available again to Catholic communities, yet one-half of the human race is declared as not having what it takes to become a priest. Ratzinger is choosing an all-male, celibate priesthood over the Mass and other sacraments. How can that be the heart of the Catholic tradition? We must speak out now, in accord with our legal rights as Church members, as expressed in Canon 212 of the Revised Code of Canon Law: 'Christ's faithful have the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence, and position, to manifest their views to their Church leaders on matters which concern the good of the Church.'"

Catholics from other countries have been speaking out as well. Over 500,000 Austrian Catholics in 1994 and more than 1,500,000 German Catholics just this month have petitioned the Vatican for needed Church reforms, including the ordination of women. Also, in the summer of 1995, the Archdiocesan Synod of Quebec, Canada, composed of laity and clergy representing all parts of the Archdiocese, voted by a two-thirds margin to ask the Vatican to re-open the question of women's ordination.

Call to Action and FutureChurch recently announced the launching of a major dialogue on the priest shortage crisis and the availability for ordination of qualified, spirit-called women and married men. The 1996 project will be focusing on parishes and dioceses across the country and will increase understanding of the scriptural, theological, canonical, and pastoral issues involved and lead to increased demand for a change in Vatican policy.

CTA and FutureChurch will furnish educational and action materials including Ash Wednesday prayer services, letter writing and petition campaigns, and local media campaigns underlining the local priest shortage crisis.

Call to Action is a 12,000 member movement of lay people, religious and clergy working together to foster peace, justice and love in our world, our church and ourselves in the spirit of Vatican II and the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Call to Action (Detroit, 1976). CTA also published "A Call for Reform in the Catholic Church" (New York Times, Ash Wednesday, 1990) with 20,000 supporters signing on to the reforms, including women's ordination. Four thousand people from 50 states attended the 1995 annual conference November 3-5 in Chicago, where the 1996 priest shortage dialogue project was announced.

CTA has state and local affiliates in many parts of the country, some of whom may be available for interviews. Contact the national CTA office for referrals.

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