Pope’s emphatic ‘no’ to women priests disappoints feminists

Pope’s emphatic ‘no’ to women priests disappoints feminists and others

CAMIL PARKHE | Wednesday, 16 November 2016 AT 09:49 AM IST

    

  Sakal Times

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The emphatic remark ‘never’ by Pope Francis on the issue of sanctioning priesthood for women has disappointed not only the feminists but also a large number of fans of the pontiff all over the world.

Almost smashing hopes of the liberals in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has last week replied that the Catholic Church’s present ban on ordaining women as priests will continue and also stated that he saw no chances of revising this policy even in the future.

Since he took over the papacy a few years ago, Pope Francis has won many admirers not only within the church but also outside due to his progressive and liberal views. The pope had shocked the conservatives in the church hierarchy when he refused to follow many feudal rituals and customs having much pomp and show associated with the 200-year-old papacy and instead, declared his resolve to follow a spartan lifestyle and have pro-poor policies.

The whole world was equally shocked when in his now famous remark, the Pope had said that he refused to judge those people who followed same-sex practices. Although, the Catholic Church has not condoned or justified gay practices, the Pope’s non-condemning approach seemed to be reassuring to the gay community.

Only a couple of months ago, Pope Francis had expressed his inclination to consider the issue of deaconhood to women, fuelling the speculation that this may be a step towards the Church sanctioning priesthood to women in the future. The deacons have powers to perform many duties and administer some sacraments normally given only by the ordained priests. The Pope’s emphatic ‘no’ on women priests, therefore, has disappointed many who had hailed his comments on the possibility of women deacons.

The Pope’s negative answer on priesthood for women came in response to a question by a female reporter during his customary press conference aboard the papal plane. The journalist had pointed out that during his Sweden visit, the Pope was welcomed by the head of the Lutheran Church who was, in fact, a woman. The reporter had then asked whether the Catholic Church, too, would permit women to be ordained as priests. Pope Francis had then replied that Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on not permitting women priests and that this policy stands even today.

For the past few decades, the Catholic Church has been facing an acute shortage of priests.

The number of nuns in the church is far more as compared to the priests and hence, it was thought the option of granting priesthood to women will be considered. Notwithstanding the shortage of religious personnel, the Catholic Church is also not open to the issue of allowing its priests and nuns to marry. Celibacy has been a mandatory factor for both men and women who take religious vows as priests and nuns in the Catholic Church.

The mandatory condition of celibacy is said to be one of the factors preventing the otherwise interested people from taking up the vocation as priests or nuns.

The Catholic Church has maintained that women cannot be ordained priests because Jesus Christ had chosen only men as his apostles. However, those calling for women priests argue that Jesus was only following the norms of his time

Reacting to negative response of Pope Francis, The Women’s Ordination Conference, a group that promotes a female priesthood, has said that it was ‘profoundly disappointed’ by the Pope’s comments.

The issues of allowing Catholic priests to marry and also allowing women to be priests has dominated in the Catholic Church in the recent months. Despite his dynamic approach on various issues, Pope Francis has chosen to retain the status quo on these matters. These are clear indications that these two issues will not be addressed during the papacy of Pope Francis.

PERSISTENT ISSUES
The issues of allowing Catholic priests to marry and also allowing women to be priests has dominated in the Catholic Church in recent months. Despite his dynamic approach on various issues, Pope Francis has chosen to retain the status quo on these matters. These are clear indications that these two issues will not be addressed during the papacy of Pope Francis.

- CAMIL PARKHE