Saints Light
Hard Questions · Lesson 12 of 16

Why Can't Women Be Priests?

The Church teaches she has no authority to ordain women because Christ freely chose men as apostles and the priest stands as a sign of Christ the Bridegroom; this concerns the sacrament, not the equal dignity of women.

This is a summary of Lesson 12 of Answers to Hard Questions. The full lesson takes about 3 minutes in the Saints Light app.

Saint Augustine in His Study, a painting by Sandro Botticelli
Saint Augustine in His Study, Sandro Botticelli, c. 1490-1494

What this lesson teaches

  • Men and women are equal in dignity; the question concerns the nature of the priesthood.
  • Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) teaches the Church has no authority to ordain women priests.
  • Reasons include Christ's free choice, constant tradition, and the priest as sign of Christ the Bridegroom.
  • Mary, the greatest creature, was not an apostle, showing this is no judgment against women.

Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites

  • CCC 1548
  • CCC 1577-1578

CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.

Scripture read in this lesson: Galatians 3:28; Luke 22:19.

A sample question from this lesson

What did Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) teach?

  1. Women may be ordained in some countries
  2. The question is open for future popes
  3. The Church has no authority to ordain women as priests, and this is to be held definitively
  4. Women are less capable of leadership
Show the answer

The Church has no authority to ordain women as priests, and this is to be held definitively. St John Paul II declared the Church has no authority to ordain women, a judgment to be held definitively by all the faithful.

The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.

Words to know

In persona Christi
Latin for in the person of Christ: the priest acting as a sign and instrument of Christ himself.

More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.

Read the full lesson in the app

"Why Can't Women Be Priests?" is lesson 12 of Answers to Hard Questions. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.

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