Why can't women be ordained priests in the Catholic Church?
The short answer
The Church has no authority to do so. John Paul II declared in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that the Church has no authority whatsoever to ordain women, citing Christ's choice of only men as apostles and the Church's constant practice.
In the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (4), Pope John Paul II declared "that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women." Among the reasons given:
- Scripture records Christ choosing his apostles only from among men.
- The Church has constantly imitated Christ in choosing only men.
- The Church's living teaching authority has consistently held that excluding women from the priesthood accords with God's plan for his Church.
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