Marian profile of ministry is basis of woman's ecclesial role

by Fr Max Thurian

Member of the International Theological Commission

The decision of the General Synod of the Church of England to
ordain women to the ministry (11 November 1992) will not fail to
create serious problems for ecumenical dialogue. Certainly the
Anglican Communion is bound to experience new internal
difficulties, and ecumenical solidarity demands an increase in our
prayer and fraternal affection for so many Christian brothers and
sisters who will suffer from this. The ecumenical movement has
taught us, as Christians united by the sacrament of Baptism, to
share joys and trials. Even if it is difficult to understand this
choice of the Church of England, the bonds between it and the
Catholic Church continue to exist despite this recent decision
regarding the ordination of women. Theological dialogue should
continue, perhaps by deepening the concept of the priesthood. The
official dialogue on ministry made us hope in a greater
convergence perhaps than there really was (cf. ARCIC I).

It is clear that in recent years both sides have felt a great
desire to rediscover the full dignity of woman and to use all of
her potential in the area of the Church's mission and service (cf.
John Paul II, Mulieris dignitatem). Some have held that we ought
to go so far as to admit women to the ordained ministry. One can
say that the ecclesial communities lacked theological imagination
in this case. There was the possibility of creating new
ministries, suited to the nature and the gifts of woman. Why
should we wish to ordain them to the "priesthood", which has
assumed the form of a male service in the whole course of the
Judeo-Christian biblical tradition, as well as throughout the
entire history of the Church? To impose a male form of ministry on
woman is to fail to respect her specific dignity. There are many
ministries which would be far more consonant with woman's nature
and talents.

Two ministerial profiles exist in the Church

We might well ask here if there was not some confusion between the
priesthood properly speaking, which conforms a man to Christ, the
one and only Priest, the Bridegroom of the Church (cf. Pastores
dabo vobis, nn. 12, 16), and the various forms which ministry took
on in the ancient Church: prophecy, catechesis (didascalia),
pastorate, diaconate. The ecclesial communities which accept the
ordination of women to the ministry do not recognize a ministerial
priesthood and they thus ordain to a ministerial function rather
than to a priestly state. For the Catholic Church, the priest is
in the Church and for the Church as a sacramental representation
of Christ, the one high Priest of the new and eternal covenant: he
is a living and transparent image of Christ the Priest. He is a
derivation, a specific participation and an extension of Christ
himself (Pastores dabo vobis, n. 12). For this reason, it is
natural that as a "sacrament" of Christ the Priest, the Catholic
priest should correspond precisely with Christ himself, in his
nature as man.

It should come as no surprise that non-Catholic ecclesial
communities that do not have this sacramental conception of the
priesthood accept the idea of ordaining women to the ministries of
the word and of Church leadership which do not imply a sacramental
configuration to Christ in his whole person. This merely
emphasizes the difference existing between the Catholic
sacramental priesthood and non-Catholic ecclesial ministry.

One could speculate about ministries that would correspond to the
nature and the charisms of woman and which could be of great
service to the Church. One can say that there are two ministerial
profiles in the Church: the apostolic and Petrine one, which
stands at the origin of the sacramental priesthood of the
presbyterate and the episcopate, and the Marian one of spiritual
maternity, of contemplation and intercession (cf. Address of John
Paul II to the Roman Curia, 22 Dec. 1987). It is to this Marian
profile of the Church that we should look to discover in depth the
role of woman in the Church and her possible ministry. "This link
between the two profiles of the Church, the Marian and the
Petrine, is therefore profound and complementary. This is so even
though the Marian profile is anterior not only in the design of
God but also in time, as well as being supreme and pre-eminent,
richer in personal and communitarian implications for individual
ecclesial vocations" (Address to the Roman Curia, 22 Dec. 1987 n.
2; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 11 Jan. 1988, p. 6).

Catholic Tradition is rich in all these forms of woman's ministry
and the Holy Spirit could reveal others for the needs of our time.

How many nuns and women religious have exercised this ministry of
spiritual motherhood, contemplation and intercession! How many
communities, how many secular institutes, how many movements today
are discovering this ministry of woman, religious and lay, which,
without being the sacramental priesthood, serves Christ and
today's Church in the Marian line of ministry.

Spiritual movements offer new possibilities

It is absolutely necessary to preserve and develop in the Church,
which is a mother, the characteristic of femininity which is of
her essence. To confer the ministerial priesthood on women would
contradict their proper nature and the specific gifts which they
possess. "By virtue of this consecration brought about by the
outpouring of the Spirit in the sacrament of Holy Orders, the
spiritual life of the priest is marked, moulded and characterized
by the way of thinking and acting proper to Jesus Christ, Head and
Shepherd of the Church, and which are summed up in his pastoral
charity" (Pastores dabo vobis, n. 21). It is clear that the
ministerial priesthood as it has been conceived for centuries does
not conform to the proper nature of woman.

It is in the Marian nature of the Church, as Virgin, Bride and
Mother, that the source of women's vocations and ministries in
service to the Church should be sought.

It is rather striking to see how the ecclesial communities which
are more orientated toward the pastoral consecration of women are
those which have no experience, or only very limited experience,
of the monastic or religious life. On the contrary, for the
Catholic Church the monastic and religious life is an immense
field in which the feminine ministries serving the Church
flourish. Today the communities of modern foundation, the secular
institutes, the spiritual movements at the heart of the Church are
offering new possibilities for vocations and ministries in the
Church to women, whether they are single or mothers of families.

In the light of the Marian nature of the Church as spiritual
Mother, vocations and ministries proper to women can be identified
in great numbers in the Church. The ministry of woman is
characterized by spiritual motherhood: gifts of acceptance,
spiritual discernment, counselling, etc. The contemplative life
and the spiritual combat of intercession are also among the
specific gifts of the Christian woman who can be led to exercise a
true ministry of leadership in the heart of the Church. Could not
the catechetical ministry be further improved, and even the
ministry of preaching on the part of women, not to mention
teaching theology?

The coming Synod on religious life will have an immense field for
reflecting on how to develop all the potential of women's ministry
in the Church as a complement to the ministerial priesthood of
presbyters.

Text from

L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
24 March 1993

Scanning and formatting courtesy of
The Newman Center at Caltech

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