Female Ordination
CSA Apologetics
William Woodley
Opening Prayer
Lord, we thank you for gathering us here today to engage in this
important conversation. We ask for your guidance as we discuss
the roles of leadership and service in your Church. Grant us the
grace to listen respectfully to each other, even when we
disagree, and help us to remain charitable and thoughtful in our
words. May we seek the truth with open hearts and minds,
always rooted in your love and wisdom.
We offer this debate up to you for your greater glory, in the name
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
NOTE: The Catholic Teaching
• There is room for debate within the Church on the ordination of women to the
diaconate. We need to better understand the role of deaconesses in the early Church.
• The Catholic Church teaches quite definitively (~infallibly?) against the ordination of
women to the priesthood.
Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (Pope Saint John Paul II, 1994): In order that all doubt may be removed
… I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women
and that this judgement is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.
CIC 1024; CCC 1577: Only a baptised man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination.
CIC 1379 § 3: Both a person who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman
who attempts to receive the sacred order, incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to
the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by dismissal from the clerical state.
Why Debate at all?
1. Prepare you by simulating real life conversations you will likely inevitably have.
2. Faith formation of the debaters by strengthening their theological understanding.
3. Faith formation of the spectators (in RCIA, etc.).
4. Providing a space for people to ask questions and practice critical thinking.
5. Maintaining a respectful dialogue with other denominations in the college.
Motion
We, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, move
that the Sacrament of Holy Orders and priestly
ordination can and should be conferred upon women.
Debate
For Opening Statement 3 minutes
Against Opening Statement 3 minutes
For Proposition Constructive 5 minutes
Against Opposition Constructive 5 minutes
Break 3 minutes
For Rebuttal 5 minutes
Against Rebuttal 5 minutes
For Closing Statement 3 minutes
Against Closing Statement 3 minutes
Discussion 15 minutes
Discussion
1. Do we hold an image of priesthood in society that leads us to believe that being a
priest is the only way or the ultimate way to serve God?
2. How might allowing women priests affect the dialogue the Catholic Church has with
the Orthodox Church? Would this push us further away from unification? Could the
Catholic Church suffer another schism over it?
3. How does a debate on women priests reflect a broader societal conversation about
gender roles and gender equality?
Further Reading
• 494: Letter to the Bishops of Lucania, Pope Gelasius I.
• 1245: Letter Sub Catholicae Professione to Bp Odo of Tusculum, Pope Innocent IV.
• 1755: Allatae Sunt, Pope Benedict XIV.
• 1970: Liturgicae Instaurationes, CDW under Pope Paul VI.
• 1976: Inter Insigniores, CDF under Pope Paul VI.
• 1980: Inaestimabile Donum, CDW under Pope John Paul II.
• 1988: Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope John Paul II.
• 1994: Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Pope John Paul II.
• 1995: Responsum ad Propositum Dubium, CDF under Pope John Paul II.
• 2002: Decree on the Attempted Ordination of Some Catholic Women, CDF under Pope
John Paul II.
• 2004: Letter to the Bishops on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and
in the World, CDF under Pope John Paul II.
Further Reading
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, as we conclude this debate, we thank you for
the opportunity to engage in thoughtful discussion. Even as we
may hold different views, help us to leave here in humility with a
deeper understanding of you. May the spirit of respect, unity, and
love continue to guide us as we go forth and seek your truth in
all things, and we ask for your blessing that we may always
strive to reflect your grace in our words and actions.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
THANK YOU
Next Debate (22 November):
Purgatory
Next Week (25 October):
Demons and Exorcisms
Adoration
SJC Chapel
7:00 to 8:00
BONFIRE
8:00 PM
SJC QUAD
