Jan's Stinkin Blog: WOMEN PRIESTS because there were women apostles?

Monday, October 01, 2012

WOMEN PRIESTS because there were women apostles?

As a follow-up to the story about the discovery of a scrap of papyrus that makes reference to Jesus’ wife and to a female disciple, I noticed a piece in the New York Times titled “Women as priests” by Judith Levitt which cites the discovery of the papyrus and its potential impact on the Vatican’s ban on female priests.

The Vatican has opposed the ordination of women based on a variety of reasons with one being tradition and another that Jesus only picked males to be his apostles.

The article states that contemporary theologians, historians and priests have challenged the Vatican’s position on female priests with recent research that suggests Mary Magdalene, among others, may have been an apostle and that women played leadership roles (as priests and bishops) that profoundly shaped the early church as I have suggested on numerous occasions.

The Vatican is so adamantly against female priests that they have made the ordination of women as priests a crime as great as that of priests molesting children…really?

A 2010 poll showed that 59% of Catholics favor the ordination of females as priests and I bet that number has climbed since then and especially since the priestly sex scandal became so public.

I was not aware of a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. The group was founded in 2002 when seven women were ordained priests by three Roman Catholic bishops aboard a ship on the Danube River. The group now has 100 ordained women priests and 11 bishops.

They validate their ordination by claiming to conform to the doctrine of “apostolic succession” which is the doctrine validating the pope himself and all priests.

The doctrine of apostolic succession stems from the belief that Peter (the head apostle) was the first pope (on this rock you will build my church) who then passed on his authority to all successive popes.

If research shows that Mary Magdalene as well as other women, were actual apostles of Jesus, then women can legally become Roman Catholic priests according to the apostolic succession doctrine.

The trick here is to produce evidence showing that Jesus had female apostles and having the Vatican accept that evidence as valid…don’t hold your breath.