By
Reverend Dr. Aurore Leigh Barrett
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As I read the newspaper accounts of women trying to be ordained as priests, I am struck by the lack of understanding these women seem to have about Catholicism as a whole. There are many Catholic Jurisdictions that would welcome women as Ordained Priests, so it makes me question why these women insist that they only be ordained through the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church is not the only Catholic Church that is valid. I, for example, was Ordained a Priest in 2002 through the National Catholic Church of North America, an Autocephalous Catholic Jurisdiction. My ordination is valid and is in full Apostolic Succession. My Sacraments are just as real as any “Roman” Priest.
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| Reverend Auore |
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“There is much evidence to support the facts that women were ordained priest and consecratory bishops in the early church. Perhaps the most accessible example of female apostolic succession is an ancient mosaic still visible in the Church of St. Praxedis in Rome. this ninth century portrait honors four women leaders who pastured the community, beginning with Mary of Nazareth, who was often venerated by early Christians as the first apostolic woman leader. St. Praxedis and St. Pudentiana were endangered female leaders of house churches before Christianity was legalized in 313 AD. While the other two and Mary have round halos in the mosaic, the fourth woman, Theodora, has a square halo showing that she was alive when the portrait was made. Inscribed above Theodora is the word Episcopa, with the feminine ending, meaning a bishop who is a woman. Just as contemporary churches, cathedral offices and seminaries frequently display photographs of previous pastor, bishops and rectors, the mosaic at St. Praxedis reveals the succession of female pastor and bishops form Mary of Nazareth through Praxedis and Pudentiana to Theodora. Like her predecessor, St. Praxedis 700 years earlier, Theodora wears an Episcopal cross attesting to her service as bishop of the titular church of St. Praxedis.” (Taken from Ute Eisen's book: Women Officeholders in Early Christianity Liturgical Press, 2000)
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| Catacombs of Priscilla |
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In the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome there is a 4th century fresco depicting a woman deacon in the center with her arms raised in an attitude of leadership of a public worship. On the left side of the fresco we see her being ordained a priest by a bishop. The woman is wearing an alb beneath her chasuble. The bishop is laying his right hand on her shoulder and is holding a scroll. Other figures shown in the fresco are identified as St. Peter and his daughter, St. Petronella.
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| St. Brigit's Cross |
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St. Brigit of Kildare, who lived somewhere between 452 and 524 AD, was the abbess of a large double monastery in Kildare, Ireland. While waiting last in line in order to be admitted into monastic life, the bishop brought her forward. He, through Divine inspiration, recognized that she had already become a "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:19). So in response to the Holy Spirit, he received her, not with the invocation for the tonsuring of a nun or monk, but with the ordination prayer of a bishop.
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What did Jesus Christ say about Women Priests?
Nowhere is it found that Jesus Christ stated only men could be ordained as priests. Moreover, "It is remarkable that, though the word priest is found in the New Testament one hundred and fifty-one times, it is never once applied to a Christian minister. In fact, neither John, nor Peter, nor Paul, nor James is ever called a priest." (Ordaining Women by Benjamin Titus Roberts, pg. 26) What we do find, as we read the New Testament, is that Jesus treated men and women alike, as equals and partners in ministry. Can we ever forget that it was Mary of Magdala who first encountered the risen Christ and was told by Him to tell the other apostles Christ trusted this woman to announce His resurrection. He trust this woman above the men to reveal his "good news". More information about Mary Magdalene can be found in her "Gospel".
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Women were very important to the Ministry of Jesus. They supported his ministry financial and spiritually. There is a myth that the last supper was held in the upper room in the home of John Mark's mother, Mary. Mary was a wealthy woman, a widow, with a very large house. There is only one mention of Mary in the Bible and that is in Acts 12:12 which speaks of a prayer vigil held at Mary's house for Peter. Peter, well-known to Mary's household, goes directly to her house upon his escape from prison.
And it was Priscilla who taught Apollos, a man well-schooled in the Old Testament Scriptures, the new Christian faith. She understood that Apollos' limited knowledge could hurt the Christian cause. Appollos became so might in the Gospel that he was called an Apostle. In fact, he became so effective as a true gospel preacher that some of the Corinthians put him before Peter and Paul. All that he became he owed to the quiet instruction of Priscilla. Priscilla worked very closely with Paul and it has also been suggested that she was the author of the Book of Hebrews.
During the time of Christ, and later during the journeys of Paul, women were given positions of authority, as deacons, priests, and bishops, to preach and teach the "good news". But by the 8th-9th centuries the Romans would again ban women from the priesthood. Yet, even with this ban the tradition of women priests lived on in art. In the Museum in the former Cistercian cloister in Bebenhausen, Germany there is a painting of three beautiful women. "The woman on the left is characterized by three objects. Her crown and her sword tell us she was a martyr. In her left hand she olds an open Bible. she is a scholar, teacher, preacher. The woman in the center is carrying a tall gold processional cross, a mark of public ecclesiastical office. The woman on the right holds in her left hand a ciborium suspended above it is a host, to which she points with her right forefinger." (© 2003 Dorothy Irvin)
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And What About St. Paul?
And finally, there are the words of St. Paul, himself, who in Romans 16 states so clearly "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well." (Romans 16:1-2) As you read this chapter further you will see that St. Paul names many other women and men who were leaders of the early church.
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So what happened? How did Rome come to deny and take away what Jesus Christ had given? Scholars will be debating this question for centuries to come. Suffice to say that it was not what Jesus Christ wanted, but rather what Rome wanted, to return women to the submissive role of following and supporting men as the only leaders of the church.
As women we should stand tall and reach out to those brave Bishops of the Independent Catholic Church Movement who want to return the church to its original roots and to give women their proper place as leaders of the church, called to be Deacons, Priests, and Bishops.
If you feel a call to ordination, please contact me direct for further information.
Respectfully,
Reverend Dr. Aurore Leigh Barrett
Director of Vocations
reverendaurore@cox.net
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