Women’s Ordination Advocates Reject Pope Francis’ “Closed Door” on God’s Call

June 21, 2018
For Immediate Release

Contacts: Kate McElwee, Executive Director
kmcelwee@womensordination.org +1.607.725.1364, +39 393 692 2100 (Rome, Italy)

Katie Lacz, Program Associate
klacz@womensordination.org 518-928-4088 (Colorado, U.S.)

Women’s Ordination Conference reaffirms its stance that the ban on the ordination of women is not a “closed door,” contrary to statements from Pope Francis in an interview with Reuters this week. We are disappointed, but not surprised, that the Pope remains trapped in outdated arguments about the role of women as the “bride of Christ,” and is unwilling to walk with women who prayerfully discern a call to priesthood.  

The question posed to Pope Francis describes a woman with a “strong desire” to become a priest. Beyond any desire, women prayerfully discern their call to priesthood from God, just as men do. We know these women and we support these women. To be a priest is rooted in a calling from God; no man should attempt to deny that call.

In 2015, when asked about women’s ordination, Pope Francis acknowledged that women are excluded from priesthood, “not because they do not have the capacity,” but because of the outdated metaphor of the Church as “bride,” and Christ and priests as “bridegroom.” Such a simplistic understanding of this metaphor does not capture the ways God has called women to serve and lead the Church, historically and today.

Pope Francis claims that women’s ordination “doesn’t go” because of Pope John Paul II’s 1994 letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. In “closing the door” Pope John Paul II ignored the findings of the Pontifical Commission of 1976 which found no scriptural barrier for women’s ordination. Pope John Paul II also ignored the universal college of bishops and the faithful who were calling for dialogue on the sacramental roles of women in the Church.

In endorsing his predecessors’ misogyny, Pope Francis loses credibility among the majority of Catholics calling for women’s ordination as deacons and priests. Until women’s priestly vocations are recognized and affirmed by the Church through ordination, women will have no true leadership and equity in its structures, no matter how many dicasteries they are appointed to lead.

We say it is especially unfortunate that these remarks appear as Pope Francis attends the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva. Any Roman Catholic effort at ecumenism will fall short as long as the Vatican lags behind the other major Christian denominations in its treatment of women. Surely the encounter of ordained women in other denominations at the WCC will not scandalize the Pope. Neither should the thought of ordained women in the Church he leads.

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Founded in 1975, the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is the oldest and largest organization that works to ordain women as priests, deacons and bishops into an inclusive and accountable Catholic Church. www.womensordination.org. WOC recently launched a new series, “Catholic Women Called,” showcasing one-minute videos of women called to priesthood.