America: ‘The call to priesthood comes from God, not from one’s body parts’: Reactions to Pope Francis’ comments on women’s ordination
Editors’ note: On Nov. 22, five representatives of America Media interviewed Pope Francis in his residence at Santa Marta at the Vatican. They discussed a range of issues, including polarization in the U.S. church, racism, the war in Ukraine and the Vatican’s relations with China. The pope’s comments on the ordination of women in particular drew a strong response from readers. “The way is not only [ordained] ministry,” Francis said. “The church is woman. The church is a spouse. We have not developed a theology of women that reflects this.”
Stained-glass abstractions
Pope Francis was finally asked the question we have always wanted to hear him answer—what would he say to a woman feeling the pain of a sincerely discerned and unfulfilled call to priesthood? Unfortunately, when asked that pastoral question by executive editor Kerry Weber, the pope did not give a pastoral answer. Instead, he gave a clumsy theological discourse on Marian and Petrine theories, which the average Catholic would be forgiven for not knowing by heart, and cast women as creatures with preternatural senses for church administration and sniffing out bad priests.