Ordination

[the_rev]

Fr. Corapi said that some document from Vatican One makes women ordination impossible, that it has become a doctrine of the faith. And that this was acted out of papal infability.

Can u please point out where one can find find this, and also could a pontiff down the roady change a doctrine, acted out in infability of a previous pope? Change teh doctirne of no women to allowing it in a doctrine?

Also, in your opinion can the celibacy of secular priests be changed, and if so, how would that be done. Would another council hvae to convene or could a pope just write that one day and make it infallible?

Thank you.

Yours in Christ,

Eddie Lee

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
10/16 - Twenty-ninth Sunday

the_rev,

Whether Vatican I said that women can't be priests, I know not; to my knowledge, it was never directly addressed. The impossibility of ordaining women to the ministerial priesthood was infallibly declared by Pope John Paul II in the document [i]Ordinatio Sacerdotales[/i] - the document fits the four requirements for Papal infallibility (acting as the Pope to clarify a doctrine on a clearly defined matter of faith/morals). A defined dogma cannot be negated, as it is believed to be divinely revealed; however, the dogma can be clarified. Note, too, that nowhere in the history of the Church (East or West) is there any tradition of admitting women to the priesthood or the episcopate. There is a tradition of female deacons, but whether they were ordained is an unsolved issue - with regards to them, some ancient Councils use the same verb ("to ordain") that they use with male deacons (implying imposition of hands), but in others they use a different vocabulary that does not imply imposition of hands. However, that order was never widespread in the West and died out in the East in the 16th century for a variety of reasons.

With regards to celibacy, yes, it can be changed as it is a discipline of the Western Church at this time. It could never be defined as a dogma as it does not a matter of faith or morals. Hope this helps.

Yours,
Pio Nono