The Bible reveals that Jesus was male and that He selected only men to be ordained as his Apostles.
Those Apostles and the bishops who succeeded them have always imitated Jesus in choosing only men to be ordained to the priesthood.
Priests embody the person of Jesus and continue his role as bridegroom of the Church even today.
The fact that women cannot become priests is not because they are considered inferior or incapable of fulfilling the duties of the priesthood. While not the same, the Catholic Church considers men and women to be equal.
Since the male priesthood is based on divine law instituted by God, the Church does not have the authority to allow women to be priests.
The priest stands in the person of Christ:
The priest becomes Jesus for us:
“Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination.” The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the Apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. the Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1577
The nature of women is not the isssue:
He went up the mountain and summoned those whom He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve [whom He also named Apostles] that they might be with Him and He might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: [He appointed the twelve:] Simon, whom He named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom He named Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him.
Mark 3: 13-19
The priesthood was instituted by Jesus:
Unlike Church law, divine law can not change:
The presence and the role of women in the life and mission of the Church, although not linked to the ministerial priesthood, remain absolutely necessary and irreplaceable. As the Declaration Inter Insigniores points out, “the Church desires that Christian women should become fully aware of the greatness of their mission: today their role is of capital importance both for the renewal and humanization of society and for the rediscovery by believers of the true face of the Church.”
Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, May 22, 1994
Men and women complement each other in serving God:
Women can live out the truth and power of their Baptism:
Playing active roles in the Church as women:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
When you go back you see the Catholic Church, not Protestantism:
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