Along the same lines as the last question, about not knowing enough about our faith, yesterday a friend said her father caused her to question things about the Catholic Church (after he watched the Davinici Code), such as why woman can not be priests...I told her that that's how God wanted it...the same way men can not experience giving birth...I didn't know what else to say...please help.
The topic of women's ordination in the Catholic Church seemed to be more pressing when I was in the seminary; interest in it seems to have waned over the past few decades.
There are two papal letters in recent times which address the issue. First, there was Inter Insigniores from Pope Paul VI. Then, Pope John Paul II penned Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in 1994 (around the time I first entered the seminary). The main thrust of the document is that the Biblical tradition holds that Christ only named men as the Twelve and that the Church has only ordained men through the centuries and that because of these facts, the Church cannot even consider women's ordination.
John Paul also spends a good amount of the document stressing that this is not to be considered discrimination against women (but a divinely willed practice) and that the ministry of women is still a necessary and valuable part to the mission of the Church.
He quotes Paul VI in noting that the greatest disciples are the ones who love much (not necessarily people with a position of ordained ministry).
Another argument I have heard is that, since Christ, the second divine person of the Trinity, was incarnated in the man Jesus, then it is fitting for the priest to be male in order to more closely resemble Jesus in his sacramental ministry. There is a Latin term used in such an argument--convenientus which translates "fitting." Hence, it is convenientissimus (most fitting) for the priest to be male since Jesus was male.
So, when you suspect, "That's how God wanted it," you are not too far off the mark. Discerning this particular question appears to come mostly from the Biblical tradition. Stories like the Da Vinci Code are works of historical fiction--I know many Catholics who have enjoyed the book as a work of fiction, but we don't put our hope for salvation in works of fiction but in the inspired Word of God. And I don't worry that books like the Da Vinci Code might bring up questions about the faith--the natural living of life brings up more questions than we can really think about in a lifetime! But I wouldn't go to a work of fiction to answer the inevitable questions that arise in life--rather, there is a long theological tradition which one can access for solid answers.
Grace and Peace,
Fr. Chris
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