Portuguese cardinal sees no theological argument against women's ordination
June 27, 2011
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A Portuguese cardinal has said that there are no major theological arguments against the ordination of women as priests.
Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, the Patriarch of Lisbon, said that he is not advocating women’s ordination, because of a “strong tradition” within the Church that restricting the priesthood to males. But he argued that there is “no fundamental obstacle” in Catholic theology that would preclude women’s ordination in the future.
The Portuguese cardinal’s statement is at odds with the teaching of Pope John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) that the Church has no authority to ordain women, and that this judgment reflects the permanent teaching of the Church.
Cardinal Policarpo was appointed coadjutor to the Patriarch of Lisbon in 1997 and succeeded to that title the following year. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He is now 75 years old, having reached the canonical retirement age in February of this year.
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Further information:
- The Patriarch of Lisbon: "There are no theological reasons for excluding women from the priesthood" (Vatican Insider)
- Apostolic Letter on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis)
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Posted by: AgnesDay -
Jun. 28, 2011 2:13 PM ET USA
Pope John Paul had a divine inspiration when he made 75 the mandatory retirement age. I'm pushing 60, and fog up more often than I like to admit. Let us pray for the whole Pepsi Generation. We are all turning into the poopsy generation.
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Posted by: Obregon -
Jun. 27, 2011 10:24 PM ET USA
And the key words of the article are: He is now 75 years old, having reached the canonical retirement age in February of this year. And my reaction to these words are? Thanks be to God!
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Jun. 27, 2011 8:44 PM ET USA
Just exactly where was this useful idiot educated, Sesame Street?
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Posted by: Chestertonian -
Jun. 27, 2011 7:42 PM ET USA
Time for this one to retire and spend some of his free time catching up on apostolic letters--and maybe the Catechism, while he's at it. Not to downplay small-t tradition, but Scripture and Tradition are quite clear on the role of the priest in persona Christi, and then there's the small matter of the "bride of Christ". Is the cardinal advocating same-sex 'marriage'? If there is a bride, then Christ must be a groom.
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Posted by: DrJazz -
Jun. 27, 2011 6:32 PM ET USA
I'm beginning to see some major theological arguments against interviewing 75-year-old Portuguese cardinals.
