Gary Macy, a professor of theology at California's Jesuit-run Santa Clara University says that there is little room for historical doubt that women were ordained in the Catholic Church until about the end of the 12th century. According to Macy, the practice ended because of "virulent misogyny", California Catholic reports.
Macy told attendees at a Monday night lecture at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee, there is little room for historical doubt that women were ordained in the Catholic Church until about the end of the 12th century.
Macy's lecture, entitled "A Higher Calling for Women? Historical Perspectives in the Catholic Church," was given at Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt campus. The university's news service described the lecture this way: "The very idea of the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church is dismissed by many as contrary to basic church doctrine.
Gary Macy, the John Nobili SJ Professor of Theology at Santa Clara University, says historical evidence is overwhelming that for much of the church's history, the ordination of women was a fact."
Macy has held his post at Santa Clara University since September 2007. Before that, he taught at the University of San Diego for 29 years.
"During his years in San Diego, Dr. Macy published several books and over twenty articles on the theology and history of the Eucharist and on women's ordination," says the Santa Clara University web site.
Among his books is The Hidden History of Women's Ordination, published in 2007.
According to Macy, until about the mid-12th century, women were ordained as deaconesses, served as bishops, distributed Communion and even heard confessions.
"Women were considered to be as ordained as any man... they were considered clergy," he said.
By the middle of the 12th century, said Macy, a profound change occurred in the Church's understanding of the concept of ordination, largely as a consequence of political considerations as the Church sought to protect its property from feudal lords by inventing "a separate clerical class."
Theologians came to view women as "metaphysically different from other people," so that, by the mere fact of being female, women were considered incapable of being ordained. Canonists adopted the position, "Women were never ordained, are not ordained now, and can never be ordained," said Macy.
From the standpoint of history, said Macy, women's ordination is a matter of historical fact, though he conceded the theological issue is a separate question.
Nonetheless, he said, "By the end of the 12th century, the debate was over."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Source (CTHN)
SV (ED)