Step 5.

Do the prejudices of Fathers of the Church and theologians invalidate their opinion on the ordination of women?

The question is relevant because the Roman authorities admit that there have been prejudices against women in previous centuries. But they maintain that these do not affect the Tradition against the ordination of women. Click here!

There is no doubt about it that prejudice against women pervaded much of the previous history of the Church

• The Fathers of the Church showed bias and ignorance. Click here!
• Medieval theologians were no better. Click here!
• In the post-reformation age the prejudice against women helped to instigate the atrocious witch hunts of the time.

So did such prejudices affect the value of Tradition regarding women? The answer is: yes. Because not everything handed on from one generation to the other, even if it happens in the context of faith, is a genuine Catholic Tradition. True Tradition needs to fulfil certain criteria:

• True Tradition needs to be scriptural. This means that misinterpreted scripture texts cannot be the core of valid Tradition.
• True Tradition needs to be informed. Ideas and practices that are based on ignorance or misunderstandings cannot be part of valid tradition.

It is clear that the prejudices of the Fathers of the Church and of theologians were part and parcel of their theological opinion regarding the ordination of women. What they held to be ‘Tradition’ was in fact a spurious human tradition. As St. Cyprian observed: “A custom (consuetudo) without truth (veritas) is merely an ancient error!”

If you have questions at any stage, please, let me know. Click on the envelope and send me an email!

• Anne Baring, ‘Eve in Christian Culture’ from The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image (Penguin Books, 1991) pp. 486-546.;
• Mary Anne Rossi, “The Legitimation of the Abuse of Women in Christianity”, Feminist Theology 4 (1993) pp. 57 - 63.