If we want to enter Christ's mind with regard to the position of women,
we need to clearly distinguish two areas:
his immediate decisions, such as choosing only men to be
members of the apostolic team;
the underlying principle of equality between men and women as
partners of his new-testament priesthood.
The immediate decision of choosing only men as apostles was dictated by
the social predominance of men. Jesus left the full
emancipation of women to the later Church, just as he left the abolition of
slavery, the division of holy orders, the details of the sacraments, and so on,
to the later Church.
However, Christ clearly established the principle of fundamental
equality in his priesthood that qualifies women to share in the eucharistic
ministry:
