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From INTER INSIGNIORES:
(Italics in the text by John Wijngaards)
9. Jesus Christ did not call any woman to become part of
the Twelve. If he acted in this way, it was not in order to conform to the
customs of his time, for his attitude towards women was quite different from
that of his milieu, and he deliberately and courageously broke with it.
12. It is true that these facts do not make the matter
immediately obvious. This is no surprise, for the questions that the Word of
God brings before us go beyond the obvious. In order to reach the ultimate
meaning of the mission of Jesus and the ultimate meaning of Scripture, a purely
historical exegesis of the texts cannot suffice. But it must be recognized that
we have here a number of convergent indications that make all the more
remarkable the fact that Jesus did not entrust the apostolic charge (l0) to
women . . .
13. The apostolic community remained faithful to the
attitude of Jesus towards women. Although Mary occupied a privileged place in
the little circle of those gathered in the Upper Room after the Lord’s
Ascension (cf. Acts 1:14), it was not she who was called to enter the College
of the Twelve at the time of the election that resulted in the choice of
Matthias: those who were put forward were two disciples whom the Gospels do not
even mention.
18.
It has been claimed in particular that the attitude of Jesus and
the Apostles is explained by the influence of their milieu and their times. It
is said that, if Jesus did not entrust to women and not even to his Mother a
ministry assimilating them to the Twelve, this was because historical
circumstances did not permit him to do so. No one however has ever proved-and
it is clearly impossible to prove-that this attitude is inspired only by social
and cultural reasons. As we have seen, an examination of the Gospels shows on
the contrary that Jesus broke with the prejudices of his time, by widely
contravening the discriminations practised with regard to women. One therefore
cannot maintain that, by not calling women to enter the group of the Apostles,
Jesus was simply letting himself be guided by reasons of expediency . . .
.
For the full text, see: INTER INSIGNIORES.
From the
Commentary by the Sacred
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Declaration Inter
Insigniores:
40. In the light of tradition, then, it seems that the
essential reason moving the Church to call only men to the sacrament of order
and to the strictly priestly ministry is her intention to remain faithful to
the type of ordained ministry willed by the Lord Jesus Christ and
carefully maintained by the apostles. It is therefore no surprise that in the
controversy there has been a careful examination of the facts and texts of the
New Testament, in which tradition has seen an example establishing a
norm.
41. This brings us to a fundamental observation: we must
not expect the New Testament on its own to resolve in a clear fashion
the question of the possibility of women acceding to the priesthood, in the
same way that it does not on its own enable us to give an account of certain
sacraments, and especially of the structure of the sacrament of order.
58. It must be repeated that the texts of the New
Testament, even on such points as the sacraments, do not always give all the
light that one would wish to find in them. Unless the value of unwritten
traditions is admitted, it is sometimes difficult to discover in scripture
entirely explicit indications of Christ’s will. But in view of the
attitude of Jesus and the practice of the apostles as seen in the gospels, the
acts and the letters, the Church has not held that she is authorized to admit
women to priestly ordination.
For the full text, see: Official Commentary on INTER INSIGNIORES.
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