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Author of the Rosarium Super Decreto, written
between 1296 and 1300 AD.
As reasons why women cannot be ordained to the priesthood, Guido
mentions the following:
- Women are not perfect members of the
Church
- Woman was the effective cause of
damnation
- Even Mary helped salvation only in a material
way
- The meaning of ‘deaconess’
Translation from the latin by John
Wijngaards
Women are not perfect members of the
Church
“Women are unfit to receive ordination, for ordination is reserved
for perfect members of the church, since it is given for the distribution of
grace to other men. But women are not perfect members of the church, only men
are”
“Add to this that woman is not an image of God, only man
is”. (gloss added to the text)
Causa 27, quaestio 1, chapter
23
Woman was the effective cause of
damnation
“Moreover, woman was the effective cause of damnation since she was
the origin of transgression and Adam was deceived through her, and thus she
cannot be the effective cause of salvation, because holy orders causes grace in
others and so salvation.”
Causa 27, quaestio 1, chapter
23
Even Mary helped salvation only in a
material way
“A woman can be the cause of salvation in a material way, indeed
because woman was (after all) taken from man in a material way since she was
made from Adam's rib. And so the Virgin Mary had to be the cause of salvation,
and this is true that the female sex was the material cause of our salvation
since Christ our salvation proceeded materially from the Blessed Virgin.”
Causa 27, quaestio 1, chapter
23
Note. Guido says that the extent of Eve’s guilt cannot be
balanced even by the fact that Mary is the Mother of God, since Mary was only
the “material cause of salvation”. Because woman was created from
man, Guido allows the female sex in general only the ability to be the material
cause of salvation, though, paradoxically, she can be the only efficient
causation for sin, according to Guido.
The meaning of
‘deaconess’
“A ‘deaconess’, that is: an abbess, or formerly a woman
who ministered to a priest was called a ‘deaconess’ .... Today this
does not exist any more.”
Source: Ida Raming, The Exclusion of Women
from the Priesthood, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen 1976, pp. 68-69.
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