 |
 |
 |
|
|
|---|
|
Huguccio wrote his commentary on Church law, the
Summa, in 1188 AD.
Huguccio had an enormous influence on canon lawyers and theologians
of later centuries. His work formed the basis for the later works of Laurentius
and Johannes Teutonicus.
- ‘Deaconesses’ did not receive real holy
orders
- A woman cannnot receive holy orders because of her
sex
- The borderline case of hermaphrodites
- Man rather than woman is an image of God
- God’s glory was only truly revealed in the
creation of man, not in the creation of woman.
- Woman wears a veil as a sign of subjection
Translation from the latin by John
Wijngaards
‘Deaconesses’ did not receive
real holy orders
“(These women) ... should not receive the veil, that is: they should not
be ordained to be deaconesses. For in the past some nuns were ordained to be
deaconesses, not to holy orders but to some ministry such as to proclaim the
Gospel during matins or something similar. At present this does not happen, but
without any specific institutions there are still some nuns in some places who
read the Gospel.”
.....“Deaconesses were ordained, that is: they
were elected and established with some solemnity in one or other ministry,
which agrees with deacons. Perhaps they sang or read out the Gospel during
matins as well as prayer. This ministry and dignity was called the
diaconate.”
“Some people say that formerly women were ordained until the deaconate,
that afterwards they were forbidden in the time of Ambrosius, that afterwards
again they were ordained during the time of this council (Chalcedon), that they
are not being ordained now. But the first explanation prevails, namely that the
deaconate was merely the imposition of a religious veil.”
On Causa 27, quaestio 1, chapter
23
A Woman cannnot receive holy orders
because of her sex
“I am saying that a woman cannot receive ordination. What prohibits her
from it? A decree of the Church and her sex, that is a decree of the Church
made on account of her sex. If therefore a woman is ordained in fact, she does
not actually receive ordination, and is forbidden to exercise the office to
which she was ordained”.
On Distinction 23, chapter
25
The borderline case of
hermaphrodites
“As to a hermaphrodite, if he has a beard and
always wants to engage in manly activities and not in those of women, and if he
always seeks the company of men and not of women, it is a sign that the
masculine sex predominates in him and then he can be a witness where a woman is
not allowed, namely with regard to a last will and testament, and he also can
be ordained a priest. If he however lacks a beard and always wants to be with
women and be involved in feminine works, the judgment is that the feminine sex
predominates in him and then he should not be admitted to giving any witness
wherever women are not admitted, namely at a last will and testament, neither
can he be ordained then because a woman cannot receive holy orders.
”
On Causa 27, quaestio 1, chapter 23, ad
v.
Man rather than woman is an image of
God
“On account of three reasons the man is said to be an image of God and not
the woman. First of all: just as there is one God and from him everything
arose, so one man was created from the beginning from whom all the others
arose. Therefore to this extent he has a similarity with God namely that as
everything proceeded from this one God so all other human beings proceed from
this one man. Secondly just as from the side of Christ when he was sleeping in
death on the cross the origin of the Church flowed namely water and blood
through which are signified the sacraments of the Church through whom the
Church subsists and has its origin and becomes the spouse of Christ, so from
the side of Adam when he was sleeping in paradise was formed his spouse because
from there was taken a rib, from which Eve was formed. Thirdly: just as Christ
is head of the Church and governs the Church so the husband is head of his wife
and rules and governs her. And through these three causes the man is stated to
be the image of God and not the woman, and therefore the man must not be like
the woman a sign of subjection, but a sign of freedom and preeminence. However,
in a fourth way both the man and the woman are said to be an image of God,
wherefore we have the expression ‘Let us make man’ that is ‘let
us make him in our image and our likeness’ that is capable of the divine
essence through reason, through the intellect, through memory, through genius
and this is said both about the woman and the man.”
On Causa 33, quaestio 5, chapter
13
God’s glory was only truly revealed
in the creation of man, not in the creation of woman.
“On account of three reasons a man is said to be the glory of God and not
a woman. Firstly, because God appeared more powerful and more glorious in the
creation of a man than of the woman, because it is especially through man that
the glory of God is manifest because God made him by himself and from the slime
of the earth against nature, but woman is made from the man. Secondly because
the man was made by God without any intermediate tool, which is not the case
with regard to woman. Thirdly because the man glorifies God directly, that is
without any intermediary, whereas the woman only glorifies God through the man,
because the man teaches and instructs the woman to glorify God”.
On Causa 33, quaestio 5, chapter
13
Woman wears a veil as a sign of
subjection
“A man does not need to cover his head. When he prays he does not need to
carry a sign of subjection as if he were not free before God, that is as if he
were not subject to him without any intermediate being.”
On Causa 33, quaestio 5, chapter
13
Source: Ida Raming, The Exclusion of Women
from the Priesthood, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen 1976, pp. 61-64.
Follow @JohnWijngaards
Join our Women Priests' Mailing List
for occasional newsletters:
An email will be immediately sent to you
requesting your confirmation.
Please, credit this document
as published by www.womenpriests.org!