This latest book by John Wijngaards is a critique of religious patriarchy and an excellent presentation of the case for the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate in the Catholic Church. It is written in scholarly but accessible language, and clearly emanates from sincere concern for the church in today's world and an ardent desire to expand the mission of evangelization. There is no "radical" feminism in this book, no sense of resentment, no ideological extremism. It is not just about correcting an ancient error, nor about a purely religious issue, but about fostering the full potential, the integral human development of all brothers and sisters in Christ; for religious patriarchy is an obstacle to humans fully becoming what they are in harmony with the entire community of creation.
After the foreword, preface, and introduction, the book is structured as follows:
Chapter 1. The discovery and the shock
Chapter 2. The truth comes clearer
Chapter 3. Cultural prejudice and social myth
Chapter 4. Don't blame it on Jesus!
Chapter 5. Jesus' positive attitude toward women
Chapter 6. Women in the Gospel of Luke
Chapter 7. Christ's new priesthood
Chapter 8. The empowerment of women to preside at the Eucharist
Chapter 9. Women deacons of the past
Chapter 10. The Catholic sense of faith
Chapter 11. The Church's error in condoning slavery
Chapter 12. Jesus wants women in the priesthood
Appendix 1. Papal documents opposing the ordination of women
Appendix 2. Timeline of relevant church history
Appendix 3. Genetic basis of gender roles
Sources and Academic References
The following are brief chapter summaries, in no way intended as substitute for reading and meditating on the entire contents of this timely book, which is the fruit of decades of research by the author:
Chapter 1, "The discovery and the shock," is the author's personal testimony of how, as a young missionary priest, he became aware of the real reasons for excluding women from ordained ministry -- reasons that have nothing to do with revealed truth and much to do with ancient cultural prejudice.
Chapter 2, "The truth comes clearer," narrates the author's gradual process of coming to terms with the church as a human institution that, after condoning slavery for 19 centuries, now clings to a fundamentalist understanding of the masculinity of Jesus and the 12 apostles -- partly as a defensive mechanism against the ordination of women in other liturgical churches, as attested in the opening paragraphs of Inter Insignioris and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.
Chapter 3, "Cultural prejudice and social myth," expands on chapter 2 to show that, whereas recent Vatican pronouncements have embraced the literalist absurdity about what "Jesus intended," it was actually a defective anthropology about women being "defective males," as widely assumed in the Greco-Roman culture and asserted by Thomas Aquinas, that historically blocked the ordination of women -- in brief, "religious leadership by women was not compatible with patriarchal dominance in society."
Chapter 4, "Don't blame it on Jesus!," debunks the "this is what Jesus wanted" argument -- explains that the maleness of the historical Jesus is not essential for the redemption; and that the temporal character of decisions he made during his limited mission to the people of Israel, the culturally contingent logic of choosing 12 males to represent the patriarchs of the 12 trines of Israel, and the absence of women among the 12, prove nothing.
Chapter 5, "Jesus' positive attitude toward women," explains that in the "era of the church," starting with the Acts of the Apostles, decisions were made that were radically beyond what Jesus had said and done, such as canceling the requirement for male circumcision prior to baptism -- and explains why apostolic succession is essential but is not contingent on masculinity.
Chapter 6, "Women in the Gospel of Luke," recognizes that women were not called to be apostles before the resurrection for sociological reasons, but explores significant biblical hints that they could be called to be successors of the apostles after the resurrection, again for sociological reasons -- significant in this chapter is the author's analysis of the anointing in Bethany as a sign of women acting in sacramental ministry, and the unique priestly role of the Virgin Mary as Mother of Christ.
Chapter 7, "Christ's new priesthood," elucidates the difference between the priesthood of the Old Law and the priesthood of the New Law, and notes that the temporal mission of Jesus to the people of Israel was that of a religious reformer, not a social reformer -- he came to make everything sacred, not to keep the artificial separation between sacred and profane, between male and female.
Chapter 8, "The empowerment of women to preside at the Eucharist," is a continuation of chapter 5 to focus on who can preside at the celebration of the Eucharist -- any baptized person can preside when necessary, as in the case of missionary sisters in remote areas; the difference between a real Mass (presided over by a priest) and a dry Mass (presided over by a lay person) is a matter of present canon law, and the real presence of Christ is not contingent on canon law.
Chapter 9, "Women deacons of the past," traces the historical evidence about women deacons in the early church, and the author comes on the side of those who believe it was a sacramental ordination, not just a lay ministry -- and, since holy orders is one sacrament with three levels (as defined by the Council of Trent), the author concludes that women can receive sacramental ordination, including the priesthood.
Chapter 10, "The Catholic sense of faith," is about the importance of the sense of the faithful in shaping sacred tradition as a living tradition, noting that such sense may be latent for a long time until it becomes openly manifested in response to new situations -- some significant historical references are given to the Virgin Mary and the popular devotion to "Mary Priest."
Chapter 11, "The Church's error in condoning slavery," is a hair raising account of the church's tacit approval of slavery until as recently as the late 19th century -- if it took 19 centuries to recognize that slavery is morally wrong under any circumstances, how much longer will it take to recognize that excluding women from one of the sacraments is an injustice being perpetrated in the ecclesiastical world?
Chapter 12, "Jesus wants women in the priesthood," is an ardent appeal to stop playing ecclesiastical politics and start reforming canon law for the glory of God and the good of souls; for excluding women from the priesthood has been harming the entire body of Christ for 20 centuries, and continues to do so -- "plain patriarchal prejudice has been the real culprit," and "the Church should now listen to the Spirit crying out in people."
Appendix 1, "Papal documents opposing the ordination of women," collects excerpts of recent Vatican pronouncements about the ordination of women, with a brief introduction that points to the absurdity of their central argument, i.e., that Jesus "intended" that women have no place in ordained ministry until he returns.
Appendix 2, "Timeline of relevant church history," starts in 1944 with the first ordination of a woman to the priesthood (Florence Li Tim Oi, Anglican Church, Hong Kong) up to 2016 when Pope Francis established a commission to study the possibility of women deacons.
Appendix 3, "Genetic basis of gender roles," is a brief theological anthropology, noting that "men and women are different, both biologically and psychologically," but such difference does not make women "inferior or incapable of leadership -- contrary to what many in the Church hierarchy maintained for centuries."
This relatively short book is a "must read" for anyone interested about the crucial issue of women in ordained ministry, which is arguably the most crucial issue for the church in this century. There is no way in the world that this issue can be evaded much longer, or sugarcoated as a minor issue pertaining only to some regions of the world. The book shows, with painful clarity, that the exclusively male priesthood contributes to obscure the truth about human sexuality and ordained ministry by conflating it with ancient patriarchal culture. As St. Cyprian wrote in the 3rd Century CE, "a custom without truth is ancient error," plain and simple.
Some points come to mind that could have been mentioned in the book:
The "ancient error" is ancient indeed. Genesis 3:16, written ca. 1000 BCE, clearly states that the curse of "male headship" is the immediate and most universal consequence of "original sin."
"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory" (Matthew 12:20). Jesus' mission was to start the healing process, not to finish it in three years of public ministry. The church's mission is to continue the healing process in response to the signs of the times. It is time to heal the gender divide in the church hierarchy.
All the sources are documented at the end. This makes reading easier, but some key references are missing, such as the source for Pope Pius IX's latest statement on slavery as "natural law" (page 134). It is noted that Pope Leo XIII's
reversal came in In Plurimis, dated 1888, before Rerum Novarum in 1891.
It should be made clear that the dogmatic definition of the priesthood of the New Law by the Council of Trent does not mention a masculinity requirement for ordination and apostolic succession. The Word becoming flesh, becoming embodied, is what is essential for the redemption, not gender (Hebrews 10:5).
With regard to the priestly role of the Virgin Mary in the mysteries of the incarnation and the redemption, it would be appealing to mention the devotion to Mary as Mother of the Eucharist.
Chapters 6 and 7 may be difficult for Catholics accustomed to "magical thinking" about the consecration of the Eucharist. The ongoing debate about what gender can be ordained to what level is about intellectual abstractions, not sacramental realities.
With regard to canon 1024: "A baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly." The injustice perpetuated by this canon is not really toward women, it is actually against Christ by forbidding him to call women. Canon 1024 is, in fact, a prescription for the systematic abortion of female priestly vocations.
Clamoring for women priests may still be mostly limited to Europe and North America, but the harm dome is not only personal and local but global, social, and ecological.
On papal documents (Appendix 1), without presuming to compete with the author's scholarship, see this: Summary Points for Meditation on the Ordination of Women.
On the historical timeline (Appendix 2), again without presuming to compete with the author's scholarship, see this: Religious Patriarchy in the Judeo-Christian Tradition.
On gender roles (Appendix 3), it is time to recognize that patriarchy is a gender theory, just like any other gender theory; and to suggest that the ordination of women is an "ontological impossibility" is an ideological absurdity, plain and simple. When St John Paul II is declared Doctor of the Church, as can be expected, one reason will be his Theology of the Body, a monumental work of theological anthropology. I have been studying it since 1979, when he started reading the chapters in the weekly general audience. Without presuming that I understand all he wanted to convey, his clear explanation about the unity of man and woman in one and the same, fully homogeneous human nature, leads me to believe that his theology utterly transcends patriarchal gender theory and provides a sound basis for the ordination of women. For additional exploration of the Theology of the Body as it pertains to women in ordained ministry, see this section of my website.
This book by John Wijngaards is an eye opener, a "theology of the body" for this century. Do yourself and others a favor: get the book, read it, pray about it, and discuss this matter with your community -- we are all one body, "brothers and sisters in Christ."
Note: The book can be ordered from Amazon or directly from the publisher at
Acadian House.
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