Originally reported by NBC News, eighty-year-old Rita Lucey has recently been ordained as a Roman Catholic Priest in Orlando, Florida. Lucey is only one out of 160 women in the United States (and one out of 200 women worldwide) to earn the right to perform the seven sacraments. If this seems strange, it’s because women have been banned from priesthood for as long as Catholicism has existed. The rapid rise of female priests is inarguably a big change. The question is, is this a victory for the women’s rights movement or an injury to the Catholic religion?
At first, Pope Francis’s refusal to acknowledge Lucey as a legitimate priest seems rooted in the effort to obey written law. If the Bible is taken at face value, Lucey’s womanhood is in direct conflict with passages that strictly prohibit women from becoming priests (1 Corinthians 14:33-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12). The Ordinatio Sacerdotalis also states that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitely held by all the Church’s faithful.” Another conflict is that Lucey has been married for 63 years, and there are several passages in the Bible that suggest priests cannot be married (including 1 Corinthians 7:32-34, 1 Corinthians 7:7-8, and Matthew 19:12).
It is also important to point out that women’s subordination is an integral aspect of Catholicism. At mass, we listen to biblical stories in which most of the important roles are played by men. We are told that it is our duty to serve our husbands. We are expected to bear children unless we want to become nuns. All this being said, I think it’s a little odd that Pope Francis – known for including gays, divorced Catholics, and atheists – rejects women’s ordinations. It doesn’t make sense that he is willing to throw out some traditions, but not others. I can’t help but think that this has more to do with keeping men and women in their “proper places” than preserving religious traditions. The pope even said last year that women contribute to society “through the sensitivity and intuition they show to others.” Although some may disagree, he seems to hold the notion that men and women have ontological differences which confine them to very specific roles in the Church. All Catholic church officials, not just the pope, need to realize that this way of thinking restricts women’s potential and ignores the progress society has made to better understand gender constructions.
I emphasize with Lucey and other female priests who argue that the Catholic Church is creating a political and religious dilemma for many women. I too struggled, and still struggle, to negotiate a Catholic and feminist identity. As an advocate for gender equality, I must support Lucey and other female priests for paving the way for a more inclusive religious institution. Despite Pope Francis’s opposition, I think women’s ordinations will help build a stronger, more accepting Catholic community. I also think that women’s ordinations can eventually become common practice as long as feminist Catholics remain patient and keep fighting for change.
This article is an op-ed and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Her Campus.