SCTR 165 Research: Women's Ordination (Murphy, SCU)

SCTR 165 Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation Home Page

Research

Women's Ordination in the Catholic Church

Church Teaching

Further Reading

Church Teaching

This abbreviated list is based on "Rome's Main Documents," a more complete list of Vatican Documents maintained by the website, WomenPriests.org.
WomenPriests.org includes correspondence between Anglican and Catholic leaders on the question of women's ordination (Anglicans permit it, Catholics do not, so it has become an ecumenical issue), as well as bibliography on the question of women's ordination in the Catholic Church. Two print anthologies of relevant documents are also available:
: Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. From "Inter Insigniores" to "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis": Documents and Commentaries, Documenti e Studi 6. Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1998.; Swidler, Leonard and Arlene Swidler, eds. Women Priests: A Catholic Commentary on the Vatican Declaration. New York: Paulist, 1977.

Date	Document Name/Link	Bibliography
1972	Theological Reflections on the Ordination of Women (U.S. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Pastoral Research and Practices) (Camino, Research Materials)	LaCugna, Catherine Mowry. "Catholic Women as Ministers and Theologians." America 167 (10 October 1992) 238-48.

1975	Can Women Be Priests? (Pontifical Biblical Commission) (also in Camino > Research Materials)	Donahue, John R., S.J. "A Tale of Two Documents." In Women Priests: A Catholic Commentary on the Vatican Declaration(ed. Leonard Swidler and Arlene Swidler; New York: Paulist, 1977) 25-34. (Camino, Research Materials)

1976	Inter Insigniores [Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood] (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) (also in Camino > Research Materials)	Citation format for primary source: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Inter Insigniores (Declaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood, 15 October 1976). Origins 6 (3 February 1977) 519-24. Secondary sources Blenkinsopp, Joseph. "Sacrifice, Social Maintenance and the Non-ordination of Women." New Blackfriars 79:925 (1998) 137-45. Meagher, Katherine. "Women in Relation to Orders and Jurisdiction." In Sexism and Church Law: Equal Rights and Affirmative Action (ed. James A. Coriden; New York: Paulist Press, 1977) 21-42. Pontifical Biblical Commission Report. Origins 6 (1 July 1976) 92-96. Swidler, Leonard and Arlene Swidler, eds. Women Priests: A Catholic Commentary on the Vatican Declaration. New York: Paulist, 1977. (Introduction in Camino > Research Materials) Wright, John H. "Patristic Testimony on Women's Ordination in Inter Insigniores." Theological Studies 58 (1997) 516-26.

1977	Commentary on Inter Insigniores (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) (also in Camino > Research Materials)

1983	Canon 1024, The Code of Canon Law (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)	Van Lunen Chénu, Marie-Thérèse and Louise Wentholt. "Le statut de la femme dans le code de droit canonique et dans la convention des nations unies [The Status of Women in the Code of Canon Law and in the United Nations Convention]." Praxis juridique et religion 1 (1984) 7-18. (Camino, Research Materials)

1992	§§1577-1578, The Cathechism of the Catholic Church (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)

1994	Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (Pope John Paul II)	Citation format for primary source: Pope John Paul II. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. 24 (9 June 1994). Online, http://w2.vatican.va/content/ john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/ hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html, accessed [your access date]. Secondary sources Bieringer, Reimund. "Het Schriftargument in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis [The Scriptural Argument in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis]." Bijdragen tijdschrift voor filosofie en theologie 62 (2001) 129-42. Translated by John Wijngaards and reproduced as "The Scriptural Argument in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis." WomenPriests.org (2004). Online, http://www.womenpriests.org/scriptur/biering.asp, accessed 23 March 2012. Blenkinsopp, Joseph. "Sacrifice, Social Maintenance and the Non-ordination of Women." New Blackfriars 79:925 (1998) 137-45. Donahue, Charles, Jr. "Theology, Law and Women's Ordination." Commonweal 122 (2 June 1995) 11-16. Gaillardetz, Richard R. "An Exercise of the Hierarchical Magisterium." America 171 (30 July-6 August 1994) 19-22. --------. "Infallibility and the Ordination of Women." Louvain Studies 21:1 (1996) 3-24. (Camino, Research Materials) Solenni, Pia de. "The Authority of Women in the Church and Ordinatio Sacerdotalis." In Called to Holiness and Communion: Vatican II on the Church (ed. Steven Boguslawski and Robert Fastiggi; Scranton, Pennsylvania: University of Scranton Press, 2009) 277-90. (Camino, Research Materials)

1995	Responsum ad Dubium (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)	Citation format for primary source: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Reply to the dubium Concerning the Teaching Contained in the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (28 October 1995)." Acta Apostolicae Sedis 87 (1995) 1114. Secondary sources Buckley, James J. "A Different Doubt about the Priestly Ordination of Women." Pro Ecclesia 5:2 (1996) 133-7. (Camino, Research Materials) Ferme, Brian E. "The Response (28 October 1995) of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Dubium Concerning the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (22 May 1994): Authority and Significance." Periodica de re Morali Canonica Liturgica 85 (1996) 689-727. (Camino, Research Materials)

1996		Ratzinger, Joseph. "Why the Church Cannot Ordain Women." Catholic International 7:2 (February 1996) 62. (Camino, Research Materials) Dulles, Avery, S.J. "Pastoral Response to the Teaching on Women's Ordination." Origins 26:11 (29 September 1996).

1997		Farley, Margaret. "Appendix A: Tradition and the Ordination of Women." CTSA Proceedings 52 (1997) 197-204.

1998	Ad Tuendam Fidem (Pope John Paul II) Commentary on Ad Tuendam Fidem (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)	Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "From Inter Insigniores to Ordinatio Sacerdotalis." Review for Religious 58 (May-June 1999) 325-6. Ratzinger, Joseph. "Why the Church Cannot Ordain Women." Catholic International 7:2 (February 1996) 62. (Camino, Research Materials) U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine. "Ten Frequently Asked Questions About the Reservation of Priestly Ordination to Men." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Media Relations (Washington, D.C., 1998).

2002	Monitum (warning regarding the attempted ordination of some Catholic women) (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)

	Decree "On the Attempted Priestly Ordination of Some Catholic Women" (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)

2006	Words to Deeds: Continuing Reflections on the Role of Women in the Church (U. S. Bishops' Committee on Women in Society and in the Church)

2008	General Decree Regarding the Crime of Attempting Sacred Ordination of a Woman (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)
2012	Chrism Mass, Homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI	The homily used the occasion of Holy Thursday, when Catholics commemorate Jesus' last supper and Catholic priests renew their vows, to counsel radical obedience to Rev. Helmut Schüller and other members of his Priest's Initiative in Austria who on 2 April 2012 issued a "Call to Disobedience." The call advocates, among other reforms, the ordination of women and married priests. (New York Times story).