Short Answers: Male Priesthood and Calling Priests "Father"

Dear Apologist, Why is it that only men can be priests?  Is that rule changeable?   


The teaching of the Church on the male priesthood has a subtle nuance to it.  It does NOT teach that women cannot be priests.  Rather, it teaches that the Church has no ability to ordain women – that this authority was not given to the Church by Christ, making it impossible.  That is why Saint John Paul II wrote on the matter:

“I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” [Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, 4] 

The principle reason given for this lack of ability is the example of Jesus and the Apostles.  Namely, that Jesus chose 12 men to be the first priests, and the Apostles instructions regarding the ordination of new priests always specified men [Acts 1:21, 1Tim 2:12, 2Tim 2:2, Titus 1:6].  In addition, Paul mentioned specifiecally that the teaching role in the liturgy would belong to men  [1Tim. 2:11-12, 1Cor. 14:34-35].  This explanation is found in JPII’s letter and is echoed in the Catechism:

 “The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.” [CCC 1577]

In regard to the changeably of this teaching; that question was posed to the Church in 1995.  Cardinal Ratzinger, then head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, replied in a statement called “Responsum ad Dubium”.  He wrote:

 “This teaching requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”

Dear Apologist, Why do we call priests “father” when Jesus says to call no one "father"?

Referring to priests as “father” is a part of Catholic culture that we rarely think about.  However, some Protestants will use Scripture to propose that this practice is illicit.  They particularly use Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:9;

 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for one is your Father, He who is in heaven.” 

This objection can be blunted by simply asking, “What do you call your mother’s husband?”  For if Jesus’ words were truly an absolute prohibition on referring to men as “father”, that would also apply to our biological fathers.  In fact, Jesus Himself refers to Abraham as “father” in Luke 16:24.

Referring to religious leaders as “father” is a practice which reaches back into Judaism.  We can see this in Acts 7:2 when Saint Stephen referred to the Jewish authorities as “fathers”.  The title indicated the authority they had over the covenant family of God.  This custom was carried into the Christian era and also given deeper meaning.  Our biological fathers give natural life to us, but as Christians we receive new spiritual life through the Sacraments.  In this way, those who confer the Sacraments to us are like spiritual fathers.  This is why Saint Paul said to the Corinthians:  “In Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” [1 Cor 4:15].  Paul similarly described being a spiritual father to a runaway slave named Onesimus [Phil 1:10].  

So what did Jesus mean in Matthew 23?  An answer can be found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

 “I bow my knees before the Father, from whom all paternity in heaven and on earth is named” - Eph 3:14-15 

We can and should recognize fatherhood where it exists.  However, we need to remember that all fatherhood is a participation in the supreme fatherhood of God.