‘Mary has chosen the better part…which shall not be taken away from her’

Women’s Ordination in the Catholic Church

by John O’Brien (Cascade Books, $46.00hb $26.00/£20.00pb distributed by Books Depository and others, and available on Kindle)

On January 11 Pope Francis, acting he said “after theological reflection”, issued a decree, Spiritus Domini (The Spirit of the Lord), which in the words of a press release “amended Canon Law to allow women to serve as readers at liturgies, altar servers and distributors of communion”.

This was seen by commentators “as another step towards greater equality for women in the Roman Catholic Church”.

Of course, informally, this had been going on for some time. But this change means women cannot not be rejected from these roles at whim.

But the Vatican stressed that these serving roles were “essentially distinct from the ordained ministry”, and were not an automatic precursor to women one day being allowed to be ordained as priests.

However, in the wider world of discussion the ordination of women was once again back on the agenda for many.

In this context John O’Brien’s recent book will arouse great interest and perhaps lead to a more focussed discussion of the question. After serving for three decades in Pakistan, which is very much on the troubled edge of missionary work, he is now an associate professor of theology in Durham University. He is well aware of the nature and state of the world. No ivory tower here.

Ordination

In Rome the ordination of women is usually seen as a matter settled by the long tradition of the Church. For others, the call for the ordination of women is most often seen in a context of the essential equality before God and society of women and men. The more traditional minded feel that it is a mere fashionable whim.

But what is this tradition, and where does it begin? Not certainly with the Greek and Latin Fathers, but with the Apostles. If (others think) at Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended on both men and women, of whom it was said that “your sons and your daughters will prophesy” (added emphasis). Given the pre-eminent role of women in the Gospel narratives, where they are shown to have had a special place, this is understandable. That central role is illustrated by the painting from the Cathedral of St Mary at Pamplona.

Perhaps Catholics need to reflect on that significant passage concerning Martha and Mary in Luke 10:42: “Mary hath chosen the best part which shall not be taken away from her.” (Rheims version)

Tradition

John O’Brien’s approach is quite different. Rather than argue about the outcome of tradition (influenced as it is by so many social and philosophical changes over the centuries), he asks what did the earliest Christians think and say. To ascertain this is to move back from many of the long familiar documents such as the Greek and Latin Fathers, to engage with newly emergent epigraphic evidence from the first three centuries rather than textual materials of later centuries.

These suggest that in those earlier centuries woman occupied many roles in the emerging Church, roles analogous with those later defined as pertaining to those of deacons, priests and bishops. Thus he argues from sources which are more archaeological than textual. But they are also immediate and datable.

The argument in his book is summed up by John O’Brien in this way: prior to the 12th Century women were validly ordained according to contemporary ecclesiastical understanding. Prohibitions were issued, but these showed that ordination was commonplace.

“These canons were a cultural practise in search of a theology,” he suggests, “and the subsequent theological justification for restricting ordination to men appealed to supposed female inferiority against the background of priesthood as eminence rather than service.”

In conclusion: “the assertion of women’s non-ordination is a matter of Canon law rather doctrine. As such, that law can be reformed.”

This will seem clear and persuasive. And quite in keeping with the feeling that many derive from their reading of the Gospel. Ultimately like many abuses, the matter is an expression of power to exclude and dominate, rather than to live in charity.

Those, and there are many of them, who are seriously concerned about the role of women in the Church, will want to read and absorb the argument in John O’Brien’s book. Many may not agree with him. But they must be prepared for a careful scholarly appraisal based on evidence both old and new. Based as it is on new research into the earliest centuries of Christianity, with which many are unfamiliar, the ideas of this book may yet prove influential.

Reviewing

But an objective observer reviewing the book has to ask can this reformation of Canon Law come about? In Europe and North America it may find wide acceptability; but not in Africa, Latin America, and Asia? There the tone of the Church is often affected not by theological considerations but by the social lore and traditions of the societies of those continents.

However, as we know change comes. Sometimes it comes slowly over centuries and may take that amount of time to reverse. But as has been elaborated by Thomas Kuhn with regard to the world of science, the change can be rapid, even sudden. Speaking of revolutions in scientific thought he notes that once a ‘change of paradigm’ takes place in the realm of science, and receives acceptance, the overall change and acceptance is immediate. The new idea’s time has quite simply come.

But when it does come in the Church, that same observer might suggest the ordination of women will not be presented as a ‘new idea’, but an ancient fundamental position of the Apostolic church that had been lost sight of through the ages due to social change that devolved authority increasingly on men.

If the ordination of women comes it will be presented not as a ‘reformation’ or a ‘modernistic change’, but the recovery of an original inspiration of the Church! It will be seen as the recovery of the ‘the best part’ chosen by Mary that accidents of history took away from her. But this is speculation and a matter beyond the topic range of John O’Brien’s insightful book.