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From the Right by Ed Farnan

Time for Catholic Church to welcome women as equals

Posted on Saturday, January 07, 2012 at 11:39 AM

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The Catholic Church has provided comfort to billions of people over the ages by offering continuity and tradition in an always turbulent world. The church and its ceremonies have survived the dark ages, plagues, wars, and despotic governments. Through every sort of calamity imaginable, the church has remained solid, like the rock it was built upon.

But times have changed and to deal with it can be difficult. Sometimes tradition and obstinacy are blurred and if you don't recognize that, the world will pass you by. Recently, the church has been rocked by sex abuse scandals, waning influence and a worldwide shortage of Priests.
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The Church is ignoring the great social changes that have swept advanced cultures around the world, one of the major changes is that women have achieved parity with men in almost every arena....They are equal human beings. No longer are women expected to stay home and bear children. They are free to do that, but they are also free to pursue anything else and rightfully so.

In today's world women are heads of state, test pilots, astronauts, doctors, scientists, pastors, CEO's, Generals and someday soon, a conservative woman will step up to be President of the USA.

So with all of this progress throughout civilized countries of the world, why can't the church recognize that women are equals and deserve a seat at the table of power? It seems that women were able to have positions of importance in the church prior to 494 AD.

But in 494 AD, Pope Gelasius decreed women could no longer be ordained to the priesthood. From that time, women’s roles in the church diminished and they were deprived of leadership roles.

Time for the church to step into the 21st century and ordain women as priests, nominate them to be cardinals and bishops and one day soon, when we see smoke over the Vatican, it will mean a woman has been selected to be pope.

Sometimes you either change or you self destruct. Which will it be?

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For other points of view visit Carroll Standard: www.carrollstandard.com

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69 Comments

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ciaradexy | Feb 08, 2012, 04:58 PM EST

dwilson,''If these women were truly spiritual they would be content not being one.'' If priests or the catholic church were truly spiritual, theyd not have systematically raped children and covered it up.

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SeamusMartin | Jan 10, 2012, 02:44 AM EST

WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)? Time for the RCC to change. "The times they are a changin' " What a wonderful thing to happen... if the RCC would just change for the times. But unfortunately it'll never happen. :(

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dwilson94 | Jan 10, 2012, 01:14 AM EST

It is not an equality issue. The women that want to become priests and are fighting this issue would not make good ones anyway. If these women were truly spiritual they would be content not being one.

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stephen1553 | Jan 10, 2012, 12:00 AM EST

Someone in the blogs reminded me ( our family has left the church totally except for a few old folks, you can guess why) that the church is feminine - which makes of course Jesus masculine. This is the root cause of the disorder - it seems to me that the church has been effing Jesus in so may ways, eg his commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself. Wierd

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stephen1553 | Jan 09, 2012, 11:48 PM EST

The church knows that once women become church leaders, then another bastion of church control - the prohibition of priests marrying will also fall. ......................... Which will reek havoc with the churches absolute power................................. And just maybe make a contribution to reducing the issue of rampart child molestation.......................... If only the church wasn't blinded by its own propaganda, life would be better also for the childrenwho haave been even worse victims of a stone age mentality.

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Monsoonman | Jan 09, 2012, 07:26 PM EST

Whats this world coming to? Even McNamara likes me :))

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McNamara31 | Jan 09, 2012, 04:52 PM EST

Monsoonman... Your Titanic analogy is your best "Monsoonmanism" yet.

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seanomelbourne | Jan 09, 2012, 04:39 PM EST

Ed I almost agree with your article "some day soon a conservative woman will be POTUS!! not until Hillary completes her tenure as POTUS. The RCC is dying on it's crippled feet,i'st run by a bunch of bitter old men. I beleive that there will be women priest and married priests as soon as another generation of Bishops rule Rome.

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eiriamach | Jan 09, 2012, 03:19 PM EST

There's no fabrication of history here. If FrVol can interpret the existing historical records differently, let's hear it. Anyone reading them can clearly see that unless Pope Gelasius suffered from some form of misogynist paranoia, there were women deacons, priests, and other ministers in the early church. Why would he try to prohibit something that no one had ever done? Visit the womenpriests. org web site to study the history, art, literature, and theology about women priests. Like the celibacy rule, the maleness of priests is a discipline, a tradition, not an unchanging article of faith. The priesthood has developed and changed throughout the centuries. Next, we are likely to see a return to early church practice of priests as servants within a priesthood of all the faithful. At least RCC is no longer claiming that women cannot be priests because they are not equal to men in intellect or moral character-- which was their argument for centuries! However, they have nothing left now to argue against women priests except that Jesus' being male is somehow more important than his sharing our common humanity. That claim seriously undermines the centrality of the doctrine of the Incarnation to Christianity and may even be heretical. Perhaps Cahir O'Doherty will permit me to borrow his expression "pretzel theology" for such arguments, which show how desperate and silly people can become.

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cuddlybuddly | Jan 09, 2012, 02:32 PM EST

Eh...excuse me...for the record...I would not go near the Catholic Church with a ten foot pole, welcome or not...

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CaptainCon | Jan 09, 2012, 02:27 PM EST

Why would women seek the approval of a blatantly misogynist organisation such as the catholic church? Hatred and fear of women is encoded in its very dogmatic DNA. And that was right from the start. The relevant 'jesuss/messiah figure was described as a nazarene. That particular cult didn't even permit women to live with men. This information exists in strange buildings forbidden to the faithful. I think they are called ... libraries. Try under theological history. Catholic church dogma takes it as read that women are inferior to men and are a constant danger to men due to their ability to vessels for evil spirits. Believe it or not. But this information is checkable. If rather embarrassing. Why do you think degenerate priests regard it as less of a sin to rape a child than sleep with a woman? Think about it. And try one of those library things for the answer.

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Monsoonman | Jan 09, 2012, 12:59 PM EST

The captain of the Titanics last order concerning the ships course, made them collide with an iceberg and sink. Just because he was the commander and gave the order doesn't mean he was correct.

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kilgara | Jan 09, 2012, 10:52 AM EST

Farnan, you surely wrote this claptrap with your tongue in cheek. Are you a Roman Catholic?

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FatherVol | Jan 09, 2012, 10:04 AM EST

Someone doesn't know theology or understand iconology! Fabricating history to lend support to one's agenda is a grave error and one who does so would be better off with a millstone tied around her/his neck and throuwn in to the depths of a lake.

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donal1951 | Jan 09, 2012, 09:35 AM EST

I would like some evidence backing up the statement that women were ordained to the priesthood during the Catholic Church's first 400 plus years. I don't doubt it may be true, but I need footnotes and facts. I have read apocraphyl accounts, such as St. Brigid of Ireland being a bishop, but I've never seen proof.

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