Q: Why are there no women cardinals or priests? This goes against all the Scripture teachings that we are all equal in the eyes of God. — Michael
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: Women are equal to men in dignity, no doubt. But being equal doesn’t mean being identical.
Jesus assigns distinct roles to different people in the Church.
His own relation with the Church is portrayed as that of a groom with his bride (see Ephesians 5:21-33).
Priests minister in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). As men, they more clearly express the relationship of Christ (a male) to his Bride, the Church.
In any case, Jesus chose men as his first priests (the apostles). They were also bishops, who passed down the sacrament of holy orders through ordination.
None of this is meant as a slight to women. Scripture records that it was Mary Magdalene, after all, to whom Jesus first appeared on Easter morning. And women seemed to outnumber the apostles at the foot of the cross on Good Friday—a show of devotion that certainly brought some comfort to Our Lord in his agony.
Moreover, the human person most venerated in the Church (Christ is a divine Person) is not a man but a woman: the Blessed Virgin Mary.
That is hardly a sign that the Church looks down on women.
