Why can't women be priests in the Catholic Church?

Marc Cardaronella is the director of the Office of Catechesis and Faith Formation.

In this time when traditionally held roles of men and women are changing, the Catholic Church holds fast to the male-only priesthood. Pope St. John Paul II closed the door on the question of women priests in 1994, and Pope Francis reaffirmed that decision in 2016. To some, this seems profoundly out-of-touch with the modern world.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) in number 1577 states, “‘Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination.’ The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) 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.”

Opponents argue the Church shouldn’t fear re-examining customs that are clearly the product of a bygone age. They say the Church’s lack of openness to women priests doesn’t sync with the Gospel and can’t continue. But is the Church’s position merely an obstinate refusal to change? Or does it go deeper? To understand, we must delve into another document and the process of transmitting the Faith.

Dei Verbum is a Vatican II document about Sacred Scripture. It’s also about how God preserves his saving truth for future generations. Dei Verbum explains how the Word of God comprises not only sacred Scripture but also sacred Tradition. Scripture is the Word of God written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Tradition is also the Word of God, the oral teaching that comes from the apostles and was handed on to their successors.

Scripture and Tradition are inseparably connected because they both come from Christ. Together, they form the Deposit of Faith, the core of doctrine handed down from the apostles. The third aspect of divine revelation is the Magisterium, the teaching office of the Church. The twelve apostles were the first Magisterium. Along with the Deposit of Faith, the apostles’ successors received the Holy Spirit's power to preserve it from error.

Dei Verbum (DV) 10 states, “This teaching office [the Magisterium] is not above the Word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on ...”

The Magisterium isn’t free to manipulate the Deposit of the Faith as it sees fit. It “serves” the Deposit by guarding, explaining and teaching only what the apostles entrusted to it. So, there are some things the Magisterium doesn’t have the authority to change ... like the ordination of women. Jesus and the apostles only ordained men. We only have that precedent handed down from them. Therefore, the Church is “bound by this choice made by the Lord himself” (CCC 1577) and can’t deviate from it.

The all-male priesthood is not an artifact of outdated societal norms. The reason it doesn’t change, in fact can’t change, is the reason why centuries later we experience the same Faith as the very first Catholics. It’s also the reason future generations will have the same experience of Faith for centuries to come. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Magisterium safeguards the Deposit of Faith to ensure everyone, separated by time but not grace, has the whole truth that God revealed.