Key points to consider:
– What are the reasons why the Roman Catholic Church prevents women from joining the priesthood?
– Why do other Christian Churches allow and encourage women to enter their priesthood?
– Can the exclusion of women be considered in any way just?
– Is it fair that the Roman Catholic Church do not treat the role of men and women as equal?
– Is this justifiable according to John Rawls and his theory of justice?
Why don’t the Roman Catholic Church ordain female Priests?
Reasons include:
– Church Traditions.
– Religious Beliefs and Teachings.
– The role and duty of women is different, but equal to men.
– The main reason for this is due to their belief that Jesus was a male and those who become priests are carry out the work of Jesus.
– Also the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus were all male and therefore priests should all be male.
– This is a deep rooted teaching within the Roman Catholic Church which has yet to be changed or even considered for alteration.
Why do the Church of England allow women to become Priests?
Equality in the Church.
Fairness in the religious teachings.
Trust in the individual’s faith rather than the gender.
A belief that the Bible contains the core of all Christian faith and thought.
They belief that the gender of the individual does not matter as long as they have the faith it takes to become a member of their priesthood.
A firm commitment to the ministry of all of God’s people both lay and ordained together.
John Rawls.
– Leading figure in moral and political philosophy.
– Published his Theory of Justice in 1971.
– Rawls aimed to outline what is justice.
– From his theory we can understand which actions are justifiable and which are not.