Women Becoming Priests
To say that society dictates what we do is an understatement, because society dictates so much more than that. We allow society to dictate our beliefs, our morals, and even the things we hold to be true. Society tells us that men should be the leaders, and we believe that and make assumptions based on this. Most Catholics would say that Women cannot be priests, and will tell you that they know it because it is in the bible. The truth is that there is nowhere in the bible in which Jesus states women cannot be priests. In fact, Jesus' teachings as well as history would tell us that the opposite is true. They would lead us to believe that not only is the role of the celebrant a gender-neutral role, but that the original celebrants were indeed women.
In the catacombs under the streets of Rome, a new section has been discovered with a number of frescos painted on the walls. This, in itself, is not unusual, but the stories they tell and the history they convey are quite different from what many believe. These frescos depict people with outstretched hands signifying a priest, a group at a table breaking bread as if having a mass, and another figure is laying hands on the head of someone like a bishop ordaining a priest. What is striking is that these figures appear to be women. While many argue that the figures are men, a close look at the frescos reveals many feminine characteristics. Some of these characteristics are much more prevalent in some than in others. The paintings of women with outstretched hands and the bishop ordaining a priest are the easiest to distinguish. These figures have a woman's long hair and physique. There are no masculine characteristics about them. The figures around the table are not as easily distinguishable. Out of the seven at the table, one is clearly a female. The other, however, would be difficult to distinguish if not for a common trait that is found in all of the frescos. The garments being worn go all the way to the ankles. Only women wore these garments, while men's garments only came down to their calves.
If these frescos are, in fact, women, we should not be surprised. Much of history also points to women being priests in the early church.
In this analysis, an examination will be provided on how sources from Pompeii and Herculaneum can be interpreted to make known the role and status that women of first century AD possessed. Specifically, reference will be made to the Fresco from the triclinium of the Villa of the Mysteries, Inscription of the Eumachia Building and the tablets of Poppaea Note. Nevertheless, prior to analysing the evidence that these sources reveal; it should be noted that the women of Pompeii are not to be placed in a homogenous grouping. This is a result of the diversified roles and status that women occupied in Pompeii and Herculaneum. To provide a comprehensive analysis of the roles and status women possessed, the report will be categorised into a domestic, professional and slave context; to ensure the dichotomy in the grouping of women is made explicit.
In Women, Church, God: A Socio-Biblical Study, Caleb Rosado uses a socio-biblical approach to discuss the role of women in the church today and how they were treated in the Bible, during the patriarchal times. Rosado looks at the connection between what people believe now, their culture, and how they treat women in regards to how one perceives God. This book contains ten chapters in which several topics are discussed, including the nature of God, the treatment of women in the Bible, patrimonialism, servitude, and servanthood.
This paper will discuss the well published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomerory uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomerory uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses. She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomerory enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomerory’s focus on women portrays the era in a new light.
mythology and artwork is in direct contrast to the more subservient role of women during
At St. Joseph Parish in Windsor, Connecticut, women are seen as equals to men. They are greeted by a handshake and a warm smile, just like their husbands or siblings they attend church with. I got the feeling that they didn’t care that I was a woman attending Sunday mass alone, they just cared that I had come at all. On every wall of the church were beautiful stain glass with pictures of Jesus and his disciples, while behind the altar, a painting of Jesus on the cross was painted so that everyone who walked in would see it. In every visual aspect of the church, a woman was present and was with Jesus. There was even a statue of her towards the front of the church. She had a halo around her head just like Jesus and the other male disciples. It
The society in which classical myths took place, the Greco-Roman society was a very patriarchal one. By taking a careful gander at female characters in Greco-Roman mythology one can see that the roles women played differ greatly from the roles they play today. The light that is cast upon females in classical myths shows us the views that society had about women at the time. In classical mythology women almost always play a certain type of character, that is to say the usual type of role that was always traditionally played by women in the past, the role of the domestic housewife who is in need of a man’s protection, women in myth also tended to have some unpleasant character traits such as vanity, a tendency to be deceitful, and a volatile personality. If one compares the type of roles that ladies played in the myths with the ones they play in today’s society the differences become glaringly obvious whilst the similarities seem to dwindle down. Clearly, and certainly fortunately, society’s views on women today have greatly changed.
Sister Sara Butler’s article deals with the question of whether the ordination of women is still an issue within the Catholic Church (pp. 1). She argues that the reformation of gender bias, during the 1950’s, triggered the debate of the candidacy of women for the priesthood (pp. 3-5). Butler states that the Catholic Church used the gender complementarity argument as evidence for the male priesthood, not female subordination (pp. 6-8). Using theological arguments, Butler contends that the Magisterium adheres to Church Tradition since Jesus
Society places ideas concerning proper behaviors regarding gender roles. Over the years, I noticed that society's rules and expectations for men and women are very different. Men have standards and specific career goals that we must live up to according to how others judge.
... States one of the most popular religions, Catholicism, still does not permit women to serve in the priest capacity. Some issues will take many centuries to change, and just like in Catholicism, this Islamic barrier will take time to break down.
Today, women share the same equal rights and opportunities as men; nevertheless, that has not invariably been the case. Before the Jazz Age era, gender discrimination between men and women in society was considerably popular. Women were seen as inferior to men. Their jobs were to care for the home, children, and other domesticated duties while men were able to work, get an education, and become doctors or lawyers. Many women like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, Sojourner Truth, Zora Hurston, to mention a few, seen the unfairness in women's rights and fought for equal rights for women through different movements, efforts, protests, and even marches to abolish women’s rights. As a consequence, women now pursue not only higher education and higher paid jobs/ businesses, but their rights. One of the world’s most controversial issues among churches of today is the role of a woman. Many people are confused about the duty of a woman and how she is supposed to serve God because of history. History taught us to never deny someone of gender, race, or even diversity since he or she has human rights. However, this issue should not be viewed as men versus women because this is not a political issue; instead, it should be viewed as the structural of a church. Women should not be priests, pastors, or even rabbis for God condone women for being priests, pastors, and rabbis as well as proscribed.
The Middle Ages did not offer women many options of lifestyles. During these times women could either be virgin martyrs and sacrifice themselves in religious rituals, or become wives and mother. None of these options offered women a real chance to live, to create, to enjoy. New options emerged, these options allowed them not only to live free of male dominance, but also to be educated and to use their creativity in areas like music, theater, science, and philosophy. These options were monastic life, mysticism and life among the Beguines. Among the women who opted one of these ways of life, were: Hrotswitha, Hildegard and Teresa of Avila, whose work was among the most famous and recognized in the Middle Ages.
In the period of 1200 – 1400 in the Medieval West, the Church had a huge influence over society. There were many ideals set by the Church that the people were expected to accept. Women in particular, had specific roles in which they had to conform to, and the majority of women did so. The two main roles available for a women in this time period were that of a wife, and taking on the responsibilities of caring for a household. The other main choice that came about through the development of the church was the role of a Nun, where a women was expected to live a life of contemplation and prayer. Both of these roles were prominent in between the years of 1200 and 1400 and women conformed to these ideals as many did not have a choice. However, there were many influencial women during this time, and these women had significant roles in the development of women and how they were viewed by society.
However, for a man to appear naked conferred his power, his strong body and strong mind, while for a woman to appear naked would be indecent and confer immodesty. Sculptures of unclothed women were usually of the Goddesses of love and sexuality, which justifies the nudity. The need to justify female nudity while male nudity was considered commonplace already reflects ideas about gender. In the sculpture, the woman is clothed in a mantle, which symbolizes modesty. Women were treated as vessels for children, not as human beings capable of aggressive sexuality. (invisible; not
Early Christianity emphasized on chastity and celibacy and stayed away from depictions of nakedness and sexuality, unlike the early Greeks, Romans and later artists from the renaissance period. The Christians looked at nude art as the first exponents of sin. In looking at Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels, Mary, Lady Guildford, and Danae you will see the transformation of how sexuality changed and was more accepted from the late thirteenth century to the sixteenth century. Nude art did not fully return until the medieval period (around the sixteenth century) when the rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture was restored. “Nude figures based on antique models appear started to reappear in Italy as early as the mid-thirteenth century, and by the mid-fifteenth century, nudes had become symbols of antiquity and its reincarnation.” (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/numr/hd_numr.htm) Nude paintings and statues first started off as biblical heroes, then unimportant nude figures in vigorous poses to suggest the range of human action, and the next generation introduced nudes in religious paintings including both men and woman. Inspiration from the nude female also returned to favor in the Renaissance. Sculptors and painters started creating woman in more realistic ways and would highlight the seductive warmth of the female body, rather than create an unrealistic ideal womanly figure that the Greeks used.
The role of women in religious scripture dictates an inferior position in society. Beginning with the creation of Adam and then Eve, as his helpmate. Her purpose was that Adam would not be lonely. This origin provides the ground work for inequality of genders on the basis of religious scripture. The roles prescribed determined that women should be in a subordinate position to man. The female role and relationship with God is defined by the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the reported actions of Jesus Christ, and finally the Qur'an.