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PROJECT: ORDINATION JUSTICE disrupts bad theology to free the Roman Catholic Church to ordain women as priests as God has always intended.
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Over the next year, this website will offer an audio course that dives into the scripture, tradition, and history related to the ordination of women as priests. As you work through the course, you will be given the information you need to discern for yourself under the light of the Holy Spirit whether the teaching of a male-only priesthood is coming from God.
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PROJECT: ORDINATION JUSTICE is being undertaken alongside the Vatican's study on the role of women in the Church. This study was commissioned in March 2024 by Pope Francis as part of the Synod on Synodality, which unfolded from October 2021 to October 2024. While all other study groups were assigned to a group of experts, this topic was assigned to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). The focus of the study is to essentially investigate how lay women come to lead within a Church structure that is run by an all male hierarchy. Rather than address the root causes of sexism, the study seems to be interested in learning from the female exception in hopes of being able to duplicate the success these particular women have. The DDF will carry out its work and make recommendations to the Pope in June 2025.
In addition to the study on lay women, Pope Francis also restarted the 2020 Commission studying whether to ordain women to the diaconate. However, though priesthood for women continued to surface throughout the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis continually excluded it as an official topic of discussion or study. This behavior violated the values and process of the Synod that he himself approved, determining the outcome of the discernment before it was given the space to take place. While Pope Francis displays remarkable inner freedom on most things, he has demonstrated time and again that he lacks this grace when it comes the topic ordaining women. He does not recognize his spiritual attachment and is doing a disservice to women, to the Church and to the Synod process. In an effort to hold the Synod leadership and Pope accountable, and to raise awareness about these issues, PROJECT: ORDINATION JUSTICE picks up where the Synod leaves off, studying all aspects of the ordination of women as priests. The goal is to educate: to make accessible and digestible the full range of information needed for the Church to honestly and freely discern God's invitation regarding the role of women. Why nowPriesthood has been emerging as an open question that requires discernment for decades. At this point in history, Catholics at every level of the Church--including religious, deacons, priests, bishops, and cardinals--around the world believe that women should be ordained as priests. This divergence is only increasing with time. Further, because the bishops are not universally in communion on this issue, the doctrine cannot be definitively held. The Church continues to be invited by the Holy Spirit to stop denying reality and instead to turn toward the question and engage it in an honest discernment. This course is aimed at helping the Church do just that. |