A Call to Catholic Media: Use Language that Speaks the Future into Being

Then God said, 'Let there be light', and there was light." - Genesis 1:3

One of the ways that humans are made in the image of God is that we possess the extraordinary power to speak the world into being. We need a change in language when discussing the issue of ordination for all who are called by God to serve as priests. I penned this Letter to the Editor to a Catholic media outlet. I wrote it for media, members of the movement, and the everyday Catholic who contemplates Church life. I offer it to you for your prayer and reflection. Share it widely. 

To the Editor: 
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For decades discussions and coverage of the ordination of women to the diaconate and priesthood have been framed as “women’s ordination.” However, this language is deeply problematic, recasting a matter of injustice as a special interest concern that affects only a subset of the Church. It suggests that women are somehow the problem, while the system itself is presumed to be neutral and just. 
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In reality, this is not a woman’s issue; it is an issue of justice that distorts the sacramental life of the Church and wounds not just women but the entire Body of Christ. Further, responsibility for righting this wrong belongs to the whole Church, most especially the male bishops and pope entrusted with shepherding the Church into integrity with the Gospel.

I urge a shift in our language from “women’s ordination” to ordination justice. This change moves the focus from women as petitioners—a framing that is itself faulty since the demand for justice is not gendered—to the Church as moral agent. It also locates the issue squarely within Catholic social teaching, which insists that structures, laws, and practices promote the full dignity and flourishing of the human person.

Our language is instrumental: words shape imagination, imagination shapes conscience, and conscience shapes action. It is time to speak honestly about what is at stake and who bears responsibility for bringing about what is right.

Father Anne
Albuquerque, NM
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