Escorting the Men Out of the Church (part 1)

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; also that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion. Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty (1 Tim 2:8-15).

Can we talk about it? This passage from the letter of St. Paul to Timothy, the Bishop of Ephesus, gives us issues of faith and morals.It is part of the deposit of faith that has been handed down to us by the Church through the authority of the Magisterium in the writings of the New Testament Scriptures. For anyone to pick and choose which parts of the Bible that he wishes to ignore is a grave sin. We cannot say on our own personal authority that some parts are "no longer applicable" for there is no standard by which that is decided outside of the Magisterium of the Church, and it has never pronounced that these verses no longer apply to our lives.

This is important because the Church says that "we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures" (CCC 107). I know that people do not like talking about these passages but is it right for us just to "ignore" a section of the word of God? It may sound a bit extreme for me to say that we are "ignoring" God's word, but it is not an exaggeration. You may not be aware that these verses quoted above never show up anywhere in the three year lectionary for Sundays and Solemnities, or in the two year lectionary for weekdays that we currently use in the Church.

A few years ago, a dear Catholic woman referred to this very passage and said to me "it's a good thing the Catholic Church doesn't teach that anymore". I asked her where she got that idea, she said she remembered hearing it "somewhere". This appears to be the opinion of many, and I suspect that this is what drives this kind of idea. "We never talk about that anymore so I guess we don't believe it anymore". Is that the issue? Are people just hoping if we keep it out of sight/out of mind, then it will eventually just disappear?

I have no idea why these passages were left out of the lectionary (I do not even want to speculate). Yet, I do know that if you can keep them out of people's hearing, then it is easier to keep them out of people's thinking. And once something is no longer thought of it is easier to ignore it completely. In other words: if the truth about the roles of men and women in the Church has been quietly excluded from our hearing, then we could say that it has been "escorted out of the Church". When this happens, it becomes easier to "escort" the men themselves out of the Church. The Church has declared emphatically that women cannot (not "should not") be ordained. This passage quoted above is one of the most significant to show that this is not merely a "cultural idea" that can be done away with someday; it is a part of the written words of God. Has the massive spread of feminist thinking caused us to fear speaking the truth?

We are also told in the Catechism that:

The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful … to learn 'the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,' by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. 'Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ' (CCC 133)."

Therefore, ignorance of these types of Scriptures (ones that speak to us about these particular subjects) is ignorance of what Christ want.s us to know. It is necessary for us to grow in the knowledge of Christ and what He wants for us, but we cannot do that if we "skip" certain uncomfortable aspects of God's word for these things were "written for our instruction" (Romans 15:4).

This passage from St. Paul clearly has to do with authority issues in the Church, and thus it relates to the question of whether women can be ordained or not. The Apostle gives a few detailed explanations of what should be happening in the Church. Below is my summary of each of the basic points that the Apostle gives (while trying very hard not to "over-interpret").

1. Men should possess a holy attitude when in the Church (the place of communal prayer).
2. Women should take special care to dress modestly (especially when in the Church).
3. Women are not allowed to hold a position of hierarchical authority in the Church.
4. The reason for all these rules is grounded in the order of Creation and therefore unchangeable.

Once again, we cannot ignore these things, and I am not giving an interpretation of this passage that is new or novel. It is in accord with that taught by the Church Fathers. For example, here is an interesting quote from St. John Chrysostom. This comes from his book "On the Priesthood" written sometime around A.D. 400.

For all these wild beasts, and more than these, are bred upon that rock of which I have spoken, and those whom they have once captured are inevitably dragged down into such a depth of servitude that even to please women they often do many things which it is well not to mention. The divine law indeed has excluded women from the ministry, but they endeavor to thrust themselves into it; and since they can effect nothing of themselves, they do all through the agency of others; and they have become invested with so much power that they can appoint or eject priests at their will: things in fact are turned upside down, and the proverbial saying may be seen realized—"The ruled lead the rulers:" and would that it were men who do this instead of women, who have not received a commission to teach. Why do I say teach? for the blessed Paul did not suffer them even to speak in the Church. But I have heard some one say that they have obtained such a large privilege of free speech, as even to rebuke the prelates of the Churches, and censure them more severely than masters do their own domestics.

It is not for hatred of women that either St. Paul or St. John Chrysostom wrote what they did. They wrote those words with a sincere love for God, and therefore a love for all of humanity. They wrote those words knowing that what God has laid out as the best roles for men and women in the Church really are the best roles; and that we should not try to change it to fit with modern ideas and sensibilities. Just because feminists tell us that women should be able to be ordained, does not mean that we need to accept their opinions in the Church. St. Paul and St. Chrysostom both resisted the world's ideas, and held to what God has ordained as proper roles in the Church. Following their lead, and in full submission to the Magisterium, I must proclaim the same thing: men and women both have a proper role in the Church and we should joyfully submit to it.