Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
1994 AD
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📖 About This Event
On May 22, 1994, Pope John Paul II issued the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, definitively confirming that the Catholic Church has no authority to ordain women as priests. Writing 'to remove all doubt,' John Paul II declared that 'the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.' He grounded this teaching in the example of Christ, who chose only men as his apostles, the unanimous practice of the Church throughout history, and the living Tradition of the Church.
The teaching was the culmination of decades of study and discussion. The Pontifical Biblical Commission (1994) and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had both examined the question extensively. John Paul II's letter was addressed to the bishops of the world and was confirmed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1995, which stated that any dissent from this teaching was incompatible with Catholic faith.
The Catholic Church maintains that the reservation of priesthood to men is not a matter of discrimination but of fidelity to Christ's institution of the sacrament of Holy Orders. Key Scripture: Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:14-19; Luke 6:12-16; John 20:21; CCC 1577
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1994 AD
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