Posted on 09/27/2013 2:17:01 PM PDT by ClaytonP
Its not a joke. Its something that Pope Francis has thought about before: naming a woman cardinal. Those who know the pope, both before and after he took over from Ratzinger, say that the first Jesuit pontiff is not only surprising people with his comments, but also with his actions. And this has been happening throughout his first six months in the role.
Those who think that Francis who has all the simplicity of a parish priest is a naïve man are wrong. This pope isnt an ordinary pope. He has come to St. Peters with concrete plans for the Catholic Church: he wants to revive Christianity by taking it back to its origins.
The symbolism of his actions began when he first appeared on the balcony at St. Peters, calling himself a bishop and asking the people to bless him. Since then, he has wasted no time in making unexpected decisions, which have shocked those both inside and outside the Church.
And he will continue to do so, especially with his plans to appoint a female cardinal. He knows that a womans role in the Church is an unresolved issue that cannot wait any longer. He was clear about this during his interview with La Civiltà Cattolica last week. The Church cannot be herself without the woman and her role, he said. The woman is essential for the Church. Mary, a woman, is more important than the bishops. I say this because we must not confuse the function with the dignity.
In other words, it was as if Pope Francis was saying: The Church isnt complete because the womans role is missing.
How can he introduce that essential component? He answered the question himself during the interview: We must therefore investigate further the role of women in the Church. We have to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman.
And that theology, according to the pope, cannot be construed within the Vaticans walls. The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions, he said.
He may pave the way with discussions that urgently put the issue of a womans role in the Church on the table, or better yet, in front of the altar. And one of those gestures could be the naming of the first female cardinal. Is that feat impossible? No, because canonical law states that cardinals dont have to be priests, they can be deacons.
Some would argue that women are not allowed to be deacons as they were 800 years ago among the first Christian communities. But this is one of the reforms that Francis has in mind; it is not based on any dogma. A woman could become a deaconess tomorrow if he so desired.
As Phyllis Zagano of Loyola University in Chicago, an expert on the issue, wrote: A female deaconess is not an idea for the future. It is an issue for the present and today.
Zagano brought up the matter with Cardinal Ratzinger before he became pope. This is something that is being studied, he told her. Pope Benedict XVI did not follow through but Pope Francis might.
The Armenian Apostolic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church, which have close links to the Vatican, both have deaconesses.
Any woman who is appointed deaconess can indeed become a cardinal without having to change canonical law.
Cardinals serve as advisors to the pope and their primary function is to elect a new pontiff.
Knowing this pope, he wouldnt hesitate before appointing a woman cardinal, said one Jesuit priest. And he would indeed enjoy being the first pope to allow women to participate in the selection of a new pontiff.
Now wait a ding-dang minute!
I've come away from FR many times after being told it's the MAGISTERIUM's decision making process that's infallible!!
So; what's the ONGOING price of an indulgence these days?
Preach it Brother!
But we're up to take #23.
Can't you put just a little bit more smug superiority in your voice on take 24?
Dang!
I'm ambivalent in how to decipher this!
What?
I've never seen narses claim to be Saintly??
Fibery; yes: Saintly; I don't think so.
And, maybe his frustration with we PROTESTants comes over as angry to some; but don't view him as an angry person.
Hey!
It ain’t MY fault that the RCC didn’t KILL Luther when they had the chance!
Would this be before or after the comments about JEWS are erased from the board?
Yes; muzzles should be placed on all those who stand up to Rome!
Yes; and YOU can say whatever you wish about Jim Jones, Billy Graham, Luther or Tammy and Jim Bakker here; too.
Of course; that would be delving into personalities and NOT theology; so it might get moved to a different area...
The CORRECT answer is YES.
Or maybe NO.
So; what you are REALLY trying to say, but can’t, is...
EVE did?
Where; in the Teaching of Rome; can I find THAT verified?
Eve did NOT hear the command to NOT eat of the tree from GOD; else she would NOT have fallen for the serpent's deceptive question:
"Did God REALLY say....?
Eve did NOT hear the command to NOT eat of the tree from GOD; else she would NOT have fallen for the serpent's deceptive question:
"Did God REALLY say....?
You may 'believe' that your chosen church organization has taught you the truth; but how would you KNOW unless you had a HIGHER authority to vouch for it?
HMMMmmm...
Have you made this up on your own; or did your CHURCH teach it to you?
Did you come up with this yourself, or did a public school teach you to capitalize? If the latter, ask for your money back.
The claim is not that popes are without sin, but that they are infallible in theology and positions of the church. (I’m no expert, so that is a rough description.)
“Even the ordinarium magisterium is not independent of the pope. In other words, it is only bishops who are in corporate union with the pope, the Divinely constituted head and centre of Christ’s mystical body, the one true Church, who have any claim to share in the charisma by which the infallibility of their morally unanimous teaching is divinely guaranteed according to the terms of Christ’s promises” 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, Infallibility
(Disclaimer: I am neither Catholic nor expert.)
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