Posted on 12/11/2025 1:48:25 PM PST by ebb tide
AVELLINO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — An Italian priest has argued that a “baby girl Jesus” should be introduced into Nativity scenes because God could have incarnated as a woman as well.
On December 3, Father Vitaliano Della Sala, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Capocastello, Italy, during an interview with a local television station, sparked widespread debate in the national press with his proposal to place in the Nativity scene a figure of a “baby girl Jesus,” described by the priest himself as a provocation meant to stimulate reflection on the role of women in the Church and on women’s access to the priesthood, while also calling into question the traditional theological understanding of the Incarnation.
“If I need to send a message within the Church, there is a great injustice, namely that women cannot access the priesthood. I was thinking of having a baby girl Jesus born, to say that if Jesus was born male, this does not mean He privileged us men and excluded the possibility of women becoming deacons, priests and – why not? – even bishops,” Della Sala declared.
READ: Vatican will display first-ever pro-life nativity scene this Christmas
In the interview, the priest clarified that his proposal would be a way to “re-interpret” the Christian message in light of what he considers to be an unresolved issue in ecclesial life – namely, the impossibility for women to enter the ordained ministries. Placing a female figure in the manger was described by him as a deliberately symbolic act, intended to provoke reflection and debate.
The priest also stated that he has received numerous criticisms from other clergymen, who strongly condemned his initiative: “They are priests who envy me! The provocation is positive, I don’t get anything from it,” he said.
During the interview, the priest added another element bound to spark further reactions: he explained that the “baby girl Jesus” figure could be “torn to pieces” as a symbolic gesture of closeness to children who are victims of violence and massacres around the world, such as in Gaza and Ukraine. This statement, too, was presented by the parish priest as a way – according to his own words – to recall the suffering of the little ones in the contemporary international landscape, linking it to the Christmas narrative.
The controversy is not Fr. Della Sala’s first regarding Nativity scenes. In 2023, the Italian priest presented a display in which two mothers were present at the side of the manger, one of whom donned a rainbow-colored veil. Della Sala told the press at the time that he “wanted to show with this scene that families are no longer just the traditional ones … [In] our parishes, we see more and more children from the new types of families that exist and are part of our society, children of separated and divorced people, gay couples, single people, young mothers.”
In the public debate that has arisen from his latest interview, the cleric’s decision has been compared to other recent European initiatives that stirred controversy, such as the “faceless” Nativity scene reported in Brussels, apparently intended to allow a “multicultural” interpretation of the image. Della Sala, however, insisted on defining his choice as a personal gesture aimed at prompting discussion on issues internal to the Church.
The case unfolds within the broader ecclesial debate on the role of women and their potential access to Holy Orders, particularly the diaconate.
READ: Vatican refuses to form ‘definitive judgment’ on women deacons
On December 4, Pope Leo XIV published the Summary of the Study Commission on the role of women in the Church. The document confirmed the current rule: the diaconate is reserved to men only. The debate, however, continues because two interpretations of the diaconate currently dominate in the Church: as a service within the community, in which women could also participate; or as the first step toward sacramental priesthood, which according to Tradition and doctrine remains reserved to men.
In recent years, certain communities and ecclesial movements have advocated for greater recognition of women’s contributions to the life of the Church, while the papal Magisterium has repeatedly reaffirmed the impossibility of priestly ordination for women. The last infallible pronouncement came from Pope John Paul II with the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis of May 22, 1994.
Within this context, symbolic initiatives – sometimes emerging from local ecclesial environments – have fueled the ongoing discussion, often provoking sharply contrasting reactions. Recently, again in Italy, another priest, Luca Favarin, although previously laicized and dispensed from the obligation of celibacy by Pope Francis, had reignited debate on another controversial topic: the introduction of married men to the priesthood.
In about late 1973, National Lampoon put out a Jessica Christ comic book. That was supposed to be humor, not a guidebook.
Huh ... That wasn't the Catholic "Unii" (University?) that I graduated from. Or any other that I'm aware of.
Ping
Why doesn’t this “priest” put up a statue of Athena or Diana of Ephesis and start worshipping that? You know he wants to, and it would be more honest. In fact, all the so-called Catholics who want to alter the fundamental bases of the Church should quit faking it and join the other existing religions that would be more to their liking.
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > F > St. Fabiola
St. Fabiola
A Roman matron of rank, died 27 December, 399 or 400. She was one of the company of noble Roman women who, under the influence of St. Jerome, gave up all earthly pleasures and devoted themselves to the practice of Christian asceticism and to charitable work.
At the time of St. Jerome’s stay at Rome (382-84), Fabiola was not one of the ascetic circle which gathered around him. It was not until a later date that, upon the death of her second consort, she took the decisive step of entering upon a life of renunciation and labour for others.
Fabiola belonged to the patrician Roman family of the Fabia. She had been married to a man who led so vicious a life that to live with him was impossible. She obtained a divorce from him according to Roman law, and, contrary to the ordinances of the Church, she entered upon a second union before the death of her first husband. On the day before Easter, following the death of her second consort, she appeared before the gates of the Lateran basilica, dressed in penitential garb, and did penance in public for her sin, an act which made a great impression upon the Christian population of Rome. The pope received her formally again into full communion with the Church.
Fabiola now renounced all that the world had to offer her, and devoted her immense wealth to the needs of the poor and the sick. She erected a fine hospital at Rome, and waited on the inmates herself, not even shunning those afflicted with repulsive wounds and sores. Besides this she gave large sums to the churches and religious communities at Rome, and at other places in Italy. All her interests were centered on the needs of the Church and the care of the poor and suffering. In 395, she went to Bethlehem, where she lived in the hospice of the convent directed by Paula and applied herself, under the direction of St. Jerome, with the greatest zeal to the study and contemplation of the Scriptures, and to ascetic exercises.
An incursion of the Huns into the eastern provinces of the empire, and the quarrel which broke out between Jerome and Bishop John of Jerusalem respecting the teachings of Origen, made residence in Bethlehem unpleasant for her, and she returned to Rome. She remained, however, in correspondence with St. Jerome, who at her request wrote a treatise on the priesthood of Aaron and the priestly dress. At Rome, Fabiola united with the former senator Pammachius in carrying out a great charitable undertaking; together they erected at Porto a large hospice for pilgrims coming to Rome. Fabiola also continued her usual personal labours in aid of the poor and sick until her death. Her funeral was a wonderful manifestation of the gratitude and veneration with which she
A Lady named that was the head of St. Bernard’s Catholic School when I was in the 6th grade Ebb.
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