Women Deacons, Part 3

Women Deacons, Part 3

11/20/2023

Lk 18:35-43 As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!" Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He replied, "Lord, please let me see." Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you." He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

If you don’t mind, I would like to circle back to the topic of women possibly being ordained as deacons one more time. Don’t worry, this will be the last time, I promise. But I felt my last two homilies on this subject may have caused some confusion, which I would like to clarify. My intention was not to advocate for women deacons but to probe the possibility of what such a step would look like.

There is a world of difference between saying something could happen and suggesting that something should happen. Simply suggesting such-and-such a step may be possible does not mean that step should be pursued. It is possible for someone to stand on their head and walk around on their hands, with their feet up in the air. But just because you could does not mean you should.

Recently a friend pointed out to me that Pope Francis has spoken publicly on this subject of women deacons and said the Church will not ordain women as deacons. The Holy Father made those comments in a book published in Italian on October 25, 2023. He reiterated something we already know well: Holy Orders has three levels – deacon, priest, and bishop – and they cannot be theologically separated the way I was describing earlier.

In other words, the pope disagrees – and he speaks for the whole Church in matters of faith and morals – that there is a bright red line between the ranks of deacon and priest, allowing women to occupy the former but not the latter. So the answer to the question of women deacons is clear: the Catholic Church will not ordained women as deacons because it would shatter the theological structure of the sacrament of Holy Orders. As the ancient Latin maxim held: “Roma locuta, causa finita est”, meaning, “Roma has spoken, case closed.”

But even though we know the answer that does not mean we should not ask the question. Why not? Because asking questions is how we grow in the faith. And I do not believe this probing and pushing ultimately undermines the truth faith. Mahatma Gandhi said: “Even in a minority of one, the truth is truth.” Even if everyone agreed on changing a given Catholic teaching – like the possibility of ordaining women - it would not change the truth of the matter. The Church is not a democracy.

Have you ever heard of another ancient maxim, “All roads lead to Rome”? At its height, the Roman Empire covered all Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. The entire empire was connected by a complex system of roads. Any road you traveled, therefore, would theoretically lead you back to Rome, to the Millinarium Aureum, the Golden Milestone, a marble monument erected by Caesar Augustus in the heart of Rome.

We have traveled a long way in discussing women deacons, but our questioning will finally lead us back to Rome, that is, to the Roman Catholic Church. That is another way of saying all truth is one, one diamond with many facets. I am convinced that anyone who genuinely seeks the truth – relentlessly and honestly – will find the Truth, namely, Jesus Christ, and the Church he founded, headquartered in Rome.

Now I would like to show how my original argument about ordaining women deacons is like a knife that cuts both ways. What do I mean? My former argument, when followed carefully to its conclusion, demonstrates both the possibility of ordaining women but at the same time also its impossibility. It is in this sense that I mean that “all roads lead to Rome.”

Like the good witch, Glenda, urged Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “Follow the yellow brick road," we too must stay on the road of our current questioning and not deviate off it. That is, if you follow a line of sound reasoning – not a hysterical shouting match like we see on TV – you will inevitably find the truth of the matter. How does my earlier argument actually cut in the direction of not ordaining women as deacons? Let us follow the yellow brick road and see if we can get back home, not to Kansas, but Rome.

You might remember we made a couple of theological leaps of faith. First, we distinguished and drew a hard line between deacon and priest. And second, we redefined the word “clerical” to refer only to priests and bishops and excluded deacons. Such a radical sacramental surgery would not heal the patient but kill the patient, or at best so reconstruct the patient as to make him unrecognizable.

This step of ordaining women deacons might be compared to transgender surgery that tries to make a woman into a man, or a man into a woman. That radical surgery is precisely what my previous proposal of ordaining women theologically attempted: try to change a woman into a being that can be ordained, or change Holy Orders into a sacrament that can fit a woman. In other words, this surgery does not save the patient – women or Holy Orders – but kills them or makes them unrecognizable as women or a sacrament.

Just because you could do something does not mean you should do it. And this is the sense in which I mean that “all roads lead to Rome,” that is, if you see what the suggestion of ordaining women as deacons really implies and involves – a radical reorganizing of the sacramental structure of the Church – you would be against it. At the end of this yellow brick road of questioning you would land where the pope is, Rome.

Back in 1948, C. S. Lewis wrote an essay on the possibility of ordaining women as priestesses in the Anglican Church. He argued against the idea, but as you probably know, his side lost and today there are Anglican priestesses. But I think his argument is noteworthy for two reasons. First, he says that moving in the direction of women priests is ultimately “an argument not in favor of Christian priestesses, but against Christianity.” That is, the sacramental surgery needed to create priestesses – or deaconesses in our case – would go so deep that you end up with a different religion altogether.

And the second reason his essay is worth reading is he demonstrates how all roads lead to Rome, even though Lewis never became Roman Catholic. Lewis warned: “To take such a revolutionary step at the present moment, to cut ourselves off from the Christian past, and to widen the divisions between ourselves and the other Churches by establishing an order of priestesses in our midst, would be an almost wonton degree of imprudence. And the Church of England herself would be torn in shreds by the operation.”

I will let you decide how prophetic Lewis’ warnings were from seventy-five years ago. But I think he shows powerfully how the farther you travel from Rome, that is, the Roman Catholic Church, the farther you move away from the Truth, and descend into the darkness of error. Lewis adds: “If we abandon that [which is mystical and unchangeable], if we retain only what can be justified by standards of prudence and convenience at the bar of enlightened common sense, then we exchange revelation for that old wraith Natural Religion.” Put simply, we trade what is God-made for something man-made. Like REM sang, we will be the guy “in the corner…losing my religion.”

So, let me summarize. First, just because you can do something does not mean you should. Earlier I tried to explore what it might look like if we attempted to ordain women as deacons. But could does not mean should, and possible does not mean desirable. And second, all roads lead to Rome and the Roman Catholic Church. That is, if you follow a line of sound reasoning faithfully and fearlessly it will lead you to the truth that is Roman Catholicism.

And when we walked that road with the question about women deacons, we discovered the consequences were catastrophic. C. S. Lewis predicted that would be the case for the Church in England regarding priestesses, "the Church of England herself would be torn in shreds by the operation." And we should listen to his wise counsel. Why? Because it is always wiser (and easier) to learn from another’s mistakes than from our own.

Praised be Jesus Christ!