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Summary
- The Catholic Church ordains only men: canon 1024 states that “a baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly” (see also Catechism 1577).
- In Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) John Paul II declared that the Church “has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women,” and in 1995 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith called the teaching infallible.
- The Church grounds the rule in Christ’s choice of twelve men as apostles, the constant practice of the Church, and the priest’s role of acting in the person of Christ.
- A 2025 report by a Vatican commission ruled out women deacons as a degree of Holy Orders but said that judgment is not yet definitive, as it is for priests.
- Women who attempt ordination, and those who ordain them, incur automatic excommunication under a 2007 decree.
- Many Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches ordain women; the Eastern Orthodox Church does not.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Luke 6:12–13; 8:1–3; 24:9–10; Acts 1:21–26; 18:26; Romans 16:1, 7; 1 Corinthians 14:34; Galatians 3:28; 1 Timothy 2:12) and the New International Version (Romans 16:7, “outstanding among the apostles”).
- Code of Canon Law, canon 1024. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann998-1165_en.html
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1577–1578. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4X.HTM
- John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, 22 May 1994. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Inter Insigniores, 15 October 1976. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19761015_inter-insigniores_en.html
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Responsum ad propositum dubium concerning Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, 28 October 1995. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19951028_dubium-ordinatio-sac_en.html
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, General Decree regarding the delict of attempted sacred ordination of a woman, 19 December 2007. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20071219_attentata-ord-donna_en.html
- Francis, press conference on the flight back from Rio de Janeiro, 28 July 2013. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/july/documents/papa-francesco_20130728_gmg-conferenza-stampa.html
- Francis, Spiritus Domini, 10 January 2021. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/papa-francesco-motu-proprio-20210110_spiritus-domini.html
- “Petrocchi Commission says no to female diaconate, though judgment not definitive,” Vatican News, December 2025. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-12/petrocchi-commission-female-diaconate-no-judgment-not-definitive.html
- First Council of Nicaea, canon 19, and Council of Chalcedon, canon 15, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 14. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3801.htm and https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3811.htm
- “Tradition and the Ordination of Women,” report presented at the 1997 convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America. https://natcath.org/NCR_Online/documents/ctsa1.htm
- Pew Research Center, “Most U.S. Catholics Say They Want the Church To Be ‘More Inclusive’,” 30 April 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/04/30/most-us-catholics-say-they-want-the-church-to-be-more-inclusive/
- “Ordination of women in the Catholic Church,” Wikipedia (Pontifical Biblical Commission, 1976; Roman Catholic Womenpriests; the diaconate commissions). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women_in_the_Catholic_Church
- “Ordination of women,” Wikipedia (Church of England, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox practice). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordination_of_women
- United Methodist Church, “Why does The United Methodist Church ordain women?” https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-why-does-the-united-methodist-church-ordain-women
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