The Role of Women in the Church: Equal in Dignity, Unique in Complementarity
Painting: The Visitation by Gregorio Preti (1603–1672) & Mattia Preti (1613–1699)
Pope Francis has been shining a spotlight on the role of women in the Church. While ruling out the possibility of ordaining women as deacons (despite erroneous reports to the contrary in mainstream media), the Holy Father has referred to the service of women in the early Church (Romans 16:1).
On 8 February 2024, Pope Francis declared to members of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments: “The Church is woman, the Church is mother, the Church has its figure in Mary, and the church-woman, whose figure is Mary, is greater than Peter; that is, it is something else.”
“One cannot reduce everything to ministry,” he added. “The woman in herself has a very great significance in the Church-as-woman, without reducing it to ministry. This is why I said that every instance of reform in the Church is always a question of spousal fidelity, because it (the Church) is woman.”
Indeed, Holy Mother Church is the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:23). C.S. Lewis and Dr. Alice von Hildebrand observed that in relation to God, we are in a sense all female, that is, receptive vessels of the seed of His word, planted in the gardens of our souls to bear fruit in our lives.
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen explains that the priest, in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, gives the seed, the Word of God, to us. At every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are present at the Crucifixion, and also at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.
A Special Dignity
Arguing over whether women need more participation in church is like the Apostles squabbling over who gets to sit next to Jesus. Dr von Hildebrand declared, “It is a privilege to be born a woman.”
“Look at the Bible,” she wrote. “In Genesis, there is an ascending line from inanimate matter, to plants, to lower animals, to higher animals, to man, to the woman… she has a special position in the cosmos.
Adam’s body was fashioned from the dust of the earth. Very modest indeed. Eve was taken from Adam’s rib. Now Adam was a person, made to the image and likeness of God. Therefore, the woman, from the beginning, was given a special dignity.”
People often mistake the Church for being a hierarchy with men at the top.
But it is meant to be an inverse hierarchy. Men are called to be just like Christ, Who laid Himself down for His Bride, the Church. Priests are male because they act in the person of Christ, the Bridegroom, to offer His sacrifice on our behalf.
The word “minister” means “servant”, from “minor/minus”, someone subordinate. As the Catechism says, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the baptismal priesthood. One of the Pope’s titles is Servus Servorum Dei, “Servant of the Servants of God”. In the family, the domestic church, the husband is called to sacrifice for his wife, who dedicates herself to the children. It is a fine balance between self-effacement and self-actualisation, but in a healthy family and a healthy Church, all the members work together in love for the common good, bringing one another closer to God. And all the members will feel heard and respected if they are loved.
The clergy does tend to be most visible in the Church's liturgical life, so it may seem that it is very male-dominant. But we laity are the majority of the Church, and we are able to reach and minister to the people whom our priests may not – our family, friends, colleagues and neighbours who have not encountered the Gospel, whose only experience of it may be through our lives. This is our baptismal mission. This is why, as Pope Francis laments, we should not have an insular Church. We are called to be fishers of men, not preach to the choir. We are the leaven in the dough of ordinary society – this is our mission field!
Photo: ‘Socrates in the City’ hosts Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, 2013
As Dr. von Hildebrand writes, women are naturally more spiritually receptive, and that is why there is a preponderance of female mystics in the Church. That is also probably why females dominate in church participation. The 2021 Australian National Church Life survey reported that 61% of attendees are female. More than 77% of Australian Catholic Church employees are women.
Fr. Dwight Longenecker explains that altar servers are the extension of extra hands for a priest, and because the Divine Liturgy is at its heart the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, service at the altar is properly male, as the Heavenly Bridegroom comes to meet His Bride; also, boys and girls function differently, and active boys appreciate being given something to do at Mass. Altar servers are there to reflect the saints and angels in Heaven, worshipping at God’s throne.
From their liturgical service, these young men are often inspired to pursue priestly vocations, continuing in the tradition of male priesthood from Judaism, a stark contrast to the pagan religions of ancient times, which had priestesses. God has revealed Himself to us as Father, and the priesthood is a visible reminder of God’s self-revelation to us in the person of Christ.
Pivotal Role
Women have been very involved in the life and mission of the Church from the beginning, when Jesus treated them as equals, and revealed Himself first to women after His resurrection. Thus, Mary Magdalene is known as the Apostle to the Apostles, as she brought the news of the resurrection to them (John 20).
An oil painting depicting Jesus, after he rose from the dead, appearing to Mary Magdalene, by Russian painter Alexander Ivanov in 1835.
Unlike the majority of the apostles, who betrayed or abandoned Christ at His trial and crucifixion, the women of Jerusalem accompanied Him and His mother to the Cross, with St. Veronica wiping His bloodied, sweaty face with her veil, and the “three Marys” bringing myrrh to anoint his body at the tomb, preparing it for burial. One of my favourite paintings is “The Three Marys at the Tomb” by Peter von Cornelius, with the angel informing the bewildered trio about the Messiah’s resurrection from the dead.
Mary, the Mother of God, is our pre-eminent model of faith. The Preacher of the Papal Household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa O.F.M. Cap., stated that Mary is “the first member of the Church in order of time and importance.” In stark contrast to the first woman, Eve, who sinned by her disbelief in God’s command, Mother Mary responded with swift obedience to God’s invitation through the Archangel Gabriel, becoming the Mother of all mankind in the order of grace. Archbishop Fulton Sheen reflected: “In the Annunciation, the birth of the Son of God in the flesh is made to hinge on the consent of a woman, as the fall of man in the garden of paradise hinged on the consent of a man. God in His power might have assumed a human nature by force, as the hand of a man lays hold of a rose. But He willed not to invade His great gift of freedom without a creature’s free response.”
As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, to love is to will the good of another (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1766). Men and women are both called to know, love and serve God, and this includes loving service to His children, our fellow humans. Yet, as Pope John Paul II noted in his Theology of the Body, the two sexes have distinct and complementary roles. This is true in the family, in society and in the Church.
We are enfleshed souls, and the way we serve one another is grounded in our biological reality, itself a gift from God. We are made in His image, in the image of Love – and Pope St. John Paul II observed: “The human body includes right from the beginning… the capacity of expressing love, that love in which the person becomes a gift – and by means of this gift – fulfils the meaning of his being and existence.”
Servants of God
Husbands and wives have a ministry to each other, conferring the sacrament of Holy Matrimony on each other and entrusted with the mission of helping one another to Heaven. Mothers, in turn, have a profound ministry to their children. We have been appointed the guardians of their souls, the first to introduce them to God and His creation.
Photo: Cardinal József Mindszenty (1892-1975) giving a speech on November 1, 1956. (Image: Jack Metzger/Wikipedia)
The Hungarian József Cardinal Mindszenty said, “The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honour of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral – a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. ... The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation... What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?”
Dr. von Hildebrand stated: “All women, without exception, are called upon to be mothers. … Maternity is the great female charism which corresponds to the charism of priesthood granted to some men.”
Religious sisters founded convents, schools, orphanages and hospitals. Some of these were equivalent to running a large corporation at a time when women were not as prominent in public life. Mother Teresa had a tremendous impact with her life of humble service to Christ in the poor, regardless of religion.
Photo: St. Mother Teresa with a group of children who she looked after in Kolkata, India, 1980 (Getty Images)
My friends who are single ladies also have a mothering role. Some volunteer at the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, introducing young souls to the Word of God. Others who have met with crippling car accidents have patiently accepted their chronic pain and offer it to God as a daily sacrifice. They also accompany others in the faith as sisters in Christ, providing wisdom and encouragement with feminine intuition. Like Mary at the Wedding of Cana, they often notice where there is a need and draw from God’s providence to address it.
It can be a temptation in ministry to let our egos get in the way, but ultimately, we all become most fulfilled and our best selves when we become Christlike, and He is the model of humility and sacrifice. My patroness is St. Jeanne Jugan, the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and her ministry started with just caring for one elderly woman. Even the story of her inception of the order was nearly lost, as a priest claimed credit. There are many forgotten saints whose tales we shall know only in Heaven, and in the end, what happens here on earth will fade away.
We women have been given marvellous gifts to carry out our missions in our communities. Let us not let comparison be the thief of joy, but focus on our particular talents and vocations to build up the Body of Christ in unity with our brothers, and establish the kingdom of God in the hearts of those we are privileged to serve.
