Sir, - The declaration by the Pope that "the Church has no authority whatever to confer priestly ordination on women" (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, 4) has clarified definitively the faith of the Catholic Church regarding the sacrament of Holy Orders.
In your comments on this matter (Editorial, September 16th) your lack of any reference to the Catholic Church's distinctive understanding of the sacramental nature of priesthood is a significant omission. Since confusion concerning the faith of the Catholic Church may have arisen as a result, I write to clarify this point. It is of fundamental importance in relation to the issues with which you were dealing in your Editorial.
May I say at the outset that, in writing these words, I wish no disrespect towards the Church of Ireland's decision, in accordance with its own faith, to confer its Orders on women. My purpose is merely to help clarify the Catholic Church's position.
As defined by the Council of Trent and reiterated by the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church holds that Holy Orders is a sacrament instituted by Christ. From this it follows that the Church is bound in conscience to adhere faithfully to the will of Christ as passed on by apostolic tradition and observed at all times and in all places in the practice of the Catholic Church.
Accordingly, consideration of priesthood cannot be reduced to sociological issues, as your Editorial may have led people to believe. In the Catholic Church it is not a rite instituted by the Church itself. Nor is it one of those traditions which are open to change by the Church's decision.
To assert that this teaching creates injustice is unjust to the Catholic faith. Men and women without distinction are called to participate in holiness, which is the determining factor where the dignity of Christians is concerned. Priestly ordination is conferred not for the benefit of the one who receives it but for the service of those to whom the priest is sent. The saints, above all the martyrs, women equally with men, who follow Christ with heroic fidelity along the way of life to which they are called are the Church's true elite. The forthcoming canonisation of Edith Stein next month is a case in point. - Yours, etc., Rev Brendan Leahy, DD,
Holy Cross College,
Clonliffe,
Dublin 3.