Catholics believe that Christ was not bound to the limitations of His surrounding culture, and that therefore His appointment of the twelve Apostles - all men - was a free and deliberate choice. The Church has therefore taught through the centuries that she has no right to ordain women as priests. Bishops, successors of the Apostles, and the priests who are their cooperators, stand in the place of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church and share in His fatherhood in the order of grace. In no way, however, is this exclusion of the priesthood to men to be understood as a sign of masculine superiority, especially since the greatest human creature, the masterpiece of divine grace, is the Blessed Virgin Mary - who was never a priest. In fact, Jesus at the Last Supper washed the feet of His disciples - the first priests - and explicitly instructed them to do the same, indicating that the authority they would exercise would not be one of domination but of humility and service.
- Catechism on Priesthood
- On Reserving Priesthood to Men Alone (John Paul II)
- Women and the Priesthood (Fr. John Hardon)
- Why Not Women Priests?
