Another ceiling for Hillary to crack.
Via Hot Air
This weekend, Pope Francis encouraged women to take an active role in the Catholic Church, using their spiritual and natural gifts in their role as laity to provide leadership. This led the Associated Press to remark that the Church has a “glass ceiling” for ordination …. of course:
Pope Francis on Saturday lauded women for their sensitivity toward the society’s weak and “gifts” like intuition, insisting they take on greater responsibilities in the Catholic church, as well as in professional and public spheres.
Francis was full of praise about female talent and untapped potential in a speech at the Vatican to an Italian women’s group. But the pope gave no sign that the Vatican glass ceiling against ordaining women for the priesthood might see some cracks during his papacy.
First, the “glass ceiling” metaphor refers to blocking access to promotions for women in business. There is no “glass ceiling” in the priesthood for women because Catholic doctrine limits the priesthood to men. That’s a barrier to entry, not a “glass ceiling.” This is bad writing, not to mention silly nonsense.
This doctrine is very accessible in the Catholic Catechism (paragraphs 1577-8 in particular) and canon law, both freely available to the public. The role of priest (and therefore bishop, cardinal, and Pope) is reserved to men because Christ himself chose only men for those roles — even though women, including His own mother, took active roles in other ways to build the early Church. Women who wish to consecrate their lives to service are encouraged to enter religious orders, which women do control, with ultimate (temporal) authority remaining with the Pope.