WHAT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU IN CATHOLIC COLLEGE. Women in the Priesthood and the Mind of Christ

by John Wijngaards, Acadian House Lafayette, Louisiana USA 2020

review by Jackie Clackson in NETWORK. Journal for all women interested in spirituality, theology, ministry and liturgy, Spring Issue No 146, March 2021, p. 23.

John Wijngaards shows how in the Church there is still so much outmoded tradition which is clearly in need of reform. In this readable book, which I heartily recommend, he draws upon personal experience as well as theological scholarship to get to the depths of this question: Can women be ordained priests in our church of today? His resounding ‘Yes’ comes through from his efforts to explore the mind of Jesus during his life and how it is manifested in our Christian sense of faith.

The book highlights the role of cultural prejudice against the full humanity of women throughout tradition over the years; the stories showing Jesus’ regard for women, as found in scripture; the devotion for many centuries to Mary as Priest; the ordination of women to the diaconate during the first millennium; the hardening of Vatican opposition in the light of the ecumenical ordination of women. He describes the church’s disastrous error in its constant teaching on slavery. Is it not obvious, he asks, that the church hierarchy is equally wrong in forbidding the ordination of women to the priesthood?

We can be really moved by the vision of Jesus as a person of his day who has no
prejudice against any person he met. The woman at the well came at a time when
she knew no one else would be around and be scandalised by his sharing this
space with a ‘fallen woman’. But we see that on the contrary, Jesus, who just
happened to be there at the time she came to collect her share of water, had no
illusions about her way of life, and treated her in a friendly way just as he related to everyone else!

From the beginning, Christian baptism has been given in the same way to women and men, thus showing equality in the way we share Christ’s priesthood in principle. It was only later that a hierarchy in the Church grew up to demand new rules and regulations – and especially to create a disparity by insisting on difference in the kind of calling and service women and men may take up in the Church.

This book will help people understand the background to many of the underlying prejudices and misinformation which the hierarchical system in the Church has been teaching us all for so long! Nowadays we clearly recognise, as is pointed out in Chapter 2, that ‘having women in the priesthood would greatly increase the positive
impact that the Universal Church has on the world.’

In short: easy to digest and powerful in content, like a plate of pink salmon served with Brussels sprouts! The book has enjoyed good reviews in Ireland, the USA, Spain and the Netherlands with more expected to follow.

Jackie Clackson