Title: Blog - Women of Grace - www.womenofgrace.com
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Altar Girl Decision Sparks Controversy
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Content: "The Vatican's stance on the ordination of women is based on arguments that have been refuted time and again. In 1976, the Vatican's own Pontifical Biblical Commission determined that there is no scriptural reason to prohibit women's ordination. Jesus included women as full and equal partners in his ministry, and the hierarchy would do well to follow suit," Hanna concluded. Hanna is using the usual distortions to try to build her case. The 1975 report of the Pontifical Biblical Commission did note that there are "no scriptural objections to ordaining women" but it didn't say it was okay to do so. All it said was that there is no direct statement from Christ about it. However, we don't need a direct statement because Scripture makes it quite clear that Jesus appointed only men as apostle-bishop-priest. Besides, as Hanna also neglects to note, Catholicism is not a "sola scriptura" religion but also takes into account Sacred Tradition, which is loaded with explicit statements against women's ordination, i.e., the early council of Nicea which forbade the laying on of hands upon women in ordination. Bryan Cone of the U.S. Catholic, a publication not known for its faithfulness to the Magisterium, also questions Fr. Lankeit's decision, saying that girls are entitled to serve on the altar by virtue of their baptism.