Can women not act in the person of Christ?

Can women not act
in the person of Christ?

Congregation for Doctrine
in Rome

“The priest acts ‘in the person of Christ’. Since Jesus was a man, only a male priest can signify Christ at the Eucharist.”
Inter Insigniores § 24-28

“A sacrament is a sign . . . and the priest is a sign of Christ. Since it is not possible for the female sex to signify eminence of degree, for a woman is in the state of subjection, it follows that she cannot receive the sacrament of Order . . .”
Summa Theologica Suppl. qu. 39 art. 1.

*Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!* This prejudice derives from the Fathers of the Church and theologians in the Middle Ages. They attributed procreation to the father: the whole future child is carried in the male sperm, they thought; the mother is just like soil in which the seed grows up. Since women are thus not complete human beings, they cannot represent Christ who is perfect.
		*Moreover, surely when a priest acts in the person of Christ, the quality signified by him is not Christ’s maleness, but his role as mediator!* Christ can be represented by women as much as by men because women are equal in Christ. Women too bear Christ’s image. Moreover, women already act as ‘other Christs’ when they are ministers of baptism and marriage. In fact, women reflect better Christ’s feminine traits Last not least, women too can represent Christ’s love which is the essence of his priesthood!
The Church is wrong, therefore, to exclude women from the priestly ministry on the plea that they cannot represent Christ!

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For related online Libraries see:
The ORDINATION OF WOMEN in the Catholic Church	Catherine of Siena VIRTUAL COLLEGE
THE BODY IS SACRED	MYSTERY AND BEYOND

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Can women not actin the person of Christ?

Can women not act
in the person of Christ?