Women Priests?

An interesting news story has surfaced out of San Diego, California.  A woman by the name of Dr. Norma Jean Coon has been an active member in a group called Roman Catholic Women Priests.  Back in 2007, she was "ordained" by a female bishop in Germany.  While the ordination was entirely illegitimate and not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, she still considered herself to be a Roman Catholic priest despite being excommunicated.

On February 8,  Dr. Coon renounced the alleged ordination.  On her personal website, she states, "I relinquish all connection to the program of Roman Catholic Women Priests.  I disclaim the alleged ordination publicly, with apologies to those whose lives I have offended or scandalized."  As you probably know, the Church has reserved the priesthood for men only, a teaching that was codified in Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter 'Ordinatio Sacerdotalis'.  In his letter, Pope JPII states, "I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."  Anyone who violates this teaching is subject to excommunication for failing to observe the canon laws of the Church.

The issue of a woman becoming a priest has sparked a heated debate.  In this era, women hold more positions of power than at any other point in history.  In America, Sheila Bair (Chairman of the FDIC), Indra Nooyi (CEO of Pepsi Co), and Irene Rosenfeld (Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods)  have performed competently in high-ranking jobs.  If women can be just as successful as men in the business world and in secular society, why then can't a woman become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church?  If a woman's abilities are not the issue in question, what is stopping the Church from ordaining her?  In protestant religions, women ministers are very commonplace as are Bishops in the Anglican Church.  In fact, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected in 2006 as the first female Presiding Bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church.

When I brought this question up to a sister at the St. Lawrence Center, she responded by saying that men and women have equal, complementary roles in the Roman Catholic Church.  The reason for not allowing women into the priesthood has nothing to do with disrespect or discrimination.  Secondly, she explained, Jesus only selected men as his Apostles, and those Apostles only chose men as their successors.  But is it really fair to compare gender roles of 1st Century of Galilee with those of the modern-day?  Even if we make this assumption, Mary Magdalene is an example of a woman who was not an Apostle, but still followed Jesus and spread his message.    

I've also heard that when the Sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred, the man receiving the ordination then acts in persona Christi--in the person of Christ.  Because Christ was a man, only men can take on the priesthood--or so the argument goes.

I know that for Catholics, questioning the actions of Jesus is considered taboo.  Here's the line of logic presented by the Catholic Church.
1. God does not make mistakes.
2. When God became Man,  his omnipotence carried over to his Son.
3. Jesus cannot make mistakes. (from 1 and 2)
4. When Jesus was selecting his Apostles, he cannot of made a mistake. (instance of a universal generalization from 3)
5. Jesus selected only men to be his Apostles.
C. Jesus did not make a mistake while selecting his Apostles.

Nevertheless, this issue remains a hot topic.  Dr. Coon is being praised by Catholics for renouncing her ordination, but I'm sure many feminists are disappointed and upset.  The Church has remain steadfast in its teaching against the ordination of women, and that also has its merits.  If the Church were to adapt its teachings frequently, it would decrease the legitimacy of an anchored institution that supposedly spreading the Word of God.