Why can't women become ordained? 

I decided to use a zine format for my portfolio as I thought that this would be able to conclude my findings into quotations found in articles and in the bible that would be easy to understand.

Bible version: New Revised Standard Catholic Version 

Artists Statement:

Cover page: Asks the question of "Why can't women become ordained" I answered this through the viewpoint of the church but also took into consideration opposing viewpoints

1st page: In 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 Paul wrote "As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate". Although this sounds very straightforward and very limiting I do not believe that the intention of this is to silence women completely in church but instead a form of temporary silence which is not an option given to men. By saying that women should be subordinate this can be interpreted as subordinate to their husbands, law, or themselves

2nd page: In 1 Timothy 2:12 Paul says "I permit not women to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent". This verse has often been used to exclude women from leadership roles in the church. This can also be interpreted as a type of subordination once again by women to men. This verse encourages women to put their trust in God. They are not being excluded from the church but it is being suggested that leadership roles should be handed over to men.

3rd page: "Being non-ordained allows religious women more freedom of movement and at times greater freedom in terms of what they say. They are not tied to a parish and not tied sacramentally the same way priests are". This helps to support the idea that women should not be ordained and that this should remain limited to men. This means that since women are not directly tied to an institution they are able to fully express themselves on political issues.

4th page: "Everything is done by women. It is the woman that keeps the church upright here in the west. But it's the men who call the shots (Kristien). Without women, the Catholic Church would already have collapsed, I think" (Kim). This adds to the idea that women play many roles in the church and women actually are involved in ways that actually keep the church itself running. Arguments can be made claiming that if women are able to make an impact at a local parish level, then they are more than capable of becoming ordained.

5th page: "As women priests, we hold within us the beauty of our Roman Catholic spiritual traditions; we also hold within us as Roman Catholic women the effects of the Church's long patriarchal abuse and suffocation of women". This gives an insight on the existing "woman priests" and what they have been capable of doing over the past years. Victoria Rue, the author, is a Roman Catholic woman priest and she is fully aware that her priesthood is invalid yet she continues to be a part of the movement towards re-imagining the church.