A Humble Proposal
GUEST COLUMN
Open Letter to the Holy Father:
Preface: We are all too aware of the tiresome clamour of feminist women and their male fellow travellers for priestesses in the Church. Clearly what they want is power and prominence in the Church and in the Mass. And no less clearly they do not, or will not, understand why the priest — in persona Christi — MUST be male, nor understand that the Church, the bride and spouse of Christ, is female.
And yet this must be allowed to them: The relationship of Christ to his bride and spouse — that the Church is female — is not made clear in the Mass. If I understand correctly, the priest in persona Christi consecrates the elements that become the Body and Blood, and then he, representing the female Church, partakes.
Proposal: I humbly propose that a girl or woman, distinctively gowned (perhaps all in white), representing Holy Church (conceivably in persona Maria), be standing or kneeling by the altar during the consecration, and that she be the first to communicate.
You May Also Enjoy
Bernanos has much to teach us about the clerical state, particularly that being a priest is not really about power, unless it is the power of self-sacrifice.
Recent developments have shattered the illusion, cherished by many, that the Church of England is in some sense a branch of the Catholic Church.
A good start to restoring a climate of reverence would be liturgical instruction that prohibits non-liturgical related activity during the Holy Mass.