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Manning's arguments, at least, mount a significant challenge. She focuses upon the Roman Catholic church's insistence that women cannot possibly serve as legitimate priests and draws out from that some interesting conclusions. For example, if women cannot be priests because they lack a "natural resemblance" to Jesus, does this then mean that men and women were created with fundamentally different natures?


Perhaps - that would be consistent with many other statements made about women. However, it wouldn't be entirely consistent with other, more fundamental Catholic doctrines. Why, for example, is Jesus' gender so relevant not simply to his humanity, but also his divinity? Isn't the divine supposed to be genderless - a fact which should, in theory, allow members of both genders to serve as priests?

One of the reasons that Jesus is believed to be redeeming of humanity is because Jesus included everything human within himself. That is, after all, why it was insisted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine. However, if the nature of human women is not included in Jesus' nature, such that women lack sufficient resemblance to Jesus to serve as his representatives, then does that also mean that women cannot be redeemed by Jesus? Are they waiting for a female savior to be sent by God?

And what about the doctrine of the resurrected Jesus, according to which all human constraints were overcome - even death?

During the eucharist, the bread and wine are not transformed into the "dead male human body" of Jesus. but rather the mystical resurrected body of Jesus. If that is true, then how are women insufficiently similar to Jesus but men are? Is the resurrected Jesus still held "captive" by his gender?

These are all very complex theological debates and I don't doubt that traditionalists might find a way to argue that Manning is incorrect in her assessment of Catholic doctrine. She is not, however, a dilettante when it comes to theology - she has real arguments and real ideas which deserve to be considered. Is the Pope Catholic? If Manning is right, then Pope John Paul II, as well as most Catholic traditionalists, have committed heresy in the subjects of christology, soteriology, and ecclesiology in pursuit of keeping women out of the priesthood. Sounds like a rather poor trade, if you ask me.

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