Re Pope's most recent letter.

Thirty-three years ago I read these words in a compendium supporting the cause of the ordination of women to the priesthood: "We have been called to the priesthood, and we want to be ordained, not because we want to exercise power, but because we are motivated by love and concern for our Church" (p. 187).

The lady who wrote these words was certain that, were women to be ordained, they could produce sorely needed new models of priesthood. This August 2004, the Holy Father uttered the last word on the ordination of women, to wit, the Church has no mission to introduce women into the priesthood. I wonder if the Holy Father's latest statement will be heeded, and women will get on with their living of the Christian life according to the wishes of God and not be motivated by the worldliness of those who have continued to pursue their own ideas of Catholicity to the ongoing confusion of so many in the religious life.

The writer of the above quotation, Rosalie Muschal-Reinhardt, must realize that it is God who rules the Church, and it is He who, for over two thousand years, has continued to do so. If He has restricted the everyday governance of the church to mere men, then that must have been in the Divine Mind from all eternity, and will continue to reside there forever. Neither vocal women, nor their allies, priests who see the ordination of women as "the effective symbol of the Church's Struggle," will ever succeed, even should they pursue the "Strategies and strengths to confront the barriers to the future priesthood," as it was presented by William R. Callahan, S.J. Ordination cannot be forced on men who are unwilling to receive it, and it cannot be conferred on women who are incapable of receiving it.

Clarenville, NL

Nota Bene:

For the Pope's recent Letter on Men and Women, see page 21.