Were women ever ordained Catholic priests?

Scholars have pondered this question, but the issue is more than just academic. Proof of the existence of ordained women priests would have enormous implications for the question of women's ordination today. Thus, the issue is fraught with politics and controversy, with opposing sides interpreting evidence very differently.

Official church teaching since the Council of Trent (1563) has maintained that women cannot be ordained in part because they have never been ordained and were not "chosen" by Jesus. In 1976 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith defended the male-only priesthood in Inter Insigniores ("On the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood"), citing that "Jesus did not call any women to become part of the Twelve." Pope John Paul II, in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis ("On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone"), reaffirmed that the "church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women" because of Jesus' example and the "constant practice" of the church.

Of course, Jesus didn't really "ordain" anyone--in the same sense that ordination means today--nor did he specifically mention the priesthood in the gospels. When Jesus did commission his disciples to "do this in memory of me" at the Last Supper, it has been argued that women were likely also present, since it was a traditional Passover meal. And though the Twelve were all men, there were many women among Jesus' band of disciples. Mary Magdalene was called the "apostle to the apostles" because of her unique role of announcing the news of the Resurrection, and Junia was hailed by Paul as "prominent among the apostles" (Rom. 16:7).

Other evidence--including church documents and archeological sites--mentions women presbyters or priests. Theologian Karen Jo Rorjesen, in her book When Women Were Priests (HarperSanFrancisco), describes a mosaic in a Roman basilica that portrays four female figures, including one identified as Theodora Episcopa (Bishop Theodora), as well as other burial sites with epitaphs of women presbyters. Some, however, say these women were only priests' wives. Ancient artwork of women depicted in liturgical roles are likewise dismissed as belonging to heretical sects.

Fast forward to the future and we have the story of Ludmila Javorova, who was ordained in 1970--secretly by a Catholic bishop--and served the underground church in Czechoslovakia for 20 years. So, although the historical data are still being debated, at least one woman--and likely at least a few more--were ordained to the priesthood, albeit for a rare emergency circumstance.

By HEIDI SCHLUMPF, managing editor of U.S. CATHOLIC.