Even as many Catholics watch with concern–and perhaps not a little schadenfreude–as the Anglican Communion at Lambeth splits up over homosexuality, back home in Rome and elsewhere the One True Church is still debating the issue of women and holy orders.
Back in April I wrote here about the issue of women’s role in the church as the great unaddressed question of the pope’s U.S. visit. In that post I referred to a strong recent essay on women’s ordination by Robert J. Egan, SJ, in Commonweal magazine. (Behind a firewall, but again, consider forking over just $25 for an on-line subscription–it is worth the price of admission.) The basis of Egan’s essay was a review of the writings of Sara Butler, a nun who once supported women’s ordination but now believes it is against Catholic teaching and tradition.
Now Butler and Egan square off in an extended reprise, available on-line here. In light of surveys showing Catholics generally disagree with the Vatican’s ban on ordaining women, and the increasing number of conflicts over the topic, such as the Louise Lears episode in St Louis (here and here), this Point/Counterpoint is a must-read.