Most Catholics in US, Latin America support ordaining women to the priesthood: survey
A new report reveals that most Catholics in the United States and Latin America support ordaining women to the priesthood despite their faith’s clear teaching on the matter.
The Pew Research Center released the results of a survey Thursday based on responses collected from 3,655 Catholics in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru from Jan. 22-April 27 and 2,051 Catholics in the U.S. collected from Feb. 13-25. The report documents a divergence between the beliefs of Catholics in these countries and the teachings of their faith.
When asked if they supported ordaining women to the priesthood, majorities of Catholics in nearly every country surveyed answered in the affirmative. Support for female priests among Catholics was strongest in Brazil (83%) followed by Argentina (71%), Chile (69%), Peru (65%), the U.S. (64%) and Colombia (56%). Only in Mexico did a majority of Catholics (51%) oppose ordaining women to the priesthood.
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares that “Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination.” According to Church teaching, “The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return.”
“The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself,” the Catechism explains. “For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.”
Mexican Catholics are also an outlier when it comes to support for allowing Catholics to receive communion even if they're living with a romantic partner they're not married to. Just 45% of Mexican Catholics thought the Church should allow cohabitating Catholics to receive communion in contrast to 52% of Colombian Catholics, 56% of Peruvian Catholics, 59% of Brazilian Catholics, 73% of Chilean Catholics, 75% of American Catholics and 77% of Catholics in Argentina.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “those obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.” A separate passage of the Catechism explains that “Carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive community of life between a man and woman has been established.” Church teaching stresses that “Human love does not tolerate ‘trial marriages,’” but rather “demands a total and definitive gift of persons to one another.”
The report showed wide support for allowing Catholics to use birth control in every country surveyed. Eighty-six percent of Catholics in Argentina expressed support for changing church teaching on the matter along with 83% of American Catholics, 80% of Chilean Catholics, 76% of Colombian Catholics, 75% of Peruvian Catholics, 69% of Mexican Catholics and 63% of Brazilian Catholics.
Paragraph 2370 of the Catechism states that “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible” is “intrinsically evil.”
When it comes to allowing priests to get married, support was highest among U.S. Catholics (69%), followed by Chilean Catholics (65%) and Argentine Catholics (64%). Around half of Catholics in Colombia (52%) and Brazil (50%) thought the Church should permit priests to get married, while significantly smaller shares of Catholics in Mexico (38%) and Peru (32%) said the same.
According to Paragraph 1579 of the Catechism, priests “are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate ‘for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.’ Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to ‘the affairs of the Lord,’ they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church’s minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God.”
Only the issue of allowing same-sex couples to marry registered opposition from most Catholics in a majority of the countries surveyed. While most Catholics in Argentina (70%), Chile (64%) and the U.S. (54%) thought the Church should “recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples,” less than half of Catholics in Mexico (46%), Brazil (43%), Colombia (40%) and Peru (32%) had the same feeling.
Church teaching proclaims that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered,” adding, “Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
