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Jono Taccolini
Jan 18, 2019
In Discussion
Hey everyone! Some of the '18 fellows began a discussion about the Church's view on the priesthood and why it is reserved only for men. The conversation began in a WhatsApp group but we thought we'd transfer it here so everyone can chime in. I've copied the conversation below: Gabbie Bernhard: "Can y’all help me? One of my coworkers asked me yesterday why women can’t be priests. Can y’all help me try to answer his question? Any good resources I can read" Nick Green: "A couple things I could think of: First, none of the original apostles Jesus chose were female, plus the old testament priesthood was all male, without exception (even when other religions of the time had priestesses). I think this sets a good precedent that God wants the priesthood to be all male. Second, and maybe more importantly, priests act "in persona Christi" in the sacraments, and Christ was male. They offer the sacrifice of the mass, just as Christ did, and as husbands sacrifice for their wives (the Church in this case). When the priest consecrates the Eucharist, he says "This is my body/blood", and Christ was male, his body was male, so a woman doing it would not make those words true. The Church has always denied that female ordination could ever take place. (Female deacons on the other hand is a bit more controversial.) Catholic Answers is always good for this kind of stuff." Jono Taccolini: "Gabbie, the sort of short answer for why the teaching will never change is simply that the Church doesn't actually have authority to change teachings that have been codified dogmatically. Even if Francis were to make a formal statement to the contrary, he would be acting beyond the boundaries of his authority. The most recent statement from the Church (to my knowledge) on this subject was JPII's ecclesiastical letter in 1994 titled Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. In it he clarifies the boundaries of Church authority and cites Paul VI who spoke out on the matter in the 70's as the Archbishop of Canterbury began permitting it in many places in the Anglican Church. https://goo.gl/psTpNC The letter is very short. 'She holds that it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church.' -Paul VI" Kate Reidel: "I heard a really good homily on this, I'll track it down this afternoon!" Tommy Killacky: "I don’t have the full extent of the knowledge myself on all of the reasoning but I think a principle of the matter is important to note: people get really hung up on exclusivity, roles, even traditions as a whole. We’ve gotten to a point where liberty is a good in as of itself, which it isn’t. “Freedom” now is assumes to be freedom from any boundaries, restrictions, even structures, so knock it all down in the name of liberty, even if we knock down Order with a capital O in the process. When a child gets mad that his brother Billy gets a cookie and he doesn’t and exclaims “that’s not fair why does he get that and I don’t” (in this analogy) all he sees is injustice when what he ought to see is the reasoning his parents have. Often we jump the gun pretty quickly by saying somethings not fair or unjust when we just don’t yet see the reason. (Guilty until proven innocent). I guess I tend to have a love for order and I think we should have have far more faith and trust in what has paved the way for us in tradition and even thought before trusting our modern “enlightened” egos that assumes since we’re at this end of the time line we must be better and more enlightened than the dark ages of sentimental and naive beliefs and bigoted traditions. This probably came off more heavy handed than intended haha all I’m saying is laws are apart of life and that’s not a bad thing, assuming it’s a just law it’s a good thing. We can will-to-power against gravity but we’ll still fall off the building and die. Guys and have a men’s march but they’ll never conceive a child, ever. We can rebel against men only being priests, but God instituted it as a role of a man and for my part I trust that fact alone more than my lack of specifics to trump it. Haha I didn’t even give a reason all I am saying is when given the option to assume a rule is bigoted and old fashioned versus there is a good and holy reason for it and I just haven’t learned that reason is yet, I almost always choose the latter, especially when it’s instituted by Christ. :)" Jack Terzian: "Well I think part of it too is the fact that when a priest is ordained, His soul undergoes an ontological change that makes him like Christ. Going back to theology of the Body, we can look to see that man was created in God's likeness and image. So if God, came to Earth and became man, and priests are 'Alter Christus', or 'Other-Christs', well then they should probably be the same as God, man. Note also, when a priest says, I absolve you of your sins, that he says, I? And who has the power to forgive sins, but God? If God became man, then it would be a lie for a woman to say, I forgive your sins. But, because Christ instituted the priesthood at the Last Supper, he extended his power to holy men who have been ordained under the Order of Melchizedek."
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Jono Taccolini
Nov 08, 2018
In Discussion
Hello CWF Fam! First of all, I miss you all terribly. Second! There are quite a few of us from both CWF '17 and CWF '18 who will be heading to Indianapolis in a few weeks for the FOCUS SEEK conference. Last year, at the FOCUS Student Leadership Summit, we had a CWF booth and did some promotion and recruitment of new fellows. It became pretty clear to me and to the others working the booth that having a good elevator pitch of what the Fellowship is, why it's important, and why students should consider going, is not only really important, but it's tricker to do well than it initially sounds. You all know how multi-dimensional this program is and how profoundly impactful it is, but if you're like me, each time you try to explain it to someone, it probably comes out a little bit differently. So, after talking with a couple fellows recently about how to describe CWF, we decided to start this forum to share our elevator pitches and get a discussion going about how we can all do this better. Even if you're not going to SEEK, this is something that all of us are both capable of contributing to and will inevitably need to put into practice at some point. Word of mouth is by far the most effective way to spread interest about the CWF and bring new fellows to the beloved Schloss. So let this forum serve as a place to get inspiration, tips, tricks, etc. as well as a place to practice actually putting your pitch into words. What about this do you find challenging? Are you not sure where to start? Are you not sure how to keep it short? Let's work as a team to improve so we can all be on the same page when people ask about the program. I'll start: "The Catholic Worldview Fellowship is a one-month study abroad program that takes place for three weeks in Germany, and then one week in Rome. It's essentially a Catholic studies program with four pillars: Leadership, Spirituality, Culture, and Academics. Students will spend time in a German castle surrounded by a moat studying and growing in their knowledge and practice of the faith as well as growing together as a community doing cultural excursions. Then, for the final week, students travel to Rome to do a pilgrimage to dozens of holy places and will stay in a villa with a rooftop patio right next to the Coliseum. The goal of the program is to help students to form and implement a Catholic Worldview so that they can see the world though the lens of the Church and become Catholic leaders." Feel free to share any constructive feedback, please! Who's next?
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Jono Taccolini

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