I understand after reading Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that the Church does not consider herself authorized to ordain women as priests. 

How does this affect the Church’s power of binding and loosing (Matt 16: 19)? 

I would like to know how I can reconcile both?

Sincerely, 

Ms. T. Phide

To answer your question, I first called my dear friend, the Rabbi Yehuda ben Yiddishkeit, to understand the words "to bind and to loose" in their original context. 

Rabbis speak and spoke of at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, “L’qulah and L’khumrah” to make easy and to make difficult, or to loose and to make tight or strong, hence to bind and to loose. 

The story is told of a man who had a horrible toothache on the Sabbath. He asked a young rabbi if he could go to the dentist on the Sabbath, to which the young rabbi said, “Of course, not!” 

Later the sufferer brought up the issue with an older and wiser rabbi who said, “Had you asked me, I would certainly have allowed  you to go!”  The older, wiser man realized that a toothache under certain circumstances can be fatal, and it is always allowed to save a life on the Sabbath, though it is forbidden to get unnecessary medical attention. 

This is what the rabbis mean by the power of binding and loosing. Rabbi Ben Yiddishkeit said that, in this sense, every rabbi is a pope. Every rabbi interprets the law, but he only interprets, he cannot change. What God has said God has said, “Thou shalt, and thou shalt not!” These no man can change.

The Catechism of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Paragraph 553) says that

“the power to bind and loose connotes the authority to absolve sins, to make doctrinal judgments and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church.”  

In other words, like the rabbis, the power to bind and loose is the authority and responsibility to interpret and apply the law of God. Jesus made Peter and his successors rabbis  to the world and limited this teaching function to them. 

Theologians and teachers may argue, but it is up to the pope to make the final interpretation. The pope cannot change the law of God, but he must interpret it and apply it to each new era in the Church’s life. He cannot, like the Mormons do, announce that God has changed his mind about one thing or another. What is written in heaven is written. 

The pope cannot wake up one day and say: “Golly, I think I’ll make adultery legal.” 

For instance, the power of the keys defines adultery by defining marriage, but always within the limits of what has been faithfully handed down. Can two people be married without a priest or deacon present?

Amazingly enough, yes! 

In Canon 1112, we read that the local conference of Catholic bishops with the permission of the papal office can delegate people to validly perform marriage ceremonies where no clergy are available. This comes under the heading of “to bind and loose.” 

If I decide to go to Reno and have an Elvis impersonator perform my marriage, well, Sorry, out of Luck! You’re not the pope, and neither am I, thank God. 

It is a matter of great inspiration to me that the few renaissance popes who were not of the best character never proclaimed that a pope was free to break the prohibition against adultery. This wonderful  power to bind and loose has never been used for personal convenience and has in fact been used very sparingly. 

There have been lots of papal proclamations that, by our standards seems odd, but no Pope has ever added a twelfth or even an eleventh commandment or crossed out any of the ten. What Heaven has said, Heaven has said.   

To this, Jesus added the wonderful and shocking ability to forgive sins and to proclaim that forgiveness.

Why was this added? 

Certain involuntary sins were forgiven by animal sacrifice in the temple, but among the ancient Hebrew, nothing forgave willful serious sin. Jesus  was the perfect sacrifice that had been promised and His sacrifice can forgive any sinner, provided that sinner is authentically repentant.  Even the power of the Church to forgive is limited! 

The pope himself cannot forgive a sinner who refuses to repent. I can block the great mercy and power of God working in the Church. Scary, no?  Still, Jesus gave authority to the Church to give the world what He had won on the Cross: forgiveness for every sin.  But, the Church can and must deny forgiveness to the individual who refuses to repent. 

For instance, if an abortionist confesses that he has performed abortions and is sorry but must continue doing so, after all, business is business, I cannot absolve him.  

The Church, through the priesthood of Christ acts in the person of Christ. 

We do what he did.  Nothing more, nothing less.  

Jesus turned away unrepentant sinners with great sadness. 

Think of the rich young man of the Gospel (Mark 10:17) 

This bring us to your question. 

We can only do what Jesus did, nothing more, nothing less and, in a world full of priestesses, Jesus did not choose women to exercise liturgical priesthood. Despite what a lot of modern people are saying, there is no indication that there have ever been ordained women in the universal tradition.

The pope cannot innovate. He can only interpret, and in that sense he is rabbi to the world. 

You may read about women deacons in some early Christian literature , but it is to be remembered that the word “deacon” means minister, or servant. There are wonderful women in ministry and always have been, but there is no solid evidence that they have ever been ordained in the iconic and liturgical way that men have been.  

Well that seems unfair! 

You must remember that women are unique. They can do something that no man can do. They have the inestimable dignity of motherhood. Mary, our Blessed Mother  was never ordained. I suspect that it would have been a step down for her, despite the amazing dignity of the priesthood.

In a world that denigrates women and motherhood, we Catholics still believe that there is no job more important, nor dignity greater than motherhood.  Men are ordained, the “lesser vessel being clothed with the greater dignity.” (1Cor. 12:23)  

So, to bind and loose applies the law of God. It cannot change the law of God.

I wish the truth were something we could vote on, but we cannot. 

Sincerely,

Rev. Know-It-All