I know women can’t be priests or bishops in the RCC – but cardinals don’t have to be ordained; some are merely deacons. Could, say, an abbess be made a cardinal? I’ve never heard of such a thing, but is there anything in canon law against it?
Present day, yes? From wiki article:
Ah. I misunderstood the meaning of the “Order of Deacons” within the College.
The “Cardinal Deacons” are the bishops who head up the Papal Congregations. The “Cardinal Bishops” are the elderly bishops who head up the “seven suburban sees” of Rome (direct suffragans of the Pope in his capacity as Bishop of Rome); it’s predominantly honorary. The other Cardinals, the ones who are bishops and archbishops hither and yon around the world, are “Cardinal Priests.” None of which has anything more than historical interest – the original college was the clergy of Rome, expanded to represent the entire Catholic Church over a thousand years. But that’s where the terminology comes from.
Each of the Cardinal Bishops have a specific suburban see, each of the Cardinal Priests have a specific church in Rome, and each of the Cardinal Deacons have a deaconate at a Roman church.
Are there really enough churches in Rome for each Cardinal to get one? Or do they share?
There are over 900 churches in Rome, so there are more than enough.
The relevant passage from the current Code of Canon Law is canon 351(1):
Women are therefore clearly excluded.
On the other hand, if non-priests were allowed to be cardinals before, the canon law could be changed to allow them again. This is in contrast to the question of female priests, which is (officially, at least) the sort of thing that cannot be changed.
Ah, but as a feminist Catholic I can only dream…
(BTW: yes, feminist Catholics do exist, but we’re kind of like the super-hot-girl-next-door-who-also-likes-geeky-losers… we are very, very, few and far between.)
Why are some elements of canon law officially more permanent than others?
I was going to post that it was theoretically possible for a woman to be chosen to be Pope. There was a procedure in the selection of the popes that allowed for the new Pope to be chosen by acclamation. The gathered cardinals would all sit quietly for a few minutes before any regular voting procedures started. They were supposed to be open to the possibility that a name would suddenly occur to all of them and they would choose this person to be Pope. So in theory all of the cardinals could suddenly realize that the name Oprah Winfrey had simultaneously appeared to each of them and they would they be obligated to choose her as the new Pope.
The idea was that this allowed for the possibility of divine intervention. Only when the possibility of this miracle had passed would they go one to elect a Pope by more traditional means.
But checking on this, I see that the procedure for selecting a Pope by acclamation has been abolished. Apparently if God wants to pick a Pope now, he’s got to fix the votes.
Because some have more weight of Tradition behind them than others.
There have been no female priests in all the almost-2000 years of the RCC. Deaconesses, yes, but no priests.
But for example the requirement of celibate for priests is from the XVI Century Council of Trent: in RCC-history terms, “yesterday.”
The idea is that God always picks the Pope. They vote not based on the guy they like the most, but on divine inspiration.
I think the belief is that the general running of the church is left in human hands. Free will and all that. Devout people are supposed to be capable of doing God’s work in ordinary circumstances. So God doesn’t pick every Pope the same way He doesn’t perform every baptism or hand out every communion. People do these things for God.
But God realizes that people are not omniscient or omnipotent. They can encounter circumstances that are incapable of recognizing or handling. So God might have to step in and take direct action.
Be of good cheer. I know two feminist Catholics myself. You’re in good company.
I don’t know how many Catholics identify themselves as feminist per se, but there are plenty who think women should be allowed to be priests.
No, women can’t. Under the 1983 Code of Canon Law:
“Can. 351 §1. The Roman Pontiff freely selects men to be promoted as cardinals, who have been ordained at least into the order of the presbyterate and are especially outstanding in doctrine, morals, piety, and prudence in action; those who are not yet bishops must receive episcopal consecration.”(http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P19.HTM)
Thus, a person now has to be a priest to be a Cardinal.