Perspectief 2014-26

2014-26 The Ordination of Women 31 Reag eer question is: why do you have to have the male sexuality in order to gain the possibility to represent Christ? Ordination is understood as a sacrament and it is said that sacraments are preserved for men only. Well, you all know this. I stop it. I know and you know all the arguments. There is nothing new and there is no need for repetition. No claim on catholicity 2. My second point of reflection is that Protestants are also Catholics. And sometimes some Protestants are more catholic than some Roman-Catholics are catholic. In the Netherlands we do have now a Ecumenical Forum for Catholicity. 9 Catholicity can cover a wide range of significances. Catholicity means the whole world geographically, from the one end to the other. It also means the totality of all Christian teaching in orthodoxy. It covers the totality of all mankind (young and old, rulers and citizens, erudite and simply-hearted) 10 and more. So catholicity cannot be restricted indeed to one of the churches, neither can it be restricted to one gender. Churches who ordain both women and men are more catholic, because they are not exclusive. 3. I come to my third point. Cyrill of Jerusalem (315-386) said: “The church is catholic because it has spread throughout the entire world, because it teaches fully and unfailingly the content of Christian belief (the doctrines) and because it brings under obedience all classes and races of men. Finally, it deserves the title ‘catholic’ because it heals and cures every sin that can be committed in soul or body and because it possesses and spreads various spiritual charisms.” Vincentius of Lerinum said: “The true faith is what everywhere, always and by everybody has been believed. ” This does not mean however, that we can never change a custom or a ritual. Many use the term ‘catholic’ meaning ‘Roman-Catholic’ without realising that this exclusive language in fact robs many Christians from their catholicity. No one is allowed to claim the term ‘catholic’ exclusively for one’s own church or gender. 9 http://forumkatholiciteit.nl/#.UJvJgnDiYuc 10 Cyrilus, Catecheses XVIII, 23.