18. What Kind of Music in a Catholic Symphony?

An Argument Against Priestesses

"The value of a female priesthood is seen within the "Catholic symphony" of our beliefs and rituals. The analogy of faith must be viewed, not in arbitrary facts, but as something viewed under the illumination of the entire mystery of Christ."

The Holy Father used this term, "Catholic symphony," but never envisioning the inclusion of such topics as women's ordination. Some would transform it into a new codeword in dogmatics for what the "seamless garment" is for moral theology. It must not be used to waterdown particular Catholic teachings from the whole as disharmonious rather than in attempting to discern ways to better integrate them. The comprehensive understanding of Catholicism is not a bad idea; however, few except Thomas Aquinas have ever intellectually up to the task of interweaving the various threads of the Church's faith deposit. Today, most theologians are single issue debaters who might even place their own "personal" intellectual inquiry above those who support, even if inadequately, the teachings offered by the Apostles' successors.