Instead of me, the newspaper should have chosen Fr Stephen Wang to debate Sinéad O’Connor

“How does it feel to have argued against Sinéid O’Connor in the newspaper?!” read the text. I had no idea that I had argued against the notorious ‘priest’ Sinéad O’Connor, until that second when a text came from Ireland.

I write for a regional Irish newspaper – not on line – but advertised in the Writers and Artists’ Yearbook. And often I don’t get to see an article of mine until someone posts me a copy. For this article, I had written a defence of the Vatican’s stance on only ordaining men to the priesthood. The newspaper had put me on one side, and Sinéad O’Connor’s views on the other. Being the simpering goody-two-shoes that I am, I had argued rather laboriously that the sacramental validity of the Holy Mass requires that a male priest offer the sacrifice. Sinéid was on the page opposite to me, and complained bitterly about the Vatican. It’s so curious that she protests so much about Catholicism, and yet wants to be counted as a Catholic ‘priest’. If I had her e-mail, I would sent Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor  a link to Fr. Stephen Wang’s very balanced article. Fr. Wang gives a quietly impassioned but compelling defence of the Church’s teachings. Sinéad wasn’t moved by what I had to say, but if she read this fine analysis of Fr. Wang's she might find it harder to justify her position. “This teaching is not at all a judgment on women's abilities or rights. It says something about the specific role of the priest in Catholic understanding - which is to represent Jesus, to stand in his place. The Church is saying something quite radical. On the one hand, there is a fundamental equality between all human beings, between men and women. On the other hand, this does not mean that our sexual identity as men and women is interchangeable. Gender is not just an accident.

People sense this. If I announced that I was making a film about Jesus or King Arthur or Wayne Rooney, no-one would be surprised if I said I wanted a male actor to play the lead. It's a weak analogy, but it shows how the notion of 'representation' can only be stretched so far. A woman, as much as a man, can reflect the love of Jesus, and help others to know his presence through her faith and witness. But it shouldn't surprise us if we expect a man to stand 'in the person of Christ' as a priest, to represent Jesus in his humanity - a humanity that is not sexually neutral.

Where does this leave women in the Catholic Church? In the same position as the majority of men (that is, all those who are not priests). It leaves them to live their faith passionately in the service of others, to use their many gifts to the full, and to realise that ordination is not the measure of an individual's worth in the Church.”  For the full version of Fr. Wang’s article, click HERE.