Noel Baker reports in the Irish Examiner on the The Irish Examiner / ICMSA Farming Poll that brought to light the latest views and opinions on religion and the priesthood among the farming community.
Taken among what is regarded as a very traditional group (69% of the respondents said they attended Mass every week), 82% of respondents agreed that priests should be allowed to marry.
Regarding the ordination of women 70% of those aged 34 and under supported such a move, but a higher percentage of older farmers backed the idea of women priests, from 75% of those aged over 65, to 87% of those aged 55 to 64. While 82% of men supported the idea of women priests, 76% of women were in favour.
Sean McDonagh commented “The most interesting thing is here are lay people and people of faith seeing that the present rules are not functioning and want to see a change to allow it to function better,”
The survey certainly shows a hierarchy with views at total odds with the laity.
Archbishop Brown, Papal Nuncio, said “allowing serving priests to marry or allowing women priests would not be following the Catholic tradition.”
The questionnaire is important but it is skewed.
It does not allow the option of laity plus diaconate.
Graham at #1,
Good point. We tried to keep the survey as simple as possible.
The laity are always with us. The diaconate is new. And certainly the Male-Only diaconate will displace some lay parish workers, mostly women.
Question 2 completely sidesteps the historical issue as to the nature of women’s ministry in the early Church:
namely, were women ordained to the diaconate just as men were or was their service of a different and non-sacramental order? The question comes close to presenting as established fact something which is, at best, academically controversial.
@ 3
On the issue of women ordained sacramentally to the diaconate in the first millenium .
http://americamagazine.org/issue/422/article/catholic-women-deacons
http://www.womendeacons.org/index.shtml
Soline @ 4. Many thanks for these references, the first of which is particularly illuminating.
Peter