Imagine that we live in a world that is dominated by a religion that worships a god who became female to bring forth new human life. Imagine this fictitious world religion worships this god through rituals that incorporate images of a pregnant woman. And like any religion, every ritual must be lead by an authorized individual who mediates between the worshiping faithful and their god. Such an individual would be ordained in the priesthood of this religion. Now imagine even further that some of the faithful are demanding that they be allowed to be ordained into this priesthood of this religion, which worships a god using images of a pregnant woman. The people in this group have caused a scandal. Those demanding to be part of the ordained priesthood are all men. Why would this be scandalous?
Well because this fictitious world religion has an order of priesthood that exclusively includes only women. And I would argue rightfully so. In this fictitious world religion that worships a god who became female to bring forth new human life, the ordained priesthood should only be made up of women, and men in the priesthood simply does not make sense. In this religion, a female-only priesthood is the only kind of ordained priesthood it could have. The tenets of its religion and the nature of being ordained into its priesthood simply could only allow priestesses.
This should shock few people if they clearly understood what priesthood truly is. So return to reality:
The priesthood is defined either by the faith of the religion or by the influence of the culture surrounding the faith lived. Culture defining religion is self-destructive for any religion, and makes the religion contradictory. Unfortunately today, culture defining religion is becoming too prevalent.
So we are left logically with the priesthood being properly defined by its religion only, not its surrounding culture. This is essential for not only the religion to survive, but for the ordination in its priesthood to be valid. Simply put priesthood is defined as the office, dignity, or character of the priest. A priest (or priestess) is the one authorized (through ordination within its religion) to perform the sacred rites (which are the ways in which the religion worships its specific god) of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans (who are doing the worship) and God (who by nature influences the form and means of the faithful’s worship).
If the religion is polytheistic with gods imagined in both genders, then (male) priests and (female) priestesses would make complete sense, as long as the priests lead in the sacred rites of worshiping a male god and the priestesses lead in the sacred rites of worshiping a female god. A male priest meditating during the sacred rites of worshiping a female god should be cause for concern. Likewise a female priestess meditating during the sacred rites of worshiping a male god would just not be proper.
If the god is imagined without regards to gender, then the gender of the priest (or priestess) is irrelevant. In fact, religions that believe in such a god believe not in a deity per se, but a “higher power, influence or force” which humanity seeks to become consumed in or one with. And in these religions, the sacred rites are truly not acts of worship, but spiritual consummations with the universe. This historical reality is a fascinating anthropological phenomenon as well as intriguing theological insight.
So now consider a religion which professes in believing that God became Man. And this male person with human and divine natures was at the heart of worship. This incarnate God in truth actually makes the worship possible. In this religion, a male-only priesthood is the only kind of priesthood possible, by definition of what constitutes priesthood and according to the self-defining creedal construct of such a religion. Therefore any Christian religion that properly incorporates ritual worship by necessity should require an ordained priesthood. And any Christian priesthood should only include men, who of course are called by God to mediate between God and the worshipping faithful.
Thus in the Catholic Church the male-only ordained priesthood makes complete sense.
