Female priesthood: Germany and Italy, two signals on the same day, the same mistake

Context

We had reported, in issue 2 (week 27), the upcoming Vatican meetings on Amoris laetitia and family pastoral care, where the question of the female diaconate regularly resurfaces. Two pieces of news coincide today, on July 11, 2026, in the same editorial space: in Germany, nine theology students from the University of Freiburg im Breisgau are awarded for having requested admission to a Catholic seminary to claim women's priesthood; in Italy, Bishop Erio Castellucci, archbishop-abbot of Modena-Nonantola and bishop of Carpi, proposes that a woman co-preside over the Eucharistic celebration with the priest.

The Facts

On July 11, 2026, Infovaticana reports that nine young women, theology students at the faculty of the University of Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), will receive on October 16, 2026, the "Trompeta de Jericó" prize, awarded by several reformist organizations, for having formally requested the previous year their admission to a German Catholic seminary, a symbolic gesture aimed at challenging the current discipline of the Latin Church. The same source, on the same day, relays the proposal by Bishop Erio Castellucci, archbishop-abbot of Modena-Nonantola and bishop of Carpi, made in an interview with Notizie Carpi: considering a "co-presidency" of the Eucharist by a woman alongside an ordained priest. Two distinct gestures, two countries, a same institutional relay in the Catholic press.

Doctrinal Analysis

On the question of priesthood, the doctrine is set. Ordinatio sacerdotalis (John Paul II, May 22, 1994, § 4) states that "the Church has in no way the power to confer priestly ordination on women" and that this judgment must be definitively held by all the faithful. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its Responsum ad dubium of October 28, 1995, specifies that this doctrine belongs to the deposit of faith as teaching of the ordinary and universal magisterium. The Catechism (§ 1577) takes it up. As for the "co-presidency" of the Eucharist mentioned by Bishop Castellucci, it directly contradicts sacramental theology: the person of Christ Head is represented by the validly ordained priest, in persona Christi capitis (CCC § 1548), and by him alone.

Stakes for the Church and the Faithful

The pressure is old, the strategy changes. We no longer demand ordination directly: we multiply the signals, the prizes, the ambiguous liturgical gestures, until the practice becomes commonplace. Leo XIV has so far held the line, but the episcopal conferences, particularly the German one, are gaining ground with each Roman silence. For the faithful, the question is twofold: to welcome the charismatic and theological contribution of women in the Church, without yielding on the sacramental structure willed by Christ.

Critical Reading and Blind Spots

The French debate remains muted: few French Catholic media relay these initiatives, which leaves the field free for their trivialization. Blind spots: the formal response of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is not known, and the individual position of the German bishops on the "Trompeta de Jericó" prize remains to be clarified. The German Synodal Path, formally closed, continues to act in other forms. The prize received by the nine students from Freiburg is as much a political signal as a media one.

To Ponder and Act

Priesthood is not a career: it is a configuration to Christ Head and Spouse of the Church. Resisting its denaturation is also protecting the proper dignity of the baptized, man or woman, called by grace to holiness.