It argues that the appointment of women to the title of Doctor of the Church represents a post-conciliar innovation in direct conflict with Apostolic Tradition. The central arguments, based on scriptural sources (notably 1 Tim 2:12 and 1 Cor 14:34) and the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, contend that the title of "Doctor" implies a public and magisterial teaching authority (auctoritas docendi publica), an office that the constant Tradition of the Church has exclusively reserved for men. The thesis maintains that such an innovation is not a legitimate doctrinal development but a rupture motivated by a concession to modern secular ideologies, such as feminism and egalitarianism, confusing the private witness of sanctity, which is accessible to all, with the public and official magisterium.
🔗Fabricated Rupture vs. Organic Development
The central issue raised by the thesis is not the holiness or depth of the writings of certain women, but the nature of Tradition itself. A fundamental principle of Catholic theology is that doctrine and liturgy develop organically over the centuries, like a seed that grows into a tree, always maintaining its essential identity. However, the reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council often introduced changes that do not represent growth, but an artificial fabrication, a "rupture with tradition" (Cekada, 2010, p. 471).
The same pattern identified in the creation of the New Mass can be observed here. The liturgical reform did not enhance the existing rite but replaced it with something fundamentally different, conceived by committees and influenced by a spurious antiquarianism and ecumenical pressures (Cekada, 2010, p. 473). Analogously, the creation of "women Doctors of the Church" is not the evolution of a pre-existing concept but the imposition of a new category that contradicts the apostolic teaching on the distinct roles in the Church. It is a construction that reflects the priorities of an era more than the continuity of the apostolic faith.
🌐Accommodation to Modern Ideologies
The analysis of the liturgical reform demonstrates how the changes were justified by a need to adapt to "modern man." Prayers were rewritten to eliminate "negative theology" and concepts considered unpalatable to the contemporary mentality, such as the wrath of God, detachment from the world, and the merits of the saints (Cekada, 2010, p. 283-303). The goal was to make the faith more palatable and ecumenically acceptable.
The thesis under discussion suggests an identical process. The pressure to name women Doctors of the Church arises not from an internal theological necessity but from an external pressure to conform to secular egalitarianism. It is a concession to modern feminism, which views hierarchical and role distinctions as an injustice to be corrected. Just as the liturgy was remodeled to reflect an "image of a gathered assembly" instead of the Sacrifice of Calvary (Cekada, 2010, p. 209), the structure of the ecclesial magisterium is implicitly altered to satisfy a worldly notion of equality, undermining the divinely established order.
🏛️The Erosion of Sacred Order and Hierarchy
One of the most devastating effects of the new liturgy was the erosion of the sense of the sacred and the hierarchical distinction between the priest and the laity. The priest, once an alter Christus offering a sacrifice to God on behalf of the people, was transformed into the "president of the assembly" (Cekada, 2010, p. 157). The architecture, rubrics, and prayers were all modified to emphasize the community over the sacrificial and hierarchical action.
The introduction of women Doctors of the Church partakes of this same logic of horizontalization. It obscures the fundamental distinction between the public teaching function, linked to the priesthood and the male hierarchy, and the private, albeit immensely valuable, contribution of all the faithful. By bestowing a title historically associated with public and official teaching upon those who, by divine order, cannot exercise such a function, an ambiguity is created that undermines the clarity of the Church's hierarchical structure, established by Christ.
⚖️Conclusion
Analyzed through the same critical lens applied to the liturgical reform, the thesis that the appointment of women Doctors of the Church constitutes a rupture with Tradition proves to be theologically coherent. It is not a matter of personal merit, but of fidelity to the immutable principles of the faith. Just as the Mass of Paul VI is described as a "work of human hands" that reflects the ideologies of its creators, this innovation appears to be less an act of the Holy Ghost guiding the Church in continuity and more a response to secular pressures, resulting in a deformation of traditional order and teaching.
📚References
Cekada, A. (2010). Work of Human Hands: A Theological Critique of the Mass of Paul VI. Philothea Press.
