Why this and why now? As in the case of women's ordination, Rome is concerned to maintain the gender-symbolic integrity of the sacraments. Jesus did not refer to himself as "the Son," and to God the Father as "Father," just to mollify "the culture." The Jews were and had long been surrounded by cultures with female deities and with priestesses. No, there's a point here that God, unsurprisingly, understands better than we. Today more than ever, people should not be allowed to forget it.
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