There are Catholic Women Called to the Priesthood

I know Catholics who say women who want to be priests are nothing but "women libbers" who want to disrupt the orderliness of the church. I suppose there are some of these. I'm sure there are opponents to women in the clergy who have no other motive but power for men. Yes, we can speculate of both such people.

The New Yorker featured an article about Catholic women who are so drawn to the priesthood they cannot hold themselves back from performing the duties. These are women who have academic credentials and who are loyal Catholics. They simply do not see a reason for being excluded, have congregations and go on with the rituals and duties of the priesthood while not recognized officially by the male hierarchy which set the rules.

While the women featured in the article are in the U.S., there is a discussion about the many woman functioning as priests in Germany. Along with gay marriage, women in the clergy is advocated by a large swath of German Catholics. As discussed here, Germany has the numbers and money that is creating a big headache for the Vatican. The Vatican cannot dump the entire Catholic Church without weakening itself worldwide. 

The Vatican certainly can make whatever argument is wants against female priests, or gay marriage for that matter, but if the membership at large doesn't buy it life just goes on. That is what has happened with artificial birth control. You don't hear that artificial birth control is the "gravest of sins" like one hears about abortion. It would not dare to try this. 

As with so many issues in religion, demographics ultimately will swamp theology. The growing ethnic groups in the church trend toward approval of women clergy. The declining demographic, white people of European linage, oppose it. 

We have all experienced women taking on new high level roles in virtually every phase of life. To say religion is one place women are not fit to conduct the highest level of responsibility is simply absurd.