The assertion by Mike Lewis (@mfjlewis) in his X post dated July 22, 2025, that he does not expect to see women priests in the Catholic Church but suggests that if a pope were to exercise his authority to permit it, it would become the Church’s teaching, is a grave misunderstanding of Catholic doctrine, Sacred Scripture, the teachings of the Church Fathers, and the nature of papal authority. This statement not only reflects a profound ignorance of the faith but also veers into heretical territory by implying that a fundamental, divinely instituted aspect of the Church—namely, the male-only priesthood—could be altered by human fiat.
Let us examine this claim through the lens of Church teaching, Scripture, and Tradition, and demonstrate why Lewis’s position is untenable and heretical.
Sacred Scripture and the Male-Only Priesthood
The foundation of the Catholic priesthood is rooted in Sacred Scripture, which consistently presents the ministerial priesthood as an office reserved for men. In the Old Testament, the priesthood was established by God through the line of Aaron, a male, and was exclusively male (Exodus 28:1, Leviticus 8:1-4). This priesthood prefigured the New Testament priesthood instituted by Christ. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the High Priest, chose twelve male apostles to form the foundation of His Church (Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:13-16). This choice was not arbitrary but deliberate, reflecting the divine plan for the sacramental order.
The Last Supper, where Christ instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood (Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25), involved only the twelve male apostles. This act established the ministerial priesthood, which continues through apostolic succession, a succession that has always been male. St. Paul further reinforces this in his epistles, stating, “I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent” (1 Timothy 2:12), and noting that a bishop must be “the husband of one wife” (1 Titus 3:2), indicating the male role in ordained ministry. These passages underscore that the priesthood is tied to the male identity, mirroring Christ’s own masculinity as the Bridegroom of the Church (Ephesians 5:25-27).
The idea that a pope could change this is incompatible with Scripture, which presents the priesthood as divinely ordained, not subject to human alteration. Hebrews 7:11-17 describes the priesthood as eternal in the order of Melchizedek, a type fulfilled in Christ, who chose men to carry it forward. Thus, any suggestion of women priests contradicts the biblical foundation of the Church.
Teachings of the Church Fathers
The Church Fathers unanimously affirm the male-only priesthood, viewing it as an unchangeable aspect of divine institution. St. Augustine, in his work De Trinitate (Book XII), emphasizes the sacramental role of the priest as an in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), a role that requires a male due to Christ’s maleness. St. John Chrysostom, in his Homilies on Timothy, echoes this, arguing that the order of creation and redemption—man as the head (1 Corinthians 11:3)—underpins the priestly office. Tertullian, in De Praescriptione Haereticorum, defends the apostolic tradition, which never included women in the ordained ministry.
St. Thomas Aquinas, a theological giant, further clarifies this in the Summa Theologica (Supplement, Q. 39, A. 1), stating that the priest acts as a representative of Christ, whose maleness is intrinsic to the sacramental sign. The Fathers saw the exclusion of women from the priesthood not as a cultural artifact but as a theological necessity tied to the Incarnation and the spousal relationship between Christ and the Church. Lewis’s suggestion that papal authority could override this ignores the patristic consensus that the priesthood’s structure is divinely instituted.
Magisterial Teaching and Papal Infallibility
The Catholic Church’s magisterium has definitively settled this question. Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (May 22, 1994) declares, “I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” This teaching is infallible under the ordinary and universal magisterium, as it reaffirms a truth preserved since apostolic times. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its 1995 response, confirmed that this is a matter of divine law, not disciplinary practice, and thus unchangeable.
Papal authority, while significant, is not absolute. The pope cannot alter divine law or contradict revelation (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 882). The priesthood’s male exclusivity is part of the depositum fidei (deposit of faith), entrusted to the Church by Christ. To suggest, as Lewis does, that a pope could permit women priests and thereby establish it as Church teaching is to misunderstand the limits of papal power and the nature of infallibility, which protects against error in defining doctrine, not inventing it.
The Heresy of Mike Lewis’s Position
Heresy, according to the Code of Canon Law (Can. 751), is the obstinate denial or doubt of a truth that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. The male-only priesthood is such a truth, affirmed by Scripture, Tradition, and the magisterium. Lewis’s claim that a pope could change this denies the divine institution of the priesthood and elevates human authority above God’s will, a position akin to the errors of modernism condemned by Pope Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907). Modernism posits that doctrine evolves with cultural shifts, a view incompatible with the Church’s understanding of immutable truths.
Lewis’s ignorance of these principles suggests he does not grasp the Catholic faith’s foundational tenets. His statement implies a cafeteria Catholicism, where one picks and chooses beliefs, a heresy in itself. By suggesting that papal authority could redefine a sacramental order established by Christ, he undermines the Church’s identity as the guardian of divine revelation, aligning himself with heretical views that prioritize human opinion over divine law.
Conclusion
Mike Lewis’s comment is a serious error that contradicts Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers, and magisterial teaching. The Catholic priesthood is irrevocably male, a truth rooted in Christ’s institution and unchangeable by any pope. Lewis’s suggestion that this could be otherwise reflects a heretical misunderstanding of the faith, placing him at odds with the Church’s 2000-year tradition. Catholics are called to uphold the truth, not reshape it to suit personal expectations. We at Sacerdotus warn Catholics about the content Mr. Lewis posts and to avoid it altogether. His website "Where Peter Is" is not orthodox in content and spews progressive agendas, ultramontanism and other heresies. Avoid for the sake of your intellect and soul!
See more on Mike Lewis:I don't expect to see women priests in the Catholic Church, but if a pope was to exercise his authority and permit it, then that would be the Church’s teaching.
— Mike Lewis (@mfjlewis) July 22, 2025
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Sources:
- Holy Bible (RSVCE): Exodus 28:1, Leviticus 8:1-4, Matthew 10:1-4, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, 1 Timothy 2:12, Titus 3:2, Ephesians 5:25-27, Hebrews 7:11-17.
- St. Augustine, De Trinitate.
- St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Timothy.
- Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum.
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (Supplement, Q. 39, A. 1).
- Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994).
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1995 response).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 882.
- Code of Canon Law, Can. 751.
- Pope Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907).
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