The subject of women and Freemasonry is complex and without an easy 

explanation. Traditionally, only men can be made Freemasons in Regular 

Freemasonry.   Many Grand Lodges do not admit women because they believe

 it would break the ancient Masonic Landmarks. However, there are many 

non-mainstream Masonic bodies that do admit both men and women or exclusively

 women. Furthermore, there are many female orders associated with regular 

Freemasonry, such as the Order of the Eastern Star, the Order of the Amaranth,

 the White Shrine of Jerusalem, the Social Order of Beauceant and the Daughters

 of the Nile.

Recognition

The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), and others concordant in what the











































































Malecraft call regular tradition (Mixed-Gender and Women-only bodies consider 













































































themselves as "regular" as do the Men-only bodies), do not formally recognize 

















































































any Masonic body that accepts women. The UGLE has stated since 1998 that 











































































two English women's jurisdictions are regular in practice (The Order of Women 










































































Freemasons and The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons), except for 









































































their inclusion of women, and has indicated that, while not formally recognized, 
























































































these bodies may be regarded as part of Freemasonry, when describing 




















































































Freemasonry in general. In North America, neither so-called "mainstream" 





















































































Freemasonry nor Prince Hall Freemasonry accept women, but rather have 













































































associated separate bodies, which are "Masonic" in character, but not Masonic 























































































































































































in their content.

Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons

The history of the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons in particular 

cannot be described without reference to the history of the Women’s movement

 in Masonry in general. Quoted from a pamphlet published in 1988 by Enid Scott

 a former Assistant Grand Master of the Order, entitled "Women in Freemasonry:"

"It was in 1902 that the first lodge of Co-Masons was formed in London and that

 importation from France soon snowballed. But within a few years some of its 

members became uneasy regarding the course being taken by the governing 

body in Paris. They felt that their ancient forms were in jeopardy and a departure

 from their traditional style was taking place; history was being repeated, for it 

was a similar state that had arisen in regular Freemasonry in the mid-18th 

century. Various members resigned from the Order and formed themselves into

 a Society from which was to emerge the Honourable Fraternity of Antient 

Masonry, but still as an association for men and women. On 5 June 1908 a 

Grand Lodge was formed with a Reverend Brother as Grand Master. He was 

the first and only male Grand Master and held that office for four years before 

retiring through ill health. His successor commenced the continuing line of 

female Grand Masters. Approximately ten years later it was decided to restrict 

admission to women only but to allow existing male members to remain. Within

 a very short period the title was changed to the Order of Women Freemasons 

but the form of address as ‘Brother’ remained, the term ‘Sister’ having been 

discontinued soon after the formation in 1908 as it was deemed unfitting for 

members of a universal Brotherhood of Freemasons. It is also of some interest

 to note that history was repeated again , in that the Royal Arch became the 

subject of a division in their ranks, rather on the lines of the Antients and 

Moderns years before the Union in 1813. A group of its members wished to

 include the Royal Arch in the system but failed to obtain authority from their 

Grand Lodge , which caused them to secede and form the first Lodge of yet 

another Order - The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons, two Grand 

Lodges running in parallel was almost a carbon copy performance, but in this 

case the time for a Union, similar to that which took place in 1813, is yet to come."

The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons was founded in 1913 and the

 first Grand Master was Mrs Elizabeth Boswell-Reid who held that Office from 

1913 to 1933 ; she was succeeded by her daughter Mrs Seton Challen.

Justification for exclusion

Mainstream Masonic Grand Lodges justify the exclusion of women from 

Freemasonry for several reasons. The structure and traditions of modern day 

Freemasonry is based from the operative medieval stonemasons of Europe. 

These operative masonic guilds did allow women to join, though they were few

 in number (See "Haunted Chambers: the Lives of Early Women Freemasons", 

by Karen Kidd, Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2009). Many Grand Lodges are of

 the opinion that altering this structure would completely change Freemasonry.

 Furthermore, the so-called mainstream Grand Lodges adhere to the masonic 

landmarks by a number of sources, beginning in early 18th century (there is no

 universal agreement on a list of these Landmarks), which are considered 

unchangeable. One of these landmarks, in many Male-only Obediences, 

specifies that a woman is not to be made a mason.  Finally, in many Male-onl

 jurisdictionsm most of them in the United States, Masons swear "not to be 

present at the making of a woman a Mason" in their obligations.  Many 

masons believe that regardless of their opinions of women in masonry, they 

cannot break their obligation.

Female Masons in Regular Masonic Bodies

There have been a few reported cases of a woman joining a regular masonic 

lodge. These cases are exceptions and are debated by masonic historians.

One account of a woman being admitted to Freemasonry in the 18th century is 

the case of Elizabeth Aldworth (born St Leger), who is reported to have 

surreptitiously viewed the proceedings of a Lodge meeting held at Doneraile 

House, the private house of her father, first Viscount Doneraile, a resident of 

Doneraile, County Cork, Ireland. Upon discovering the breach of their secrecy, 

the Lodge resolved to admit and obligate her, and thereafter she proudly 

appeared in public in Masonic clothing.  In the early part of the 18th century, 

it was quite customary for Lodges to be held in private houses. This Lodge was

 duly warranted as Lodge number 150 on the register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.

Women as Operative Masons

It is not generally known, but researchers have shown that records do exist 

which confirm that women were in fact operative masons, and even presided 

over Lodges of Operative Masons.

The Regius Manuscript, dating from about 1390, is the oldest manuscript yet 

discovered relating to Masonry. Two extracts are of particular interest:

Yn that onest craft to be parfytte; And so uchon schulle techyn othur, And

 love together as sister and brother In that honest craft to be perfect; And so

 each one shall teach the other, And love together as sister and brother. 

Articulus decimus. The thenthe artycul ys for to knowe, Amongst the craft, 

to hye and lowe, There schal no mayster supplante other, But be togeder as

 systur and brother, Yn that curyus craft, alle and som, That longuth to a

 maystur mason. Tenth article. The tenth article is for to know, Among the

 craft, to high and low, There shall no master supplant another, But be 

together as sister and brother, In this curious craft, all and some, that 

belongeth to a master mason.

However, it should be noted that not everyone agrees with these interpretations

 of the Regius Manuscript. The following examples were recorded by Enid Scott

 in her pamphlet, "Women and Freemasonry:"

It is on record that a woman mason was responsible for the carving of the 

porch on the tower of Strasbourg Cathedral. It was begun in 1277 by the 

Architect, Erwin of Steinbach, and his daughter Sabina, who was a skilful 

mason, executed this part of the work herself In the records of Corpus 

Christi Guild at York, it is noted in 1408 that an apprentice had to swear to

 obey "the Master, or Dame, or any other Freemason." Women members 

were recorded in the Masons’ Company in the 17th century as being 

non-operative. Of course at this time ‘non-operative’ meant not being

 engaged in the physical work, but acting in the capacity of accepting 

orders for assignments, and not what we would now refer to as

 ‘speculative masonry’. Such women were called ‘Dames’ to distinguish 

them from Master Masons. Margaret Wild, a mason’s widow, was such a 

one and was made a member of the Masons’ Company in 1663 A minute 

dated 16th April 1683, from the Lodge of Edinburgh refers to agreement

 that a widow may, with the assistance of a competent freeman, receive the

 benefit of any orders which may be offered her by customers of her late 

husband, such freeman being prohibited from taking any share of the profits

 from such assignments. One day later on 17th April, the records of St Mary's

 Chapel Lodge give an instance of the legality of a female occupying the 

position of 'Dame' or 'Mistress in a masonic sense. But it was only to a very

 limited extent that widows of master masons could benefit by the privilege.

 From the manuscripts which make up the Old Charges, the York MS no 4

(Grand Lodge of York) dated 1693 refers to the "Apprentice charge" and 

instructs that, "One of the elders taking the Booke and hee or shee that is 

to be made mason, shall lay their hands thereon, and the charge shall be 

given". Of course this has been disputed by some masonic historians who

 claim that the "shee" is a mistranslation of "they", but others including 

the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, accept it as evidence of the admission of 

females into masonic fellowship, especially as many of the other guilds 

at this time were comprised of women as well as men.^{[citation needed]}

The Masons’ Court Book records the names of two widows in 1696.

In 1713-14, we find the unusual instance of Mary Bannister, the daughter of a 

Barking barber, being appointed to a mason for a term of seven years, the fee

 of five shillings having been paid to the Company.

Several instances of male apprentices being assigned to work under female 

masters during the period 1713-1715 appear in the records of the "Worshipful

 Company of Masons" in MS 5984 of the Guildhall Library in London.

It should be remembered that all these instances occurred before the formation 

of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717. In 1723 the Rev. James Anderson

 was given the task of issuing a set of Constitutions, which were revised in 

1738, when he introduced the idea that women were prohibited

 from becoming masons

[edit]

Co-Freemasonry

The systematic admission of women into International Co-Freemasonry began 

in France in 1882 with the initiation of Maria Deraismes into the Loge Libre 

Penseurs (Freethinkers Lodge), under the Grande Loge Symbolique de 

France.  In 1893, along with activist Georges Martin, Maria Deraismes

 oversaw the initiation of sixteen women into the first Lodge in the world to have

 both men and women as members, from inception, creating the jurisdiction 

Le Droit Humain (LDH)

Again, these are regarded by most of Malecraft Freemasonry

 as "irregular" bodies, though all Masonic Orders consider 

themselves to be "regular". The Malecraft bodies long have 

claimed the right to say which Masons (usually themselves) 

are "regular" and which are "irregular".

However, Since no Masonic body has any authority whatsoever over any other

 Masonic bodies, each Freemason is as "regular" within his/her own order as is

 every other Freemason in their Order.

Le Droit Humain and a number of other masonic organisations, referred to as

 "irregular" by most Malecraft bodies, have a presence in North America which

 are open to women either in an androgynous or wholly feminine manner. These

 orders work similar rituals to the larger Malecraft Freemasonic Orders and their

 work contains similar moral and philosophical content as is found in Malecraft

 Freemasonry.

In the Netherlands, there is a completely separate, although Masonically allied,

 sorority for women, the Order of Weavers (OOW), which uses symbols from 

weaving rather than stonemasonry.

The rite of adoption for female lodges originated in France. 

The Grand Orient of France and other Masonic bodies in the Continental 

European tradition fully recognize Co-Freemasonry and women's Freemasonry.

Can women be Freemasons?

The answer is YES.

To understand the role of women in Freemasonry, it is necessary to go back

 into the history of the fraternity. It has been said that exclusion of women from

 the craft forms one of the "ancient landmarks" of the order. Is this true?

The question is answered in five parts:

• 17th Century: THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS
  Proof that women were made Masons in ancient operative lodges

• 18th Century: WOMEN AS SPECULATIVE MASONS
  Women Freemasons prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge of England

• 19th Century: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-MASONRY
  A brief history of mixed-gender orders of Freemasonry

• 20th Century: CO-MASONRY AND FEMALE MASONRY TODAY
  Mixed-gender and all-female Masonry around the world

• FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWERED
  And where you may enquire with further questions
•  

17th Century: 

THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS

Proof that women were made Masons in ancient operative lodges

Let us begin with the historical record. The following was sent to me by 

Brother Bill Edwards in 1995. It consists of a short excerpt from a long talk 

that the Very Worshipful and Reverend Neville B. Cryer, Past Provincial 

Grand Master of Surrey, Past Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of England, 

Chairman of the Heritage Committee of York, and member of the Quator 

Coronati Lodge of Research, gave to the Finger Lakes Chapter of the 

Philalethes Society in March, 1995.

WOMEN AND FREEMASONRY 
BY V:. W.: and Rev. NEVILLE B. CRYER 
MASONIC TIMES, May, 1995, Rochester, New York

In 1693 we have the York Manuscript No. 4, belonging to the 

Grand Lodge of York, which relates how when an Apprentice is admitted

 the 'elders taking the Booke, he or _shee_ [sic] that is to be made Mason

 shall lay their hands thereon, and the charge shall be given.' Now I have to

 tell you, that my predecessors in Masonic Research in England from 

Hughen and Vibert and from all the rest onward, have all tried to pretend 

that the 'shee' is merely a misprint for 'they.' I now am the Chairman of the 

Heritage Committee of York. I know these documents; I've examined them,

 and I'm telling you, they say 'she,' without any question.

Of course, we have a problem, haven't we; to try to explain that. 

My predecessors would not try to explain this; they were too male oriented.

 The fact remains that, there it is, in an ancient document of a 17th century 

date. That this could have been the case seems all the more likely as that in

 1696 two widows are named as members in the Operative masons Court.

 Away in the South of England, we read in 1714 -- that's before the 

Grand Lodge of England -- of Mary Bannister, the daughter of a barber 

in the town of Barking, being apprenticed as a Mason for 7 years with a 

fee of 5/- which she paid to the Company.

 

18th Century: 
WOMEN AS SPECULATIVE MASONS

Women Freemasons prior to the formation of the Grand Lodge of England

Turning next to the subject of actual cases of women who were made Masons

 in speculative rather than operative lodges, there is quite a bit of evidence to 

support the contention that this was at one time permitted. The most famous

 (and best-documented) of these women Masons was Mrs. Aldworth, made a 

Mason in the 1700s. Here is a brief account of her Masonic career, as written 

in 1920 by Dudley Wright and posted to the internet in 1994 by William Maddox.

WOMEN FREEMASONS
BY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND
THE BUILDER, August 1920

Although the Antient Charges forbid the admission or initiation of women

 into the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, there are known instances 

where as the result of accident or sometimes design the rule has been 

broken and women have been duly initiated. The most prominent instance

 is that of the Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger, or, as she afterwards became, on 

marriage, the Hon. Mrs. Aldworth, who is referred to sometimes, though 

erroneously, as the "only woman who over obtained the honour of initiation

 into the sublime mysteries of Freemasonry."

The Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger was a daughter of the first Viscount Doneraile,

 a resident of Cork. Her father was a very zealous Freemason and, as was

 the custom in his time -- the early part of the eighteenth century - held an 

occasional lodge in his own house, when he was assisted by members of 

his own family and any brethren in the immediate neighbourhood and 

visitors to Doneraile House. This lodge was duly warranted and held the 

number 150 on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.

The story runs that one evening previous to the initiation of a gentleman

 named Coppinger, Miss St. Leger hid herself in the room adjoining the one

 used as a lodgeroom. This room was at that time undergoing some 

alterations and Miss St. Leger is said to have removed a brick from the 

partition with her scissors and through the aperture thus created witnessed

 the ceremony of initiation. What she saw appears to have disturbed her so

 thoroughly that she at once determined upon making her escape, but failed

 to elude the vigilance of the tyler, who, armed with a sword stood barring 

her exit. Her shrieks alarmed the members of the lodge, who came rushing

 to the spot, when they learned that she had witnessed the whole of the 

ceremony which had just been enacted. After a considerable discussion 

and yielding to the entreaties of her brother it was decided to admit her 

into the Order and she was duly initiated, and, in course of time, became 

the Master of the lodge.

According to Milliken, the Irish Masonic historian, she was initiated in 

Lodge No. 95, which still meets at Cork, but there is no record extant of her

 reception into the Order. It is, however, on record that she was a subscriber

 to the Irish Book of Constitutions, which appeared in 1744 and that she 

frequently attended, wearing her Masonic regalia, entertainments that were

 given under Masonic auspices for the benefit of the poor and distressed.

 She afterwards married Mr. Richard Aldworth of Newmarket and when she

 died she was accorded the honour of a Masonic burial. She was cousin to

 General Antony St. Leger, of Park Hill, near Doncaster, who, in 1776, 

instituted the celebrated Doncaster St. Leger races and stakes.

This picture of Elizabeth Aldworth dressed in her Masonic regalia was published

 in Robert Freke Gould's "Concise History of Freemasonry." The original from 

which the engraving was made is said to be a portrait painting in the possession

 of her descendents. The image was scanned and sent to me by Sandra Hesse.

In his talk to the chapter of the Philalethes Society, cited above, Neville B. Cryer

 described the well-known particulars of the initiation of Elizabeth St. Ledger

 (later Elizabeth Aldworth) as a Speculative Mason -- and he noted that this 

occurred in 1712, before the Grand Lodge of England was formed -- and thus

 before it was declared that the exclusion of women was an "ancient landmark,"

 and a stop was put to female participation in the Craft.

Numerous other examples of females joining Masonic lodges could be given

 here (Cryer and Wright cite several each), but lack of space forbids. The pattern

 set by Elizabeth Aldworth -- of rare and exceptional cases of women being made

 Masons -- was the norm from the time of the establishment of the GLoE until

 the 19th century advent of Co-Masonry, a mixed-gender order of the Craft. 

19th Century: 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF CO-MASONRY

A brief history of mixed-gender orders of Freemasonry

Here is a history of the Co-Masonic fraternity as supplied by Brother Wright 

and posted to the internet by Brother Maddox:

CO-MASONRY
BY BRO. DUDLEY WRIGHT, ENGLAND
THE BUILDER, November 1920

In 1879 several Chapters owning allegiance to the Supreme Council of 

France of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, at the instigation of the 

Grand Orient, seceded from that allegience and reconstituted themselves

 as La Grande Loge Symbolique de France. One of these Chapters, bearing

 the name of Les Libres Penseurs, meeting at Pecq, a village of Seine et 

Oise, in November 1881, proposed to initiate into Freemasonry, Mlle. 

Maria Desraimes, a well-known writer on Humanitarian and women suffrage

 questions, which they did on 14th January, 1882, for which act the Lodge

 or Chapter was suspended. Mlle. Desraimes was instrumental in bringing

 into the ranks of Freemasonry several other well-known women in France, 

with the result that an Androgynous Masonic body, known as 

La Grande Loge Symbolique Ecossaise was formed on 4th April, 1893

 although its jurisdiction at that time extended over only one lodge, that 

known as Le Droit Humain, which came into being on the same day, and 

which, in 1900, adopted the thirty degrees of the Ancient and Accepted 

Scottish Rite.

One of the principal workers in the formation of this new Grand lodge was

 Dr. Georges Martin, at one time a member of the Lodge Les Libres Penseurs. 

The schismatic movement spread to Paris and Benares and afterwards to 

London, at which last-named place, in September, 1902, the Lodge

 "Human Duty," now No. 6 on the Co- Masonry Register, was consecrated. 

The title "Co-Masonry" in lieu of the earlier term "Joint Masonry" was 

adopted in 1905.

 

20th Century: 
CO-MASONRY AND FEMALE MASONRY TODAY

Mixed-gender and all-female Masonry around the world

In 1903, Co-Masonry came to the United States. In 1918, according to Neville 

Cryer, Elizabeth St. Leger Aldworth's direct descendent, Alicia St. Leger 

Aldworth, joined the mixed-gender order. By 1922, there were more than 

450 Co-Masonic lodges around the world, according to Masonic historian 

Arthur Edward Waite, writing in "The New Enclyclopedia of Freemasonry."

Here are some 20th century female Masons in full regalia. These photos were

 printed in the Regina (Canada) Leader-Post newspaper on January 6, 1939. 

Thanks to Ray Salmon of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, for the scan.

The point is made frequently and always with the same confidence. There is a general assumption, at least in Europe and North America, that the Catholic Church’s insistence on a male priesthood is an obscure anomaly, which endures only because a Polish pope has, in the 1990s, refused to move with the times.

Yet the times have often favored a female priesthood and never more so than when Christ ordained His first priests, nearly 2,000 years ago. Virtually all the pagan religions of His day had priestesses, and it would have been entirely normal and natural for Him to choose women for this task. He had, moreover, a number of excellent potential candidates, from His own Mother, who accompanied Him at His first miracle and stood with Him as He suffered on the cross, to Mary Magdalene or the women of Bethany. Instead, He chose only men, and He remained immovable on this, continuing right to the end to exhort and train them all, leaving thus a Church which turned out to be safely founded on a rock. From those twelve men a direct line of apostolic succession has given the Catholic Church the bishops and priests it has today.

In the Church’s latest statement on this matter, Pope John Paul II, using his full authority as the successor of Peter, states categorically that the Church cannot — not will not, but cannot — ordain women, now or in the future. The Catechism of the Catholic Church sets it out clearly, quoting the decree Inter insigniores:

Only a baptized man (vir) receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.

We need to understand that Christians believe God to be the essence of divine omnipotence. To put it crudely, He doesn’t make mistakes. When He became Incarnate as a human being, He did so at a precise and exact moment in human history, which has been planned from all eternity. From the beginning, God had chosen that there would be a Jewish people, among whom His divine Son would be born. Their own priestly traditions would form part of the background and culture which would help them — and others — to see and know Him. Every detail about the Incarnation was known in the mind of God. He was born into the fullness of time.

He didn’t say: “Oops, sorry — I made a terrible mistake! I should have been born into the latter half of the twentieth century, so as to have benefited from the We are Church movement in Germany, or the feminist workshop sessions of America, or the Equal Opportunities legislation in Britain.” On the contrary, He was and remains omnipotent. He knew exactly what He was doing.

It is worth pointing out that, in choosing His apostles, Christ was not awarding them the priesthood as a reward for good behavior: courage, intelligence, or skill. On the contrary. One — the rock on which the Church was to be founded — denied Him, another doubted His Resurrection, and one even betrayed Him. The priesthood is not a badge of good-conduct (although, like eleven out of the first twelve, millions of Christ’s priests down the centuries have led heroic and noble lives). Rather, just as bread and wine are the essential “matter” of the Eucharist, so are men the “matter” of the priesthood.

If we wish to explore fully this question of the Church and the priesthood, we can start with Christ’s actions when on earth. But in a sense we must go further back to see the covenant bond that was established right at the beginning, and the male/female imagery and nuptial meaning that goes right through salvation history.

At every Catholic wedding you will hear the beautiful, scriptural, and profound statement that the relationship of a bridegroom and his bride is like that of Christ and His Church. Of course, we are mostly not listening. We are looking at the bridesmaids and reflecting that they look charming in blue, or admiring the graceful way in which the bride has managed her train, and soon we’ll be enjoying the cake and the confetti and the champagne.

But the words nevertheless convey a profound truth. Notice the order of things. Christ and His Church came first. They were an idea in the mind of God from the very beginning. And we, as human beings, when we unite together and marry, are an image of the ultimate Bridegroom and Bride.

Catholics are used to this imagery. The Church is often described as being the Bride of Christ. We also speak of her as being our Holy Mother Church. She is indeed a Bride who has become a mother — and we are all her children, the fruit of that union she has with Christ. Perhaps because we are so used to this notion, we do not think about it very deeply. But it is all part of the nuptial imagery that goes all through Scripture and explains much to us.

Christ began His public ministry at a wedding. Perhaps many of us think this is not very important. We are intrigued by the story of water turning into wine, but we think it could have been a birthday party or just a local harvest supper. But no — the wedding is a central part of the event. It was a genuine wedding. We don’t know the names of the young couple getting married, but they had invited Jesus and Mary, and it was evidently a happy and important occasion with food and drink and plenty of guests. But it was more. The whole story was a great significance. When Mary told Jesus that the wine was running out, He answered, “My time is not yet come.” Whenever Christ mentions His “time,” He means His passion and death. Already, we can hear the drumbeats of that event in the distance. And Mary told the waiting servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” That word “do” also will be heard again, when Christ’s time indeed has come. At Cana, they do as He tells them, and water is turned into wine. At the Last Supper, once again there is a commandment to “do,” and this commandment also has been obeyed down the centuries, with another transformation — wine into Christ’s own blood. The nuptial message from Cana is not an optional extra; it is central to the event. Pope John Paul II echoes this link between Cana and Calvary when he speaks of the “nuptial meaning” in the Eucharist.

We see this male/female imagery going right through our redemption history. It is at the heart of Christ’s being born among us as a man. When He founded His Church, it was with the love of a bridegroom for a bride, and when He gave us the Eucharist, it was as a nuptial banquet. This nuptial imagery was completed on Calvary. We are speaking here of holy things at the very heart of our faith. Paul speaks of this as being “a great mystery.” It gives a meaning — and a great dignity — to the human reality of male and female. It is in this context that we can see not only the significance of a male priesthood, but also the importance and beauty that the Church attaches to purity, to fidelity in marriage, and to the fruitfulness of married love.

There is an important sense in which the current debate about the ordination of women, even if it is sometimes couched in terms which Catholics find offensive, is going to be useful in the development of our understanding these things. Invariably, in the history of the Church, it is only when a doctrine is seriously challenged that its truth is proclaimed in greater fullness. Only when a heresy arises does it become necessary to proclaim truth to end the heresy.

Thus we will not find the word “Trinity” in the New Testament. Yet Catholics and most Protestants unite in professing that there are three Persons in one God and that God the Son walked this earth and was present among us and told us that God the Holy Spirit would descend upon His Church. It was only when the Arian heresy arose, effectively denying Christ’s divinity, that it became necessary to defend and explain the Trinity in authoritative and definitive terms. The Council of Nicæa gave us the Nicene Creed, which we say Sunday by Sunday at Mass, proclaiming Christ’s divinity in unmistakable terms: “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.”

The Tree of Knowledge, painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder

THE Book of Genesis, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or the tree of knowledge(occasionally, the tree of conscience, 

Hebrew:עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, Etz haDaat tov V'ra) was a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:9). God directly forbade Adam (Eve having not yet been created) to eat the fruit of this tree. A serpent tempted Eve, who was aware of the prohibition against eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3:1-6). The serpent had suggested to Eve that eating the fruit would bestow wisdom upon them. Eve and then Adam ate the forbidden fruit, and they became aware of their nakedness (Genesis 3:6-7). After discovering their disobedience, God banished the couple from the garden in order to deny them access to the Tree of Life, which would have bestowed immortality onto them. God cursed both the snake and the ground, obliging Adam to survive through agriculture "by the sweat of his brow." 

He told the woman that her childbirth pains would be greatly increased and that the man would rule over her. God set guards (Cherubim) at the east side of the garden to protect the way to the tree of life from Adam, Eve, and their descendants. (Genesis 3:14-24)

In some religions, law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality; 

knowledge as revealed by a God defining and governing all human affairs. 

Law, in the religious sense, also includes codes of ethics and morality which 

are upheld and required by the God. Examples include customary

 Halakha (Jewish law) and Hindu law, and to an extent, Sharia (Islamic law)

 and Canon law (Christian law).^[1]

Sharia and Canon law differ from other religious laws in that Canon law is the 

codification of Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox law (like in a civil law tradition),

 while Sharia law derives many of its laws from juristic precedent and reasoning

 by analogy (like in a common law tradition).