Power, Ideology, and Women’s Ordination: Discursive Strategies in Three Roman Catholic Documents
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2019
Keywords
Women's ordination, critical discourse analysis, Catholic church, women priests, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis of John Paul II, Inter Insigniores
Abstract
This article analyzes through a linguistic lens three official documents of the Roman Catholic Church on women’s ordination; it also identifies various discursive tactics utilized by text creators to reinforce gender hierarchy within the Church. Drawing from Fairclough’s three dimensional discourse framework, we examine the ideological message embedded in the linguistic features and the role each text plays within a matrix of power relations. Through close readings of Inter Insigniores: On the Question of Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis of John Paul II, and Women and the Priesthood, we demonstrate how discourse analysis can serve as a useful tool for identifying logical fallacies, inconsistencies, dilemmas, and manipulative tactics in religious discourses.
Journal Title
Critical Research on Religion
Volume
7
Issue
3
First Page
237
Last Page
256
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303219874375
First Department
English
Recommended Citation
Kim, Eun-Young Julia and Matiko, Beverly, "Power, Ideology, and Women’s Ordination: Discursive Strategies in Three Roman Catholic Documents" (2019). Faculty Publications. 1319.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pubs/1319
Acknowledgements
FAR Report 2020