Nora,

Respectfully, you are illustrating my point. The protestant church has over a century of wrestling with this issue, but then we wrestle with everything, what with "the priesthood of all believers" and what not. We couldn't agree on a single doctrine. For many us converts, the draw was precisely that we find the Catholic Church with it's apostolic succession and direct line of authority to be the main draw that brought us in. I may not agree with every doctrine of the Church, but I gladly submit to her authority. Believe me the weight of deciding each doctrine for yourself is a heavy burden to bear. I say that with great love and affection for former colleagues. I am in no way fearful of the ordination of women, but am content to accept the position of the church until those God has placed in authority are guided by the Holy Spirit to do otherwise. Funnily enough the job passage from today's liturgy of the hours seems to address this very thing.