text: You are in error.  Jesus chose the original 12, only Jewish men, to be his apostles to fulfill a blood promise to Abraham & Jesus told them that they were chosen apostles to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, along with him, as judges not priests.  There was not even one Levite present among the 12.  This is stated clearly by Jesus in two different Gospels.  Women do not pass down their blood so were not picked as one of the twelve because generally males who can pass down their blood represent tribal lineage.  Mary Magdalene is equal to the apostles like St. Paul because in all other respects she is accorded to have done everything else the apostles did.  There were other women disciples recorded in the Gospels too.  No Gentiles were picked even though Jesus had some gentile followers because they also could not fulfill the prophesied blood promise to Abraham because they have the wrong blood.  
  
  If this standard is that by which our church ordains, all Gentile clergy are invalid too.