In July 2023, Cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Leo Burke, supported by Cardinals Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, Robert Sarah, and Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, sent five dubia to Pope Francis, who delivered the responsa to them in October that year.
Dubium number four, a multi-part question, contains this:
It is also asked whether the teaching of St. John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis is still valid, which teaches as a truth to be held definitively the impossibility of conferring priestly ordination on women, so that this teaching is no longer subject to change or free discussion by pastors or theologians.
and the responsum to it includes this:
On the other hand, to be rigorous, let us recognize that a clear and authoritative doctrine on the exact nature of a "definitive statement" has not yet been fully developed. It is not a dogmatic definition, and yet it must be adhered to by all. No one can publicly contradict it and yet it can be a subject of study, as with the case of the validity of ordinations in the Anglican Communion.
The core of that first sentence is interesting within the context of the question: "A clear and authoritative doctrine on the exact nature of a 'definitive statement' has not yet been fully developed."
Perhaps not, but there is one that that has been clearly and authoritatively established about definitive statements given ex Cathedra: The dogmatic constitution Pastor Aeternus contains this (emphasis mine for clarity):
We teach and define that it is a divinely-revealed dogma: that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex Cathedra, that is, when in discharge of the office of Pastor and Teacher of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the Universal Church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church.
The emphasized text can be read like a sentence to understand the specific point of relevance, but the entire text of the definition is included to demonstrate that the point is not being made out of context.
The definition regarding women in the priesthood in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is probably the most clear-cut example of a papal ex Cathedra statement in history. To understand this, look at the statement itself:
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) 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.
There are three conditions for ex Cathedra provided in Pastor Aeternus. Consider them point by point, along side the formulation of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis:
| Pastor Aeternus | Ordinatio Sacerdotalis |
| in discharge of the office of Pastor and Teacher of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority | in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren |
| he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals | a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself |
| to be held by the Universal Church | and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful |
It is as if Pope Saint John Paul II wrote down a checklist from Pastor Aeternus to make sure he hit all the points. He couldn't have been more deliberate. The only point on which people subsequently felt that there might be wiggle room is the question of whether the definition really did regard a matter of faith or morals. To address this, a dubium was submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:
Dubium: Whether the teaching that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women, which is presented in the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis to be held definitively, is to be understood as belonging to the deposit of faith.
Responsum: Affirmative
This is a question that simply could not possibly be more closed. Pope Francis is playing the deceiver by giving a response to the July dubium that allows any different interpretation.