Ordain Men Only Because Christ was a Man?

While it is true that “Jesus chose male apostles” is one reason why the Church feels bound to limit priestly ordination to men, there are other reasons, none of which have to do with male “endowments.” The primary reason the Church limits priestly ordination to men is because God the Son incarnated as the man Christ Jesus and, as God and man, Christ is the high priest of the New Covenant. Priests act in persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”), and so those persons who receive priestly ordination and act in the person of Christ are men because he was a man.