One of the main differences between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches is the importance that the Catholic Church gives to "Sacred Tradition". "Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia" was maxim spoken by Martin Luther. We can translate it as 'Faith alone, Scripture alone, Grace alone'. However, the Catholic Church has always held fast to Sacred Tradition along with the Scriptures. That is, according to the teaching of the Church, even the Scriptures came forth from Sacred Tradition. That is, the apostles were primarily proclaimers. For decades, they preached the word and taught and disciplined the early Christian community that came to be formed by those who embraced the path of Christ, and the apostles and the early disciples together shaped them socially, culturally, and spiritually. The Apostle Paul wrote his letters as part of this process of teaching and disciplining. The apostles and their disciples wrote the Gospels after two or three generations. For that long, there was only an oral tradition. Many things that were not written in the Sacred Scriptures were handed down through such Tradition. The Holy Trinity, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sacraments, and the Sacred Liturgy are all part of this Tradition. Therefore, the Church has always venerated and observed this Sacred Tradition.
Sacred tradition is a central element of the Catholic faith. At the same time, there is a difference between 'Tradition' and 'traditions'. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 80, explains it this way:
“Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.”
That is, tradition is apostolic. ‘Traditions’ have arisen culturally and locally. The first could be partially there in the second, but they are two distinct things. This distinction is not understood by many people today.
If we ask whether the Sacred Tradition of the Church prohibitive of women being conferred with clerical orders, not only that it does not say that women should not be given the priesthood, but the status given to women in the early church communities, the special place given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the "super dulia" proper to her, show that the spirit of the Sacred Tradition is the affirmative.
