On what basis does the Catholic Church teach that women cannot be ordained? The Catholic Church maintains that it does not have the authority to ordain women. I.e., the Church can't ordain women. It's assumed then that God set a precedent or gave a mandate to ordain only men.

According to the Church, in what way, how, and when was this mandate or precedent given? What [sound] theology and Patristic writing supports the Church's interpretation of that mandate and/or precedent?



To clarify: I'm looking for the justification the Catholic Church does/might give, which I expect is supported by Patristic writings, theology, and scripture.
When Pope John Paul II definitively reaffirmed the teaching in 1994 he referred back to the doctrinal document Inter Insigniores of 1976, which, he says, "recalls and explains the fundamental reasons for this teaching". Without attempting to go through Inter Insigniores in depth here (it's not really that long to begin with), here are some quick excerpts that summarize the main points it covers:


Constant and universal tradition: "up to our own time ... the practice has enjoyed peaceful and universal acceptance. ... The Church's tradition in the matter has thus been so firm in the course of the centuries that the Magisterium has not felt the need to intervene in order to formulate a principle which was not attacked, or to defend a law which was not challenged. ... The same tradition has been faithfully safeguarded by the Churches of the East"
Practice of Christ himself: "Jesus Christ did not call any woman to become part of the Twelve"
Practice of the Apostles: "The apostolic community remained faithful to the attitude of Jesus towards women"
These practices not a sign of conformity to the social mores of antiquity: "an examination of the Gospels shows ... that Jesus broke with the prejudices of his time, by widely contravening the discriminations practised with regard to women. ... [S]ocial and cultural conditioning did not hold back the Apostles working in the Greek milieu, where the same forms of discrimination did not exist. ... there is no reason for accusing [St. Paul] of prejudices against women, when we note the trust that he shows towards them and the collaboration that he asks of them in his apostolate"
Clarity of the sacramental sign: "when Christ's role in the Eucharist is to be expressed sacramentally, there would not be this 'natural resemblance' which must exist between Christ and his minister if the role of Christ were not taken by a man"
Ministry in the Church a vocation, not a right: "to consider the ministerial priesthood as a human right would be to misjudge its nature completely: baptism does not confer any personal title to public ministry in the Church. The priesthood is not conferred for the honour or advantage of the recipient, but for the service of God and the Church; it is the object of a specific and totally gratuitous vocation: 'You did not choose me, no, I chose you, and I commissioned you' (Jn 15:16; cf. Heb 5:4)"
Vocation to public ministry not purely subjective: "Since the priesthood is a particular ministry of which the Church has received the charge and the control, authentication by the Church is indispensable here and is a constitutive part of the vocation: Christ chose 'those he wanted' (Mk:13)"


Finally, John Paul II seemed keen to put the notion to rest that there was some sort of unjust discrimination happening here:


  Furthermore, the fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, received neither the mission proper to the Apostles nor the ministerial priesthood clearly shows that the non-admission of women to priestly ordination cannot mean that women are of lesser dignity, nor can it be construed as discrimination against them. Rather, it is to be seen as the faithful observance of a plan to be ascribed to the wisdom of the Lord of the universe. (Ordination Sacerdotalis 3)