While its “not talked about”, countless women have been ordained “as Catholic Priests” for centuries, while the ordinations aren’t recognized by The Vatican. As Al Jazeera has reported on two female New Yorkers who celebrated ordination ceremonies in May:
“But there was one important difference about this ritual at the Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan’s West Village earlier this month: The two new priests and the bishop who ordained them were women.
For D. Alexandra Dyer, one of the newly ordained women, and a lifelong Catholic who says she received her calling to the priesthood at age 7, the ceremony was a moment of justice.
“After so many years and decades of waiting, to be finally able to say yes,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion, “this is how it’s supposed to be.”
As far as the Vatican is concerned, however, Catholic women like Dyer who dare to be ordained are automatically excommunicated. But the Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) movement and the Catholic communities they serve share a different view.
“We don’t focus on what the institution thinks,” said Andrea Johnson, the presiding bishop, who has been performing ordinations in the U.S. since 2009. “We focus on what the people think. No matter what the Vatican says about the church not being a democracy, at the end of the day, the people decide.” Read more here at Al Jazeera English.
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