Vatican adviser interferes as Catholic women are ordained
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2007
CONTACT: Nidza Vázquez: 703 352-1006, nvazquez@womensordination.org
Vatican adviser interferes as Catholic women are ordained
Washington, D.C . — On Saturday, July 14, in New York City, two women were ordained as Roman Catholic priests and two as deacons. The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) has recently received written evidence showing that an influential Vatican adviser was instrumental in convincing the pastor of Saint Peter’s Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), that hosting the ordination there would result in “very serious damage to the relationship” between the ELCA and the Roman Catholic Church. Because of this interference, the location of the ordination was changed to the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village.
“The ordinations were a joyful celebration, and we support them as one of the ways Catholics are making positive changes in the Catholic Church and the world,” stated Aisha Taylor, WOC executive director. “The interference by a Vatican advisor—which is unprecedented in the history of these ordinations—demonstrates that the Vatican is paying attention and taking them seriously.”
The group that organized the New York City ordinations is called Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP). They also organized the ordinations of two women as priests and two as deacons yesterday, July 22, in Santa Barbara, Calif. Two more ordination ceremonies will be held this summer: July 28 in Portland, Ore., and August 12 in Minneapolis, Minn. Patricia Fresen, a Roman Catholic bishop and theologian of Germany, will preside at all four ordinations. Currently, there are nearly 30 ordained Roman Catholic women in North America and over 50 worldwide. There are over 100 candidates in preparation.
For thirty-two years, WOC has advocated women’s ordination in the Catholic Church, with the mission of creating a more inclusive, accountable and participatory church.
“The Vatican’s ban on ordaining women is not consistent with Jesus’ ministry and it is a form of sexism,” Taylor said. “It also contradicts its own research; in 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission determined that there is no scriptural reason to prohibit ordaining women. In the US, over 64% of Catholics support women’s ordination. There is every reason to ordain women and no sound reason not to,” Taylor concluded.
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Founded in 1975, the Women’s Ordination Conference is the oldest and largest national organization working solely for women’s ordination into an inclusive Roman Catholic Church. For more information about the women being ordained, upcoming ordinations and the history behind them, visit WOC’s website www.womensordination.org and RCWP’s website: www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org.