National Catholic Reporter: As Francis visits Slovakia, international crowd celebrates Czech woman priest

Just hours after Pope Francis addressed Catholics in Slovakia, more than 420 Catholics from all over the world gathered in an online event to celebrate Ludmila Javorova, the first publicly known woman priest ordained in the modern era. In 1970, Bishop Felix Maria Davidek ordained her to serve the underground church in Czechoslovakia, where communist leaders were killing and imprisoning priests, nuns and lay leaders.

Javorova’s biographer, Medical Mission Sr. Miriam Therese Winter, spoke to an appreciative international crowd brought together through the wonders of cyberspace by FutureChurch and the Women’s Ordination Conference.

Read Sr. Christine Schenk’s full column here.