Cleveland: Woman priest, a Beachwood native, sees her ordination as valid

WOC and Erin Saiz Hanna were mentioned in this article about women’s ordination and Rev. Barbara Zeman’s ordination in particular.

Woman Priest, a Beachwood native, sees her ordination as valid; Roman Catholic Church does not
By Michael O’Malley

Women priests are taboo in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who participate in ordinations of women automatically excommunicate themselves from the church, according to laws of the Holy See.

But the Rev. Barbara Zeman, a Beachwood native, considers herself both a priest and a devout member of the Catholic faith.

Zeman, who now lives in Chicago, will be in Northeast Ohio this week to say a Mass. She was ordained in 2008 within a movement that believes God calls women as well as men to the sacrament of Holy Orders. She is one of an estimated 125 women in the United States who wear priest vestments and administer the sacraments.

"As we see it, our ordinations are valid," said Zeman, who was raised Catholic. "We are Roman Catholics and we are following our consciences. We are disobeying an unjust law that says only men can be ordained." 

To read more, click here .