Roman Catholic Womenpriests

Mission
“A new model of ordained ministry in a renewed Roman Catholic Church."

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Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) is an international initiative within the Roman Catholic Church. The mission of Roman Catholic Womenpriests is to spiritually prepare, ordain, and support women and men from all states of life, who are theologically qualified, who are committed to an inclusive model of Church, and who are called by the Holy Spirit and their communities to minister within the Roman Catholic Church.

Vatican: Ordination of Women a Grave Crime-
Roman Catholic Womenpriests
Respond With Demand for Justice for Women in the Church

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA
Contact: Bridget Mary Meehan 703-505-0004

Press Release: July 15, 2010 Vatican: Ordination of Women a Grave Crime - Roman Catholic Womenpriests Respond with demand for Justice for Women in the Church and for Survivors of Sexual Abuse

The ordination of women appeared on the list of most serious crimes against Roman Catholic canon law, or "delicta graviora" – putting it in the same category as sexual abuse of children by priests - according to Vatican Information Service http://visnews-en.blogspot.com/2010/07/publication-of-cdf-norms-on-most.html .

Roman Catholic Womenpriests respond to the Vatican’s equating women’s ordination with pedophilia by priests, by demanding the Vatican affirm women's full equality in the church including priestly ministry.

We demand an end to misogyny in the Catholic Church.

We demand that the Vatican adopt reforms to transform church laws and practices to reflect transparency, accountability, justice and equality for all.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests believe that the document from the Vatican is intended to specifically scare off male priests who choose to walk in solidarity with us for justice for women in our church. Priests like Roy Bourgeois, Maryknoll priest of 38 years, founder of the School of the Americas Watch and 2010 nominee for the Nobel Prize for Peace. Bourgeois participated in the ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska in Lexington, Kentucky, on Aug. 9, 2008.

We are welcomed with open arms and hearts by the people at the grassroots of the church. Yet, our brother priests- the Vatican’s all-male hierarchy- in May 2008, declared that we and the person ordaining us would be self-excommunicating ourselves. The Vatican has also said that anyone who attends ordinations would be excommunicated. That threat has not deterred the faithful who come in droves to Roman Catholic women’s ordinations all over the United States. Roman Catholic Womenpriests numbers have erupted from seven to over 100 in the last eight years since the first ordination in 2002 on the Danube in Europe. The Vatican continues to respond to women’s ordinations with condemnation of everyone who supports the movement for women priests within the Catholic Church. However, Womenpriests are being supported widely by the hundreds of Catholics attending every public ordination.

Instead of excommunications and condemnations, the Vatican would do well to correct the damaging behaviors of patriarchy, the abuse of spiritual power. We suggest that the Vatican begin true renewal of itself by ending clergy abuses of power of all kinds towards nuns, women priests, and lay women in the Church who have been oppressed and exploited for millennia. As with those who have survived the sexual abuse of clergy, these women are likewise victims of the abuse of clerical power.

RCWP has asked the member states of the United Nations to support us in our quest for and for women within the Roman Catholic Church and for justice for victims of Catholic clergy sexual abuse. It is unjust and discriminatory that the males at the Vatican continue to deny us employment and decision-making within the Roman Catholic Church. This behavior is a violation of international law, our human rights, the example of Jesus and the integrity of conscience.

The Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement is an initiative within the Church that began in Germany with the ordination of seven women on the Danube River in 2002. In 2003, Gisela Forster and Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger (two of the original Danube 7) were ordained bishops and in 2005 Patricia Fresen from South Africa (who currently lives in Germany) was also ordained a bishop. Womenbishops ordained in full Apostolic Succession continue to carry out the work of ordaining women in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2006, Ida Reming was ordained a bishop and in 2008 Dana Reynolds of California became the first American Roman Catholic Womanbishop. These women and those who have come after them continue to carry on the pastoral work of ordaining women to the priesthood. Currently there are over 100 members worldwide who are reclaiming their ancient spiritual heritage and are re-shaping a more inclusive, Christ-centered Church for the 21st century. We advocate a new model of priestly ministry united with the people with whom we serve. We are rooted in a response to Jesus who called women and men to be disciples and equals living the Gospel.
Photo montage of 2002 ordinations

FALSE: Women (by virtue of their sex) cannot image Christ.
TRUE: It is the call of every female and male Christian to image Christ; and it is the call of every female and male Christian to see Christ in every person.

FALSE: Roman Catholic women have never been ordained.
TRUE: Epigraphic evidence exists of women bishops. Until at least the ninth century the Church gave women the full sacramental ordination of deacons. Women priests existed in the West during the 4th and 5th centuries according to literary evidence, and according to epigraphic evidence.

FALSE: Roman Catholic women have not been ordained deacons or priests
in the modern era.
TRUE: Ludmila Javorova, ordained priest, December 28, 1970, among other women ordained. For a list of other women ordained, please visit the History Page.

FALSE: These ordinations as women priests are not recognized or valid.
TRUE: The group "Roman Catholic Womenpriests" receives its authority from Roman Catholic bishops who stand in full Apostolic Succession. These bishops bestowed sacramentally valid ordinations on the women listed above.

FALSE: Mandatory celibacy goes back to the earliest days of the church.
TRUE: Scripture citations refer to the marriage of Simon Peter. Citations also refer to married bishops, priests and deacons in the earliest Christian churches. Mandatory celibacy was universally required in the 12th century at the First Lateran Council in 1123.

1.) Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law Matthew 8:14; Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38.

2.) 1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop must be irreproachable married only once. 1 Timothy 3:4 A bishop must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with perfect dignity.

3.) 1 Timothy 3:12 Deacons may be married only once and must manage their
children and their households well.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests reject the penalty of excommunication issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith on May 29, 2008 stating that the “women priests and the bishops who ordain them would be excommunicated latae sententiae.” Roman Catholic Womenpriests are loyal members of the church who stand in the prophetic tradition of holy obedience to the Spirit’s call to change an unjust law that discriminates against women. Our movement is receiving enthusiastic responses on the local, national and international level. We will continue to serve our beloved church in a renewed priestly ministry that welcomes all to celebrate the sacraments in inclusive, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered communities wherever we are called.

The Roman Catholic Womenpriests formation program is
broad-based and includes the following areas:

We follow Christ’s model of inclusivity in a discipleship of equals.
All are welcome at the sacred Eucharistic table.