From our early pioneers to the communities and priests serving around the world today, our history is rooted in faith and guided by a vision of a more inclusive Church.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, canon lawyers redefined “ordination,” suppressing a once-common practice and rendering female leadership unthinkable within Church law. A century of activism, beginning with St. Joan’s Alliance in 1911 and carrying through to the Danube Seven, has worked to reclaim this historical lineage and restore women’s roles at the altar.
On a chartered boat sailing the Danube River near Passau, seven women who had been preparing for years – Iris Müller, Ida Raming, Pia Bruner, Dagmar Celeste, Adelinde Theresia Roitinger, Gisela Forster, and Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger – knelt before Bishop Rómulo Antonio Braschi, and were ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood. They became known as the Danube Seven.
One of the first places the Spirit moved was to a convent in South Africa. Patricia Fresen served the Roman Catholic Church as a Dominican sister for forty five years, teaching students of all ages, and living the vowed life she loved. When the call to priesthood came, she was ready, and she understood what it might cost. She would later say that the lesson never left her: that sometimes the only way to change an unjust law is to break it.
In 2002, Jane Via, an attorney and religion professor at the University of San Diego, read a short article about the Danube Seven’s excommunication and recognized an immediate calling. By June 2004, after submitting her academic records, she was accepted for ordination as a deacon. Walking that same path was Victoria Rue, a California scholar, playwright, and activist with an MDiv and PhD in theology who answered the call alongside her.
On March 10, 2005, Bishop Patricia Fresen traveled to Boston where she presided as bishop for the very first time and ordained Marie David and Jean Marie (St. Onge) Marchant to the diaconate; this was the first ordination in North America and the United States. Soon after, on July 25, 2005, nine North American women received Holy Orders on a boat circling the international waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway between the United States and Canada. That same year, Victoria Rue and Jane Via’s husband, Philip Faker, officially incorporated RCWP-USA to support the growing movement. In 2006, another historic ordination took place in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Today, more than one hundred active members of RCWP-USA stand in the lineage of our courageous foremothers and the bishops who ordained the first of them in apostolic succession. We hold precious the sacramental life the Church gave us – from the waters of our baptism and sustenance in the Eucharist, to the laying on of hands and anointing with oil.
What began with the courage of the Danube Seven in 2002 has grown into a vibrant global movement of over 100 priests, deacons, and bishops serving communities across North America, South Africa, South America, and Asia.
Join Roman Catholic Womenpriests as we commemorate a quarter-century of reclaiming our lineage, leading inclusive liturgy, and broadening the Eucharistic table.
The story of Roman Catholic Women Priests is still being written.
With each new candidate entering discernment, and each person discovering a place of belonging, the meaning of RCWP is amplified.
We believe the Holy Spirit continues to call the Church toward greater inclusion, shared leadership, and deeper participation in the Gospel. Our work now extends beyond women’s ordination, including radical inclusion of all people in a new version of Catholic faith.
We envision a future where the Catholic Church reflects the full dignity and equality of all God’s people—where leadership is grounded in service, communities flourish through belonging, and faith inspires justice, compassion, and transformation in the world.
The Womenpriest movement beyond RCWP-USA
RCWP-Canada and ARCWP are independent organizations with their own legal, financial, and membership structures and distinct ordination preparatory programs. We encourage you to learn about each via their websites. To learn more about RCWP-Europe, please contact the bishop whose work brought the global RCWP movement to birth: Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger (mmcml@almnet.at).
RCWP-USA’s financial, legal, governance, membership, and ordination structures
are independent of RCWP-Canada, ARCWP, and RCWP-Europe.
Our archives preserve the rich history, documents, and milestones of the Roman Catholic Womenpriest movement from its beginnings on the Danube to the present day. By safeguarding historic ordination records, pastoral statements, and media, we honor the courage of our founders and provide a lasting record for future generations of inclusive faith communities.
Across continents, womenpriests and members are celebrating sacraments, building inclusive communities, and advocating for equality. These are stories of courage, community, and commitment.
