{"id":279,"date":"2019-06-26T17:39:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T17:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org\/index.php\/?page_id=279"},"modified":"2023-01-25T00:56:50","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T00:56:50","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org\/index.php\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"

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History<\/h1>\n

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History of the International Roman Catholic Womenpriest Movement<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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The question of women\u2019s ordination in the Church in the early 20th century was linked to the question of women\u2019s suffrage in several countries. The St. Joan\u2019s Alliance campaigned in both England and the USA in 1911 for both women\u2019s ordination and women\u2019s suffrage.\u00a0 As the 20th century progressed, numerous Protestant denominations began to ordain women. By mid-century, most of the mainline denominations in the USA had some ordained women.\u00a0 A big breakthrough occurred when the Episcopal Church USA, a member of the Anglican communion of churches, ordained women as priests officially in 1976. This breakthrough followed a long struggle, with 11 women being ordained illicitly (but validly) in 1974, followed by another group of 5 in 1975. This phenomenon inspired hundreds of Roman Catholic women who felt called to ordination to gather together with men and women theologians in Detroit, Michigan to organize an effort to bring their campaign to the Vatican. The gathering took place in late 1975, and was known as The Women\u2019s Ordination Conference. Shortly thereafter, in 1976, an organization was formed to carry this campaign forward, and it was named The Women\u2019s Ordination Conference.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There were almost immediate reactions in Rome to these developments. The Pontifical Biblical Commission studied the issue in 1976, and announced that there was no biblical impediment to the priestly ordination of women.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

However, Pope Paul VI hastily issued an encyclical known as Inter Insignores <\/em>which denied that women could adequately represent the male Jesus as presider at the Eucharistic table. Women\u2019s Ordination Conference was not deterred, but built a large constituency within the USA, and inspired women in many other countries to organize in similar ways in their countries.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Soon after, there was the Canadian Network for Women\u2019s Ordination and by 1985,\u00a0Maria von Magdala developed a group in Germany.\u00a0 By the mid-1990\u2019s there were also organized groups in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In 1996, at the First European Women\u2019s Synod, held in Gmunden, Austria, representatives from the above-mentioned organizations and other interested women met to organize an international coalition which was to serve as an umbrella group for all of the individual groups. This group became known as Women\u2019s Ordination Worldwide (WOW), and serves as an international resource to all. Three international WOW conferences have taken place in 2001 and 2005, and 2015. Strategies for finding ordaining male bishops were shared among WOW groups. The result was that what had not produced results on one continent (North America), did so on another (Europe). Catholic bishops were found who were willing to ordain women, and thus the movement was born on the Danube River. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

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Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement <\/strong>Born on the Danube River<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The seven bold women who were ordained on the Danube River were from right to left:<\/em>
Iris M\u00fcller, Ida Raming, Pia Bruner, Dagmar Celeste, Adelinde Roitlinger, <\/em>
Gisela Forster and Christine Mayr-Lumetxberger.<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The movement within the Roman Catholic Church known as Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP)<\/strong> began with the ordination to the priesthood of seven women on the Danube River in 2002.\u00a0 The ordination of priests requires bishops.\u00a0 In 2003, canonical male bishops recognized the need for womenbishops to ordain womenpriests.\u00a0 They ordained two womenpriests as bishops: Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Dr. Gisela Forster.\u00a0 As the movement spread, the need for English speaking bishops emerged.\u00a0 In 2005, Dr. Patricia Fresen from South Africa and Germany was ordained bishop.\u00a0 In 2006, Dr. Ida Raming, also from Germany, was ordained bishop. As more women presented themselves for ordination in the U.S., Sibyl Dana Reynolds traveled to Germany from the RCWP Western Region in 2008 and became the first Roman Catholic womanbishop in the U.S.\u00a0 In 2009, four women were ordained bishops to serve other US regions. When Bishop Reynolds retired in 2010, Olivia Doko became bishop for the RCWP Western Region until her retirement. Since then there have been additional women ordained bishops to serve the needs in the US, Canada and South America. All of these womenbishopshave been ordained in full Apostolic Succession and carry on the work of ordaining women in the Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

In June 2004 two native born U.S. citizens travelled to Germany to be ordained womendeacons.\u00a0 The first RCWP ordination in North America was two womendeacons held in March of 2005 in Harwichport, Massachusetts. This was followed by ordinations of both womenpriests and deacons on the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada in July 2005 and the Bodensee in June 2006.\u00a0 The first RCWP ordinations to take place in the United States were celebrated in July 2006 on the convergence of rivers in Pittsburgh, PA, where eight women were ordained priests and four women were ordained deacons.\u00a0 The first ordination of womenpriests and deacons in the Western Region occurred in California in 2007, hosted by La Casa de Maria, an interfaith retreat center and ministry of the Immaculate Heart Community of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The number of womenpriests continues to grow. Since 2007, women have been ordained in the USA, Europe, Canada, South America, and South Africa; and, in 2017, the first Chinese woman was ordained.\u00a0 Womenpriests are ministering in over 34 states across the USA.<\/p>\n

As we grow from the seven bold women first ordained on the Danube River in 2002 to Women Priests ministering throughout the world, Catholics have accepted us as their priests.<\/p>\n

Roman Catholic Womenpriests Today<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Roman Catholic Womenpriests are at the forefront of a model of service that offers the People of God a renewed priestly ministry in vibrant grassroots communities, where all are equal and all are welcome. The voice of the Catholic people\u2014the sensus fidelium\u2014has spoken.\u00a0 Women are no longer asking for permission to be priests. Instead, they have taken back their rightful God-given place ministering to Catholics as inclusive and welcoming priests.<\/p>\n

Yes, the women of Roman Catholic Womenpriests have challenged and broken the Church\u2019s Canon Law 1024, an unjust law that discriminates against women. Despite what some bishops may lead the faithful to believe, their ordinations are valid because these women have been ordained in apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

The Catholic people have accepted women as their priests and they continue to support RCWP as this international movement grows from the seven bold women first ordained on the Danube River in 2002.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

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For current news and articles related to the women\u2019s ordination movement and renewal of the Catholic Church, please visit our Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Bridget Mary\u2019s Blog<\/a>. Bridget Mary\u2019s Blog and the Association of Roman Catholic Womenpriests operate independently of Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, Inc. This third party blog is for informational purposes only. For semi-monthly news relating to the RCWP in Canada see RCWP Canada’s publication, The Review,<\/em> at rcwpcanada.altervista.org<\/a><\/h3>\n

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This website was created and is maintained by Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, Inc. (RCWP-USA, Inc.), a California 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation, as an educational and informational service to the public. RCWP-USA, Inc. promotes and supports the ordination of women and men in a renewed priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. This website provides information about RCWP worldwide, with special focus on RCWP in the USA. Every ministry convened by a RCWP member operates separately and independently from Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, Inc. RCWP-USA, Inc. disclaims any responsibility for the operation of these ministries. The biographical information and descriptions of the ministries are for informational purposes only. This website also contains links to third party sites. Such links do not constitute or imply an endorsement and\/or sponsorship by RCWP-USA, Inc. RCWP-USA, Inc. is not responsible for such third party websites and is not liable for the contents therein.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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