Roman Catholic Womenpriests

Part of a series on Christianity and Gender

Theology

Female disciples of Jesus Gender roles in Christianity Jesus' interactions with women List of women in the Bible Paul of Tarsus and women Women as theological figures Women in the Bible

4 major positions

Christian Egalitarianism Christian feminism Complementarianism Biblical patriarchy

Church and society

Christianity and homosexuality Ordination of women Women in Church history

Organizations

Christians for Biblical Equality Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus

Theologians and authors

Feminist: Letha Dawson Scanzoni · Anne Eggebroten · Virginia Ramey Mollenkott Egalitarian: William J. Webb · Kenneth E. Hagin · Gordon Fee · Frank Stagg · Paul Jewett · Stanley Grenz · Roger Nicole Complementarian: Don Carson · John Frame · Wayne Grudem · Douglas Moo · Paige Patterson · Vern Poythress Patriarchal: Doug Phillips · R. C. Sproul, Jr. · Douglas Wilson

This box: view talk edit

Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) is an Independent Catholic international group that asserts a connection to the Catholic Church. They are descended from the Danube Seven, a group of women who claim to have been ordained as priests in 2002 by Rómulo Antonio Braschi, an independent bishop.^[1] According to a book published by the organization, Women Find a Way: The Movement and Stories of Roman Catholic Womenpriests at least two other, unnamed bishops were involved in the ordination. In addition, the RCWP claim that these bishops were in good standing and acted in full apostolic succession.^[2]

In 2007 the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the necesssary authorization of the Pope, decreed the penalty of automatic excommunication against anyone "who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order".^[3]

Organizational Mission

The proclaimed mission of Roman Catholic Womenpriests North America 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."^[4]

The organization has sponsored numerous ordination ceremonies for women, resulting in their excommunication.^[5]

RCWP dissents from what it calls myths or misconceptions about women's role in the Catholic Church and about the exclusion of women from Holy Orders:

MYTH: Roman Catholic women have never been ordained. TRUTH: 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.^[6]

It mentions the case of Ludmila Javorová, a Czech woman who worked in the underground church during the Cold War and claims to be a secretly ordained priest, as an instance of female ordination in the modern era.

In response to questions of legitimacy and whether the ordinations are valid or recognized by the Vatican, RCWP states:

TRUTH: The group "RC 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. All the documents pertaining to these ordinations have been attested and notarized. All minutes of the ordinations, including data about persons, Apostolic Succession, and rituals, together with films and photos are deposited with a Notary Public.^[7]

Their website claims that "Our ordained women may be married or single, hetero- or homosexual, some are grandmothers, a few are divorced and have had their marriages annulled: we are in fact a cross-section of the Christian community in our lifestyles."

Vatican Response

The Roman Catholic Church's canon law bars ordination of women, stating that "A baptized male (vir) alone receives sacred ordination validly".^[8] The Church sees this as not merely a matter of changeable law, but something that it cannot alter: Pope John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis of 22 May 1994: "We declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be held by all the Church's faithful".^[9] Thus, according to the Catholic Church, any ordination of a woman to the priesthood conducted even by a Catholic bishop in good standing is absolutely without sacramental effect.

Media Response

The movie Pink Smoke Over the Vatican documents female priests, including Roman Catholic Womenpriests.^[10]

References

External links

• RCWP Website
• BBC Article - Canada Catholics 'ordain' women
• Cincinnati CityBeat
• Global Ministries University