In an emotional ceremony filled with tears and applause, a 70-year-old Louisville, Kentucky woman was ordained a priest yesterday, as part of a dissident group operating outside of official Roman Catholic Church authority, the Reuters website reports today (April 28, 2013).
Rosemarie Smead is one of about 150 women around the world who have decided to defy the Roman Catholic Church by not waiting for it to lift its ban on women priests, but to be ordained and start their own congregations.
In an interview before the ceremony, Smead said she is not worried about being excommunicated from the Catholic Church -- the fate of the other women ordained outside of Vatican law.
"It has no sting for me," said Smead, a petite gray-haired former Carmelite nun. She added, "It is a Medieval bullying stick the bishops used to keep control over people and keep the voices of women silent. I am way beyond letting octogenarian men tell us how to live our lives."
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This woman has a small cultic following. She may call herself a "priest" but woman priest is ontologically impossible. I say this as a former Episcopal "priestess" who has spend a decade studying and writing o this question.
ReplyDeleteKentucky has two cities that excel at heresy and dangerous innovation - Louisville and Lexington. From Lexington hail gay "bishop" Gene Robinson and gay activist "bishop" Stacy Sauls.