Jul 20, 2008 6:09 pm US/Eastern
Female Priests Ordained In Boston
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
For the first time in Boston, a group calling itself Roman Catholic Woman Priests held an ordination ceremony.
The issue of women becoming priests remains a very controversial issue and has been a longtime sore spot within the Catholic Church.
The ceremony was held Sunday at the Church of the Covenant in Boston.
Three women were ordained priests, including Gloria Carpeneto, of Baltimore, Judy Lee, of Fort Myers, and Gabriella Velardi Ward, of New York City. A fourth woman, Mary Ann McCarthy Schoettly, of Newton, N.J., was ordained a deacon.
The activist group is hoping to pressure the Roman Catholic church into dropping its long-standing prohibition barring women from the priesthood.
More than 30 women have been ordained in this way since 2002. The Vatican says these ordinations are illegal under church law and the women will be excommunicated.
Despite that, they are undaunted.
"I know that the institutional church has said that I can't be a part of them anymore, that I can't come to the table," Lee said. "(It) doesn't matter. No one can separate us from the love of god and Christ."
"Someone asked me yesterday, 'Do you feel honored to be called to be a priest?' and I just don't think that's the word," Carpento said. "I think humbled and privileged are probably better words, and grateful, immensely grateful."
The Church of the Covenant rented the space for the ceremony. The church is affiliated with two Protestant denominations.
In a statement, the Boston Archdiocese said the women are by their own actions, separating themselves from the church.
The group rejects the penalty of excommunication, saying the women who are ordained remain loyal members of the church.
Supporters say in a survey, 65 percent of Catholics support the concept of female priests.
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