on June 29th 2002. From this small beginning, when only seven women
were
ordained as priests, a much larger
international movement has developed and
continues to grow. At present
there are about 130 members (which includes the candidates) in various
countries. Women priests minister to people in small house churches, in larger
communities, in hospitals and prisons and also to the homeless. In this way they
bring to life in the Spirit of Jesus, an alternative women-friendly
tradition within the fozzilized Roman Catholic
Church.
Historical background:
In the face of growing international support for
women's ordination since Vatican II,
the church leadership published, as early as
1977, a declaration against the admission of women to priesthood. This in spite
of the fact that the Papal Biblical Commission, in1976,
had come to
the conclusion that no grounds can be found in the NewTestament
for excluding
women from priestly ordination. Nevertheless, Pope
John
Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio
Sacerdotalis (1994), declared definitively
that women are, in fact, excluded from
priesthood.
The rejection of women's ordination by the
Vatican is clearly based on antifeminist,
theologically
unfounded arguments. In answer to this we are seeing an
increasing
wave of resistance among Catholic women and within
church reform movements,
as they demand
equal rights for women and justice within the Roman
Catholic
Church.
Ida Raming, Dr. theol.
1 comment:
"Nevertheless, Pope John
Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994), declared definitively
that women are, in fact, excluded from priesthood."
As did Pope Paul VI, or do you want to pretend he never spoke about this?
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