Woman in Priestly Garb Sounds ‘a Great Echo’ by Elisabetta Povoled, New York Times

By ELISABETTA POVOLED, September 25, 2010/NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/world/europe/24milan.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=world

MILAN —"Maria Vittoria Longhitano lay before the altar in May in Rome when she was ordained a priest of the Old Catholic Church..."

..."But the Roman Catholic Church has no place for women among its clerical ranks, as the Vatican stated forcefully over the summer when it decreed that the attempt to ordain female priests is to be considered one of the most serious crimes against church law."

"Equating ordination of women with a crime like pedophilia drew howls of outrage from many Catholics..."

"Erin Saiz Hanna, executive director of the Washington-based Women’s Ordination Conference, argued that placing the ordination of female priests in the rank of “highest crime” suggested that the Vatican was on the defensive “because our movement is growing...”

“...We were excommunicated in 2008, but we rejected it,” said Bridget Mary Meehan, a spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Womenpriests organization, who was ordained a priest in 2006 without Vatican consent. “What matters is that we follow our conscience.”