"Why I am Becoming a Woman Priest" by Adele Jones, ARCWP in San Antonio Express News

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/religion/article/Why-I-am-becoming-a-woman-priest-2163726.php

By Adele Jones/Special to the Express-News
"Today, in a beautiful ceremony in Falls Church, Va., I will be ordained a Roman Catholic woman priest.
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan will be the ordaining bishop.
I realize the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize my ordination into the all-male priesthood
Since the Catholic Church will not let the ceremony take place in a Catholic setting, it will be held at the First Christian Church.
We'll use the same ordination rites that the Catholic Church uses for men.
My two sons and several friends will be there. I will be the first woman in San Antonio and in Texas to be ordained as a Roman Catholic woman priest. And I will be the oldest at age 84.
More than a year ago, the pope approved a new church law that called the ordination of women as priests a “grave crime.”
This announcement put female priests in the same category as male pedophile priests. Both were committing grave crimes, according to the Vatican.
But here's the difference.
Pedophile priests — who sexually abuse young, innocent children — are frequently allowed to stay in the church. Women who choose to become ordained priests are excommunicated. Clearly, this is a man-made rule by all-male leaders in the Catholic hierarchy to keep their grip on power.
It was this announcement more than a year ago that motivated my decision to take the step that I am presently taking. My conscience tells me that this is the right thing to do. I know the consequences ahead of me for being ordained. But I believe them to be unjust.
Along with more than 120 women from all over the world, I am confronting the injustice of the present-day Roman Catholic Church. Together, we have formed a new type of priestly ministry, one that is nonauthoritarian. It is a ministry of justice and equality. And none are excluded.
The Catholic Church continues to ignore its faithful who are leaving the church in large numbers. A poll last year by the New York Times/CBS found that 59 percent of Catholics are in favor of ordaining women priests.
Bishop Meehan calls us “the Rosa Parks” of the Catholic Church. In an all-male system, we refuse to accept second-class status. As women priests, we are required to be theologically educated, and we are. Many of us have served in highly qualified Church positions.
I was baptized into and educated in the Catholic Church. I have two master's degrees in theology, including the same master's of divinity required for male ordination. My doctorate is in ministry in the specialized area of pastoral counseling.
Along with my sister priests, I refuse to accept excommunication from a church that ousts women but continues to protect male priests who do dreadful and irreparable harm to innocent children.
When I was 7 years old, my cousin Walter was my dearest friend and playmate. He was several years older than me. And one day I said to his mother, “Aunt Elsie, when I grow up, I am going to marry your son Walter.”
Aunt Elsie said, “Oh, honey, you can't marry Walter. He is your first cousin. It is a rule you can't marry your first cousin.”
“Who made the rule?” I questioned.
“The pope made the rule,” Aunt Elsie replied.
Undaunted, I continued, “Well, what is the pope's address?”
Now, 77 years later, I remain undaunted."