"The female priest on the wrong side of the Vatican"/Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, RCWP

Photo: Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger

"Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger is a 58-year-old Austrian ex-nun, who made headlines when she was excommunicated by Rome in 2002. She spoke to The Local about her life and faith

She says that in Austria and Germany she is now very well accepted and is asked to say mass and conduct weddings and funerals at churches and abbeys...

However, Mayr-Lumetzberger believes that Pope Francis is very much in favour of women’s ordination. “So much has changed in the last 12 years, previously no one even spoke about women’s ordination and now it’s something that people are speaking about openly, all over the world.”

“I was ordained by Argentinian bishop Antonio Braschi, the Pope is Argentinian and I believe sympathetic, and there is a Spanish priest in favour of women’s ordination who is very close to the Pope.”

Mayr-Lumetzberger says that she has a good relationship with the official church, and that she is in contact with the bishops in Austria who do not treat her as an outcast. “We have unofficial networks - many of my peers are now in top positions in the Roman Catholic Church.”

She is, she says, a feminist, but in “a friendly, non threatening way. I want to cooperate with men in a peaceful way but I believe women should be treated equally.”