Women Priests in the Roman Catholic Church

FROM THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

“In 2002, on the shore of the Danube River, seven Catholic women broke tradition and sent tremors to the very foundation of the Church. That day, the Danube 7 were ordained as priests — an office not recognized as valid for women parishioners in the Catholic Church.

In doing so, the septet started a movement that adherents say contests for nothing less than spiritual equality in forging a more inclusive church that reflects a 21st-century sensibility.

It’s a fight not without supporters. Two years ago, a Quinnipiac University poll found that at least 60 percent of U.S. Catholics backed female ordination. It’s a controversial movement that touched down in Central Florida in January. At Christ Unity Church in Orlando, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests ordained octogenarian Rita Lucey a priest.

Supporters of ordaining women, including one of today’s columnists, contend that excluding women from the Roman Catholic priesthood not only is rooted in antiquated sexism, but also comes lacking any convincing biblical justification.
Meanwhile, advocates say the status quo is reliant on faith, not fashion. The whims of changing eras have no bearing on God’s immutable word. And God, as today’s other columnist argues, clearly chose men to deliver his message and minister to his flock.

Pink smoke may never rise from the Vatican. Nevertheless, women like Lucey continue to serve — fiat or no.