Twelve Women ‘Ordained’ as Catholic Priests in Pittsburgh

A group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordained 12 women as deacons and priests and “claims they are valid Roman Catholic ordinations,” writes Ann Rodgers in this week’s full-text RNS article, linked above.

Quotes:

On Monday, the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, called the ceremony “a sad moment for usâÂ?¦.You either accept the teaching of the church or you don’t. If you don’t, in the public manner in which they have done, then they are choosing to separate themselves from the church, even though they say they are not doing so.”

and

One of the women, Joan Clark Houk, 66, from suburban Pittsburgh, has a degree that would quickly lead to ordination as an Episcopal priest. She chose the riverboat “because I’m Catholic,” she said. She expects God to recognize her ordination, even if the church does not.