Oregon’s first female Catholic priest was ordained in Gresham on Sunday.It’s a history-making milestone, but one the Catholic Church does not recognize.
The Vatican says only men can be priests.
But since 2002, there has been a growing international movement to defy that law and give women the same status as men, and ordain them.
Toni Tortorilla said she was called to the priesthood when she was 5 years old, and she believes the law is unjust.
The bishop who ordained her at a United Church of Christ, Patricia Fresen of Germany, was herself ordained by a male bishop in good standing in South Africa.
Fresen’s Dominican order expelled her, but she became the driving force to ordain more women.
There are now 22 women priests and five deacons internationally. None of them has been ex-communicated, but neither will the Church recognize them.
By the end of the summer, the women priest program expects to ordain another nine North American women as priests, and 14 as deacons.
The debate within the Church is whether the ban on women priests is human law or divine.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce