Alice Iaquinta attended Mass on Sunday morning, but she was not sitting in the pews. She stood behind the altar.On Sunday she celebrated her first Mass at Jesus Our Shepherd in Nenno, Wis.
"It's so much emotion and such intensity to say Eucharist for the first time," Iaquinta said.
On Aug. 12, 2007, Iaquinta was ordained to the priesthood through an organization called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.
RCWP is an international initiative that spiritually prepares, ordains and supports theologically qualified men and women who are called to minister within the Roman Catholic Church, according to the RCWP Web site.
RCWP began in Europe but now has six regions in the United States and two in Canada. Iaquinta said the women got together quarterly for retreats and seminars and corresponded through conference calls and e-mails.
Currently there are 13 candidates in the Midwest pipeline for priesthood preparation, Iaquinta said.
But the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize the women as priests.
"It needs to be clear that her actions are outside of Catholic Church teaching," said Kathleen Hohl, Archdiocese of Milwaukee communications director.
Hohl said that Archbishop Timothy Dolan referred the matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican office responsible for overseeing Catholic Doctrine.
Members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will review the case and determine how to deal with the matter, Hohl said.
"The bishop has to say what he has to say, but the Catholic Church is supposed to be on the way to holiness, love and inclusiveness," she said.
Iaquinta said her journey to the priesthood was not something she planned. She knew she had a call to the seminary, but she said the call was for teaching, not priesthood.
Iaquinta graduated with honors from Milwaukee's St. Francis Seminary in May of 2006 with a Master of Divinity.
Her male colleagues went on to receive training in liturgy and sacraments to prepare for the priesthood, she said.
On the day of her friends' ordination she sat in the pew and looked up at the cross above the altar of the cathedral.
She said she felt as though the tip was piercing her heart.
"My heart just broke," she said. "I got left behind and the only reason was because I'm female."
That began a series of what Iaquinta called "deep and profound" experiences that led her to discover RCWP.
Iaquinta said she has been immensely humbled by her experience.
"This is not about me," she said. "This is about the spirit moving the church forward."
The Rev. Bob Scanlan, a priest at Jesus Our Shepherd, said he supports Iaquinta and her decision.
"Change has to come in the Church. We are the people of God. We are the Church," Scanlan said.
Jan Ruidl, a St. Francis Seminary graduate and friend of Iaquinta who is now the parish director of St. John Nepomuk in Racine, Wis. said she has mixed feelings about Iaquinta's decision.
"I think she believes very strongly that the Holy Spirit is calling her in this direction, and I respect her call," Ruidl said.
But because the Roman Catholic Church does not consider Iaquinta's ordination valid, Ruidl said the ramifications may be very significant in terms of her continuing as a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
"The action taken by Iaquinta is serious because by this act she has separated herself from the Church," Ruidl said.
According to Hohl, Iaquinta may face excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. Iaquinta said excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church would not affect her ministry.
"First of all, you cannot be excommunicated from your faith because you are baptized into Christ. Secondly, the people are embracing it, and the ministry is to the people," she said.
Iaquinta said ordinations of females are valid but illicit. She said her ordination is valid because she was ordained by a bishop who was ordained by three male bishops in good standing in Europe.
Her ordination is illicit because under canon law, only a celibate male may be ordained a priest, she said.
"We are definitely standing against an unjust law," she said.
Iaquinta said even though she knew the road was not going to be easy, she had to surrender to God and answer the calling.
"It doesn't make sense that someone would willingly put themselves in the firing line," she said.
"But there's no way I could say no to God."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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