When your religion says you cannot do something because of your gender, do it anyway.At least that is what five Catholic women in Falls Church, Va. did on Saturday when they were ordained as priests and deacons -- against the rules of the Roman Catholic church that sees ordaining women as heresy -- according to WJLA.
"In the theologically grounded tradition the priesthood passes through man. The woman has another function in Christianity," Pope Francis wrote in his first book, "On Heaven and Earth."
But that didn't stop women like Joleane Presley of Manassas from joining fellow female Catholics at the First Christian Church to be ordained, just like men.
Presley and the other ordained women are part of the growing Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, a movement within the Catholic church that espouses "full equality for all within the Church as a matter of justice and faithfulness to the Gospel," and in order to do so, oversees the ordination of female priests, deacons and bishops.
"Women are answering God’s call and justice is rising in the Roman Catholic Church," Bishop Mary Meehan told WJLA.
Although the women believe their ordination is legit, a statement from Bishop Paul Loverde of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington denounced the Northern Virginia ceremony.
"The church does not have the authority to change her doctrine on the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which has been passed down... from our Lord Jesus Christ... It is a great sadness when Catholics choose to reject the truth of the Faith... I pray for their return to the fold," he said, according to WJLA.
And while Loverde and Pope Francis may not sanction female ordination, the concept comes with plenty of support in the United States.
A 2010 poll by The New York Times and CBS found a large majority -- 59 percent -- of Catholic Americans support the ordination of women.
And perhaps more important, Presley and the other women ordained in Virginia have the support of those who care about them.
"Women have a right to be ordained. It’s not just a man’s game." Presley's husband William "Scott" Presley told WJLA.