55 years ago... 28 December 2020 ... Christmastime 1970 in the Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia (as it then was) the Church was driven underground because of persecution by occupiers.
Priests especially were targets for the persecution.
Concerned about pastoral need, Bishop Felix Maria Davidek convened a Synod of his underground community called Koinotes.
He could see no theological obstacle to ordaining women so he proposed that this begin. From an 'occupation' point of view, women priests could go 'under the radar'.
The Soviet occupiers would not suspect women. They could sacramentally minister to Catholics without drawing suspicion of the authorities
During December 1970, the Synod gathered for a secret vote.
Half supported Davidek's proposal. This was enough to begin moving forward. He ordained married men and at least six woman.
Ludmila Javorová was one of them.
Today 28 December 2025 is the 55th anniversary of her ordination.
Although Rome later 'normalised' the ordinations of the married men ('normalization' was needed for the men who wished to continue to serve as priests.)
It was against the rules then as it still is to ordain married men in the Latin rite. (Normalisation was an endorsement of their ordinations.)
But the women?
In spite their witness to faith in dangerous times, their courage in sacramental ministry, Rome still refuses to recognise these women .
Only Ludmila has gone public with her story. She will not reject her own ordination in spite of Rome's refusal to recognise her.
Ludmila's biographers are Medical Mission Sister Miriam Therese Winter (Out of the Depths) and Suzanne Tunc (Ludmila Javorova. Histoire de la première femme prêtre)
This link to a fairly recent article by Christine Schenk about Ludmila: 'Just hours after Pope Francis addressed Catholics in Slovakia, more than 420 Catholics from all over the world gathered in an online event to celebrate Ludmila Javorova, the first publicly known woman priest ordained in the modern era.
In 1970, Bishop Felix Maria Davidek ordained her to serve the underground church in Czechoslovakia, where communist leaders were killing and imprisoning priests, nuns and lay leaders.'