Canadian Archbishop warns against impending female-ordination ceremony

Kingston, Canada, Jul 5, 2005 / 22:00 pm

In the wake of an invalid ceremony on Saturday in which a French woman declared herself a Catholic priest, Kingston, Ontario Archbishop Anthony Meagher is warning 9 women who plan to make a similar move this month that "To attempt an ordination this way is to step outside the church.''

According to the Catholic Register, an association of some 14 groups calling themselves “Roman Catholic Womenpriests,” are planning to ordain 9 women to the priesthood in a ceremony on a boat in the middle of the St. Lawrence River near Gananoque, Ont.

Although Archbishop Meagher thinks that although "There is no doubt ... there has to be more involvement of women in leadership and in decision-making'' in the Church…he thinks that “there are more effective ways to protest.''

The women are planning the ceremony to straddle the Ontario, New York border so as to avoid jurisdiction from the Archdiocese.

In light of the French ordination, Vincent Feroldi, a spokesman for Lyon’s Archbishop Philippe Barbarin said that no decree of excommunication would necessary in a technical sense, because of the fundamental violation of Church law the woman’s actions constitute.

Some say that a similar form of automatic excommunication would result should the 9 women follow through with their plans this month.