Women Go Through Catholic Ordination Ceremony

BOSTON -- In a defiant challenge to the male hierarchy of the Catholic Church, nine women, including a Massachusetts woman, went through an ordination ceremony Monday.

NewsCenter 5's Liz Brunner reported Tuesday that they now claim to be Roman Catholic priests and deacons. The church -- which forbids female priests -- does not recognize the unofficial service. These women now face excommunication.

They chose the Saint Lawrence River near Ottawa, Canada, to be unofficially ordained as priests and deacons in the Roman Catholic Church. However, no Catholic diocese has jurisdiction.

Women have been excommunicated before for participating in similar ceremonies. But the nine Catholic women, including seven Americans, say it's time for Church doctrine to change.

"In our hearts we want the church to address this within itself, because it will never be a just church until it does," said Michele Birch-Conery, a former Catholic nun.

Appealing to the new head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, would most likely be fruitless. While still a cardinal, he signed the order excommunicating seven European women, who had participated in an unofficial ordination.

A Canadian priest said the church has nothing against women, but tradition must be upheld.

"The priesthood of Christ is a characterization of the man himself. Jesus was a man, and we are ordained as an imitation of, in the person of Christ. There's no ambivalence about that," Holy Rosary Cathedral Rev. Glenn Dion said.

The newly ordained women say they plan to minister to those who believe in them.

Marie David, of Harwich, Mass., was one of those ordained. She said that she plans to celebrate Mass and perform baptisms and weddings at her bed and breakfast.