Women Priests are rising up for justice, changing the church one community at a time. We are building inclusive communities of equals where justice is rising up for all people especially the poor, marginalized women and children worldwide and in the church.
The good news is that the international women priests’ movement has grown from the Danube Seven in 2002 to 215 in 2015. We serve over 75 communities.
Retired Bishop Francis Quinn of Sacramento has just come out in support of women’s ordination.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests welcomes Pope Francis to the United States and rejoices in his work to save Mother Earth and to transform unjust structures that marginalize the least and the last in our world. Until Pope Francis affirms the full equality of women in the church – including women priests – and makes the connection that poverty, violence and the abuse of women in the world are connected to the second-class status of women in the church, justice will not become a reality in the Catholic Church.
“Women Priests are a holy shakeup,” Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan states, “changing the church one priest and one community at a time. If Pope Francis were to open the way for women to be ordained, he would be embracing inclusivity and equality for all of God’s people. He would end injustice in the church which would significantly impact the rampant abuse of women in the world.”
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is one of the international branches of this movement that is experiencing a growth in vocations.
We are ordaining three women bishops to ordain priests to minister and serve alienated as well as progressive Catholics in inclusive Eucharistic Communities where all are welcome at the Banquet Table of God’s Love: Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, divorced and remarried, and women who no longer feel at home in their own church.
On Thursday, September 24th, 2015, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests will ordain three women bishops. They are Mary Eileen Collingwood of Boston Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio USA (216) 408-4657, mecreg6@yahoo.com; Michele Birch-Conery of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (519) 962-7016, liberata999@gmail.com and Olga Lucia Alvarez of Medellin, Colombia olalbe@gmail.com (For English-speaking information about Olga contact Silvia Brandon-Perez silviantonia@gmail.com (510)294-8584).
This historic ordination will take place on September 24, 2015, 2:00 p.m. at Pendle Hill Retreat and Conference Center, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, PA. Pendle Hill is about twenty minutes from Philadelphia.
The ordaining bishops are Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, author of 20 books, including Living Gospel Equality Now. She serves as a pastoral member of Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida. Bishop Sibyl Dana Reynolds, RCWP, is author of Ink and Honey, a historic and spiritual novel and founder of the Sisters of Belle Coeur, a contemporary, contemplative spiritual community. Bishop Bernard Callahan, a chaplain at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and a bishop with the Ecumenical Catholic Ordinariate, will co-consecrate.
The Federation of Christian Ministries will be represented by its president, Thomas Cusak.