Barbara Billey is about to be ordained by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests — a movement determined to shake up the church hierarchy.
The Windsor woman may call herself a priest after her ordination Saturday, but she knows she won’t be welcome in that role in any local Roman Catholic churches and could be considered ex-communicated.
“I don’t expect any major invitations anytime too soon,” Billey said.
The Windsor counselor who operates a home church said she felt called to become a priest about five years ago at a retreat and is now part of an international movement to get the Roman Catholic church to accept female priests.
She said it’s about equality.
“At the core of it is what the Gospel and what Jesus represents in terms of including all people,” Billey said. “If we don’t include women we’re excluding more than half the population. The sacraments, ourselves, our church can’t be whole with over half the population excluded.”
Billey wants the church to include women in all levels of ministry, to also include those who have chosen an alternative lifestyle and to use inclusive language such as referring to God as female.
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