Nation : Ordination of Women Supported
A survey indicates Roman Catholic priests are becoming more willing to accept the ordination of women.
The magazine U.S. Catholic sent 1,300 readers an article by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce, a syndicated columnist and Catholic author, in which he advocated the ordination of women. The magazine asked readers to comment on the article.
The results were published in the magazine’s January issue, released today.
Sixty-nine percent of the respondents were laywomen, 23% laymen and 8% clergy. Of the three groups, the biggest increase in support came from priests.
Fifty-nine percent of the priests said women should be ordained. That compared to 48% in a 1975 survey.
More than three-fourths of the laypeople said they would welcome a female priest to their parishes. Women are more likely to attend a Mass celebrated by a female priest, but 78% of the men said they would have no objections to a female priest.
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