Catholic Splinter Church Ordains Woman Priest
A woman who played a prominent role at the altar in a Roman Catholic congregation in Rochester that was banished in 1999 for violating Vatican rules was ordained as a priest by an independent Catholic bishop.
Bishop Peter Hickman of the Old Catholic Church ordained the Rev. Mary Ramerman, 46, before an audience of about 2,500.
For a dozen years at Corpus Christi Church, under the guidance of the Rev. James Callan, Ramerman had lifted the communion cup and recited prayers at Mass in defiance of traditions regarding the role of women in liturgy.
The Old Catholic faith, which rebuked the doctrine of papal infallibility in 1870, says it has more than 600,000 followers nationwide.
Hickman said more than a dozen women have been ordained in the last decade.
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