Female Catholic Priests: Sooner Than You Think

Re “Story on Catholic Female Priest Wasn’t Relevant,” Letters, May 26:

Bill Robinson is right to the extent that the Catholic Church mentioned in your article is not the Roman Catholic Church. However, Robinson was very unkind. As a Roman Catholic, I was embarrassed by him and for him. I think that what Robinson is truly upset about is a woman being ordained a priest.

What most Roman Catholics have known, whether they have liked it or not, is that women one day will be ordained priests in the Roman Catholic Church. While I am hardly grateful for the recent scandal and do not minimize the suffering of the victims, one of the good things that will come out of it is that women will be ordained priests much sooner than any of us even dreamed before. Like the Episcopal Church’s “Philadelphia 11” (11 women irregularly but validly ordained in 1976), Giovanna Piazza’s ordination is relevant to Christians everywhere.

Barbara Robinson

Tustin