Boston, Mass., Jul 22, 2008 / 15:06 pm
The Archdiocese of Boston has issued a statement in response to a group that planned and performed an ordination ceremony for three women in Boston on Sunday. In the July 18 statement the archdiocese’s vicar general, Father Richard Erikson, explained Catholic teaching on the male-only priesthood and said the group, which calls itself Roman Catholic Womenpriests, is “not an entity of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Roman Catholic Womenpriests held an alleged ordination ceremony of three women at a Boston-area Presbyterian church.
In its statement the Archdiocese of Boston said: “The Catholic Church is made up of women and men, equal in rights and diverse in gifts and ministries. Following our devotion to Mary, the Church is committed to, and sustained by the many important contributions of women each and every day.”
The statement said that women help shape the course of the Church as members of religious communities, lay members in leadership roles, educators, canon lawyers, and service providers in “many other critical areas.”