The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and all supporters of ordaining ALL who are called to serve God’s people celebrate the ordination of three women of God. On Sunday September 15, 2013 Mary Theresa Streck was ordained Priest and Maureen McGill and Mary Sue Barnett were ordained Deacons.  Here is a summation of the event by our Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan and an article and link to read more about it. Please also see http://www.inclusivecatholiccomunity-albanyny. if you’d like to see pictures of the event and also follow the community of our new priest, Mary Theresa Streck.

Dear Community,

Thanks for your prayers and loving support.

We had a joyous ordination of Mary Theresa Streck, Mary Sue Barnett, and Maureen McGill in Albany.

Approximately 350 people attended. Church was packed to overflowing.

The website for the Inclusive Catholic Community of Albany is now up. See blog for link and article.

Albany diocese told priests and nuns not to attend under penalty of being fired from diocesan jobs!

However, there were a few courageous dissenters who came and stayed out of media coverage!

See article and television coverage in link below.

http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2013/09/association-of-roman-catholic-women_2214.html

Bridget  Mary Meehan
sofiabmm@aol.com

Sunday, September 15, 2013

NEWS Stories: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests: Ordination of 3 Women in Albany, New York/Sept.15,2013

Albany Times Union: “Group installs female priest:Grass-roots organization ordains nun, but Catholic Church won’t recognize her”       

By Bryan Fitzgerald 
 People gather inside the Unitarian Universalist Church for the Liturgy of Ordination celebrated by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Group-installs-female-priest-4817119.php

“There was no air of controversy inside the First Unitarian Universalist Society on Washington Avenue Sunday afternoon — only jubilation.
In an ordination ceremony that will not be recognized by the Catholic Church, a woman was ordained as a priest. 
Despite the Catholic Church’s stance on female priests, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests says the Sunday ordination of Mary Teresa Streck was legitimate and that the longtime nun is now one of about 160 female Roman Catholic priests in the country. None of them are recognized by the Vatican.
“It is with great joy I present to you our newly ordained priest,” BishopBridget Mary Meehan told the excited crowd after Streck’s ceremony was completed.
Streck, a nun for 18 years before launching the Ark Community Charter School in Troy, was greeted with thunderous, rock-star-like ovations at various times during the nearly three-hour-long ceremony.
Two female deacons, Mary Sue Barnett and Maureen McGill, were also ordained during the service.
“This is a very joyful day,” Streck said after the ceremony. “Nothing but joy.”
The leaders of the Catholic Church have been unwavering in their assertions that women have important roles in the church but are not recognized as priests, often saying there is no theological basis for their ordinations. 
Meehan and others in her grassroots group say there is no theological basis for barring women from the priesthood, adding that women were ordained in the church’s earliest years.
In July, Pope Francis told USA Today that “the church has spoken and says no … that door is closed,” when asked about female priests.
Churches have disciplined and even expelled priests who have so much as attended ordinations recognizing women as priests. Meehan said that the Albany diocese sent out a memo telling its leaders not to attend Sunday’s service under threat of reprimand, though the diocese could not be reached Sunday to confirm or deny Meehan’s claim.
The church has also said that any woman who is ordained is excommunicating herself from the church.
Streck said she the threat of excommunication never deterred her. 
“I do not consider myself excommunicated,” Streck said. “I hope other women consider this path.”
While speaking to crowd at length, Meehan, who lives in Florida, often likened the women priest movement to civil rights activism, invokingRosa Parks on several occasions and saying the ancient guidelines the church says forbids women priests are outdated.
“Rules of those times had nothing to do with love and compassion,” Meehan said. “The Catholic Church needs to wake up.”

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2013/sep/15/0916_priest/

Catholic sect ordains female priest