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Photo by Gabriela Campos © 2024 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
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We envision a flourishing Roman Catholic Church where the gifts of all who are called to priesthood are received for the life of the world.
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Father Anne | Executive DirectorFather Anne was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on October 16, 2021, through a reform movement called the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. Because the Catholic Church prevents the full participation of women in Church life, Father Anne was forced to choose between obedience to God and obedience to Church law. Choosing God, she was excommunicated, ending her career in the Church she loves. She now devotes her life to the full participation of women in one of the most powerful institutions in the world. Father Anne has a Master of Divinity from Jesuit School of Theology and a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Writing Studies from San Diego State University. Her deepest desire is to serve as a parish priest in the Roman Catholic Church. She works for the day this dream comes true. LEARN MORE
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Meet the Board
JAVIER BENAVIDEZPresident |
MELISSA FOXTreasurer |
CAMILLE ELIZABETHSecretary |
CRYSTAL GUTIERREZ |
ALMA ROSA DELGADO |
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Fidelity to GodGod is at the center of all we do. We are devoted to God and to God’s project of goodness and flourishing for all creation. We willingly carry the cross of ordination justice in service of God’s vision of a Church where no God-given vocation to priesthood is denied.
Love of Church & TraditionWe have a deep love and reverence for the Catholic Church and its tradition, which has shaped us at our core. We are not seeking to stand apart from the Church, but to call it into deeper fidelity by recognizing, honoring, and welcoming the vocations of women to Holy Orders as God intends.
Expanding Catholic ImaginationThe Church cannot become what it cannot first imagine. For centuries, Catholics have been conditioned to imagine priesthood in the male form alone, constraining our understanding of God and humanity, which can only produce a constrained world that violates God's desires for the flourishing of all creation. The Ordination Justice Initiative works to expand the collective Catholic imagination so that the faithful can more fully perceive our call to build a Church of justice where no vocation is denied.
Men as Critical AlliesOrdination justice is not a woman's issue: it is an issue that wounds the entire Church. As many men as women want to see the ordination of women as priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Men are essential partners in making a stand for the full participation of women in the sacrament of Holy Orders.
The Right to DiscernmentWhile no one has a right to be a priest, everyone has a right to discernment. The Church has a fundamental duty to protect this inalienable right. Denying this right is a betrayal of God's very self, obstructing the action God desires to take in the Church and world.
Conscience as CentralAccording to Church teaching, we are obliged to follow our conscience because it is the place where we stand before God and hear God’s call to do good. At every level of the Church hierarchy, personal conscience is being awakened by the Holy Spirit to the call to ordination justice. Our work is to support people in acting with integrity according to their conscience.
Intellectual & Spiritual RigorWe proceed from Jesuit intellectual and spiritual formation. We are committed to disciplined prayer, serious discernment, and rigorous engagement with Catholic intellectual tradition. Scripture and tradition are living realities that call for continual interpretation and honest engagement in the light of the Holy Spirit.
Unending Joy Rooted in God's PromiseGod's Spirit is active in the Church now—calling, stirring, and opening what has been closed. We live from the deep joy that flows from being rooted in the unstoppablility of God’s power to overcome every obstruction to salvation. We are an Easter people, grounded in the promise of resurrection in Christ.
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