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	Female Priests Respond to Vatican By Stephanie Wise Iowa City Press-Citizen July 18, 2010 http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20100718/NEWS01/7180316/Female-priests-respond-to-Vatican The ordination of women was added this week to a list of the most serious crimes against the Roman Catholic Church, putting it on par with pedophilia and sexual abuse of children by priests, according to the document printed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They also have added that any priest affiliated with a woman's ordination will be excommunicated from the church. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are responding to the Vatican's position by demanding they affirm women's equality in the church including the ministry, said Mary Kay Kusner, the first ordained womanpriest in Iowa. Kusner was ordained June 13. "To me, this feels more like a fear tactic," she said. "Fortunately or unfortunately, it causes us to lessen all the more the authority of the church. "Anyone in their right mind wouldn't equate these two," she said, in regards to sexual abuse and the ordination of women. The debate between the church and the womanpriest movement has become increasingly heated in the Iowa City area. In May, Bishop Martin Amos of the Davenport diocese issued a news release to "clarify" the Vatican's position on the subject, stating that any "ordained" woman or anyone involved in the ordination of women instantly is excommunicated. "Such participation does not foster unity in the church and jeopardizes the communion of the faithful with each other and with God," he said in a news release. Deacon David Montgomery, diocese communications director, could not be reached for further comment. But Kusner, of Iowa City, didn't let that keep her from pursuing priesthood or retaining her Catholic virtues. Kusner was ordained as a deacon before priesthood and works as a chaplain in palliative care at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. "I have been amazed at the outpouring of support from many people I didn't even know were Catholic," she said. Many people have told her they left the church because of its stance against women, she said. "They were so frustrated by the injustices and inequalities ... and now they're rethinking whether to return to the church, which is exactly what we hoped for, that it would reclaim the church whereas the Vatican thinks it defiles the church," she said. Kusner said Roman Catholic Womenpriests numbers have grown from seven to more than 100 in the last eight years, since the first ordination in 2002. But despite what appears to be a growing acceptance of women in priesthood, Kusner said, the Catholic Church will not amend its canon law, affirming what Kusner feels is "misogyny." "It is unjust and discriminatory that the males at the Vatican continue to deny us employment and decision-making within the Roman Catholic Church," she said in a news release. "This behavior is a violation of international law, our human rights, the example of Jesus and the integrity of conscience."
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