Two Catholic women ordained as priests
Published: Nov. 12, 2007 at 8:41 AM
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ST. LOUIS, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A couple of firsts: Two women were ordained as Roman Catholic priests Sunday in St. Louis -- and the ordination was in a synagogue.The ceremony for Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, 67, and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, was held at Central Reform Congregation with 600 people looking on, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.The Roman Catholic church doesn't allow women to become priests and St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke sent the women a letter condemning their plans and informing them they would automatically be excommunicated if they went ahead.Burke also criticized the Central Reform Congregation, threatening to cease all participation in interfaith events with the congregation, the newspaper said."For us in St. Louis today, the (Gateway) Arch is a symbol for the gateway to justice and equality for women," Patricia Fresen, the ordaining bishop with Roman Catholic Womenpriests, told the Post-Dispatch.The women said they plan to hold services in a Unitarian church, as part of an international organization called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.McGrath is a great-grandmother, who edited at a Catholic publishing house and served as a campus minister at St. Louis University, a Catholic institution. Hudson, who said she wanted to be a priest since she was 14, is a grandmother who taught in St. Louis schools for more than 40 years.
Sue Cifelli on 19 Dec 08Slowed economy forces USCCB to freeze wages, budgets in 2009 WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The slowed economy has forced officials at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to freeze wages and department budgets for 2009. Msgr. David Malloy, USCCB general secretary, made the announcement to staff Dec. 11. Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, USCCB director of media relations, said the step became necessary when investment income fell as the economic situation worsened throughout 2008. She said conference officials decided to roll back individual department budgets to 2008 levels even though the bishops approved a 2.25 percent increase in allocations to conference programs at their annual fall meeting in November. The wage freeze became necessary in large part to meet pension obligations, Sister Mary Ann told Catholic News Service Dec. 17. At CNS, which is part of the USCCB communications department, Anthony Spence, director and editor in chief, said the news agency is working to minimize the impact of the budget freeze. Staff members belong to the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild and are under contract to receive a 3.25 percent wage increase Jan. 1. Spence said he has scheduled a meeting with guild representatives to seek "some accommodation that will acknowledge CNS' financial condition."
