Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS —
A former Catholic nun went through an ordination ceremony in Indianapolis to become a priest in defiance of the church’s ban on women becoming priests.
A female bishop from Minnesota led Sunday’s ordination ceremony for 71-year-old Maria Thornton McClain at Friedens United Church of Christ.
McClain tells The Indianapolis Star that she believes the Catholic church’s prohibition of female priests is unjust. She says she wants to help those who’ve been marginalized develop their relationship with God.
McClain joins more than 100 women around the world ordained in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement.
Indianapolis Archdiocese spokesman Greg Otolski tells WTHR-TV that the all-male priesthood is traced back to Jesus picking 12 men as his apostles and that McClain’s ordination wouldn’t be recognized as valid.
