Frequently Asked Questions

The most frequently asked question is:

“What do we call you?
Mother?
Well, we can’t call you Father? Then what do we call you?”
Most of our women priests use their first names and sometimes we do
refer to ourselves as “Reverend” if we are in a more formal setting.

FALSE: Women (by virtue of their sex) cannot image Christ.
TRUE: It is the call of every female and male Christian to image Christ; and it is the call of every female and male Christian to see Christ in every person.

FALSE: These ordinations as women priests are not recognized or valid.
TRUE: The group “Roman Catholic Womenpriests” receives its authority from Roman Catholic bishops who stand in Apostolic Succession. These bishops bestowed sacramentally valid ordinations on the women listed above.

FALSE: Mandatory celibacy goes back to the earliest days of the church.
TRUE: Scripture citations refer to the marriage of Simon Peter. Citations also refer to married bishops, priests and deacons in the earliest Christian churches. Mandatory celibacy was universally required in the 12th century at the First Lateran Council in 1123.

FALSE: Roman Catholic women have not been ordained deacons or priests in the modern era.
TRUE: Ludmila Javorova, ordained priest, December 28, 1970, is an example of a woman who was ordained.

FALSE: Roman Catholic women have never been ordained.
TRUE: Epigraphic evidence exists of women bishops. Until at least the ninth century the Church gave women the full sacramental ordination of deacons.

FALSE: Roman Catholic Womenpriests don’t have the necessary training to be priests.
TRUE: All women who are ordained have a Master’s Degree in Divinity, Theology, Religious Sutdies or the equivalent and work with an RCWP mentor to complete 10 units of further study that focus on the sacraments. The RCWP Program of Preparation usually consists of a minimum of one year of discernment before ordination to the diaconate, and usually an additional year before ordination to the priesthood.