On a barge on the River Tiber near the Vatican, Loan Rocher was “ordained” in a secret ceremony that defies the Catholic Church’s prohibition on women serving as deacons and priests.
The 68-year-old Frenchwoman, dressed in a white robe and rainbow stole, recognized that her ordination lacked Vatican approval, coinciding with a month-long summit on the Church’s future that concludes next week.
Rocher, who is transgender, stated, “They’ve been saying the same thing for 2,000 years—women are inferior, subordinate, invisible. It’s fine. We’ve waited long enough, so I’m doing it now,” she told AFP.
The discreet ceremony, attended by around 50 participants from various countries, featured a liturgy similar to an official mass, including Bible readings, singing, and Communion, although the Church deems it illegal.
Canon law dictates that the six individuals ordained—three priests and three deacons, including Rocher and another transgender person—should be excluded from the Catholic community, along with the ceremony’s attendees.
However, US “bishop” Bridget Mary Meehan, part of the organizing group, argues that such excommunication would be unjustified. This group has conducted 270 ordinations of women across 14 countries since its inception in 2002.
Meehan, 76, emphasized their efforts over the past 22 years to foster a more inclusive Church that welcomes LGBTQ individuals and divorced or remarried people. On the upper deck of the barge, the six candidates pledged to “serve the people of God” before an altar adorned with candles and flower crowns. The congregation then blessed the newly ordained by laying hands on their heads.
In recent weeks, feminist groups have ramped up initiatives to influence the ongoing Synod, which began in 2021 and will conclude this month. These groups, sometimes supported by theologians, criticize the patriarchal system that marginalizes women despite their significant roles in parishes globally. Unlike Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church staunchly opposes the ordination of women, relegating them to supportive roles such as catechists, educators, nuns, or laypeople.
The agenda for the October 2023 Synod included a proposal to allow women to serve as deacons, who can officiate baptisms, marriages, and funerals but cannot celebrate mass. However, this proposal has been dismissed, as Pope Francis, 87, ruled it out during a CBS interview in May, surprising activists.
Adeline Fermanian, from the French Catholic feminist group Comite de la Jupe, described the Church’s response as “authoritarian” and criticized the decision to exclude women’s ordination from the Synod agenda, arguing it contradicts the summit’s aim of consulting the global faithful, including women. Some Synod participants contend that calls for greater inclusion of women reflect a Western perspective and that regions like Africa may not be culturally ready for women deacons.
Since becoming pope in 2013, Francis has highlighted women’s contributions, even declaring in September that “the Church is a woman!” He has appointed women to significant roles within the Holy See but does not view their central role as extending to ministry—a stance that feminist groups label as misogynistic and outdated.
Fermanian argued, “They overpraise our qualities. They make women practically into goddesses… and then tell them, ‘You’re serving. It’s the most beautiful vocation.’ In reality, it’s a strategy to marginalize and discriminate.”
Sixty years after the Second Vatican Council aimed to modernize the Church, activists assert that the institution is struggling for survival. Nonetheless, the women ordained in Rome remain hopeful. Rocher expressed, “I prefer to be someone who moves forward, rather than one who complains.” Meehan captured the sentiment: “The hierarchy is afraid, but the people are not afraid. And they love women priests.”
