By KENDRA SITTON | Uptown News
More than 100 people gathered at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday, Feb. 1, to witness a historic event: the ordination of the first trans and nonbinary Catholic priest. Kori Pacyniak was welcomed into the priesthood by the small progressive international Roman Catholic WomenPriests (RCWP) movement.
Contemporary campaigns to add women to the Catholic priesthood began in 1911 and culminated with seven women being ordained by willing bishops in the Danube River in 2002. The movement has continued to grow, with grassroots communities in 32 states and several countries. The denomination reimagined the priesthood to not be limited to celibate heterosexual cisgender men. Instead, the group ordains anyone regardless of gender, sexuality or marital status. They aim to create communities where all are welcome and everyone is equal.
During the ordination, the bishops as well as everyone in the audience took turns laying hands on Pacyniak, a simple gesture of prayer that highlighted the work to diminish hierarchies within the church. In a typical Roman Catholic rite or ordination, only the presiding bishop and other priests participate in this essential part of the rite.
“I am overwhelmed with joy because I never dared to dream that it would be possible to be be ordained in a movement (RCWP) — and with the support of a community (Mary Magdalene the Apostle Catholic Community) — that fully affirms my gender identity,” Pacyniak said. “I’m excited about future opportunities to minister at the intersection of faith, sexuality and gender.”
Pacyniak has several degrees and has worked in churches for years prior to the ordination. They hold a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Sacred Theology from Boston University School of Theology. They are currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Queer and Transgender Studies in Religion at UC Riverside. Pacyniak has been a pastor at Mary Magdalene the Apostle Catholic Community (MMACC) since 2017 and was made a deacon in 2019.
MMACC was founded in 2005 by Jane Via, who used to work as a religious professor and as a county attorney in the office of the San Diego District Attorney. Via is now a bishop and presided over Pacyniak’s ordination. The community has become home to many people driven out of the traditional Roman Catholic Church, whether because they are divorced, LGBTQ+ or unable to worship in good conscience.
MMACC meets on Sundays at 5 p.m. at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Serra Mesa.
— Kendra Sitton can be reached at kendra@sdnews.com.
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Just another example of if you don’t like what you hear, see or believe just create a new church with what you want to believe! A church in the here-and-now with absolutely no roots! I belong to the Church that can be traced back two thousand years to the Church that Christ founded upon the rock of Saint Peter! At which time Jesus made an unconditional promise to be with that one Church to the very end of time and the Gates of Hell shall never Prevail against it!
On your article of the ordination of a woman priest at a roman catholic church, this is misleading and not true. This has never happened. At the end of this article it says that this was done at a Lutheran church. Why didn’t you mention this on the article title? Let’s be clear on these things.
This is NOT the Roman Catholic Church, and calling it so is disrespectful. This group was excommunicated from the Church and violates several key traditions of the real Catholic Church. The Chuch has always held and always will the ordination of men, never woman.
Regardless of one’s personal perspective, this article is deliberately misleading. It doesn’t do justice to the truth. The sect that ordained Pacyniak is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. It is protesting aspects of Roman Catholicism and, as such, separated from Rome. It is essentially protestant. Therefore, Pacyniak is a protestant priest, not a Catholic priest in communion with Rome.
This is just another example of the actual truth that “fake news” is rampant. This story is factually false and purposefully misleading. Changing truth to sensationalize your headline is the worst of journalism. You should be ashamed.
True that the article is not 100% accurate, though this group considers themselves Catholic.
Sad that some here are more interested in protecting the rights of the male-dominated Church than in seeing justice and inclusivity, which Jesus championed every day. The Church changes traditions when it suits the church. Most of what the faithful believe (about sin, the divine/human nature of Christ, whether or not Mary remained a virgin,etc, etc) was developed by theologians and has changed over time. It did not come directly from Christ. The church evolves to greater or lesser degrees. Encompassing all genders and sexual orientations is long overdue. Hurray for these brave souls. The ritual of blessing by all, not just a bishop, is a step away from excessive power of the hierarchy.
Why would anyone who is gay or binary opt to stay in any way with the Catholic Church ?
I admire her pushing the envelope, but why not become a priest/pastor in a denomination which loves and welcomes her ?