FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 12, 2006

CONTACTS: Los Angeles, Calif.: Jane Via, office: (619) 615-6936, cell: (619) 987-9268, VIctoria Rue, home: (831) 768-8468

National WOC: Aisha Taylor, office: 703 352-1006

Roman Catholic women priests celebrate Community Mass

Los Angeles, Calif., – Dr. Jane Via and Monika Wyss, Roman Catholic women priests ordained on Lake Constance, Switzerland in June 2006, together with Dr. Victoria Rue, Roman Catholic woman priest ordained in July 2005, will co-preside at a Community Mass in Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. The Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) supports this Mass that will be held at the First Christian Church of North Hollywood located at 4390 Colfax Avenue Studio City, CA, 91604, on the corner of Colfax and Moorpark.

“We support and honor Jane Via, Monika Wyss and Victoria Rue, who have taken prophetic steps to obey God’s call in their lives,” stated Aisha Taylor, WOC’s Executive Director. “This Community Mass will be a significant and joyous event indeed! We applaud these women priests for their courage and genuine desire to serve the People of God.”

For thirty one years, WOC has advocated for women’s ordination in the Catholic Church, with the mission of creating renewed priesthood in an inclusive church.

“The Vatican’s stance on ordination is based on arguments that have been refuted by theology, scripture, and Jesus’ ministry,” Taylor said. “In 1976, the Pontifical Biblical Commission determined that there is no scriptural reason to prohibit women’s ordination. In addition, recent scholarship has confirmed the existence of women’s ordination in the early church. It is time for the Vatican to listen to its own research, its own theologians and its own people who say that women are equally created in the image of God and should be able to serve as priests in a renewed and inclusive Catholic church.”

Despite earlier threats of excommunication, the celebration of community masses by recently ordained women priests continue nationwide. Catholics who have been shut out or condemned by the hierarchy hunger for the ministry of these women, and they are showing up at these Masses in droves.

“We believe the people participating in this Community Mass are modeling a renewed Roman Catholic Church and in this way, transforming it. We call on all Catholics to continue to change unjust systems in the Church we love and to live and share their faith in community – what we call a ‘discipleship of equals,’” Taylor concluded.

###

Founded in 1975, the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) works for equality in all dimensions of life and ministry in the Catholic Church, including women’s ordination to a renewed priestly ministry. WOC can arrange interviews with California WOC members. For more information about the Mass contact Kay Akers at 310-452-0794 or Janice Poss at 310-280-0887 . For more resources on women’s ordination, visit www.womensordination.org.