August 24, 2001

Tell others about Out of the Depths: The Story of Ludmila Javorova, Ordained Roman Catholic Priest by Miriam Therese Winter!

Printed this summer, the book Out of the Depths, (Crossroads Publishing, June 2001) tells the story of Ludmila Javorova, a Czech woman ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in the underground church during communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Ludmila was at the center of the clandestine church which operated after the communist takeover. Vicar General for over twenty years, she was right-hand to Bishop Felix Davidek, who ordained her a priest in 1970. She is one of several women and married men ordained during that time, and is the first to speak publicly. WOC made contact with Ludmila in 1992 and brought her to the United States to tell her story.

“My priesthood as a woman has been different than the priesthood of men. At first I wanted to push myself into a role that was not mine, to fulfill the traditional expectations of the male priesthood, but that was not possible. I had no clear guidelines for expressing my priestly ministry and I didn’t want to give it up, so I had to ask God what to do. I had to search and pray. I started to look at how this charism was being developed within me in what I was already doing.” -from Out of the Depths

Spread the story of Ludmila’s ordination!
All of us have often heard the comment, “Women’s ordination will never happen in our lifetime.” Tell Ludmila’s story to inform others that women have indeed been ordained in our lifetime!
*Join the discussion regarding Out of the Depths and women’s ordination on http://www.beliefnet.com.
*Post your own book review on on-line booksellers such as http://www.amazon.com or http://www.bn.com.
*Post your review on other e-mail lists.
*Submit a book review to your local newspaper -or- ask them to review the book.
*Give a copy of the book to your parish priest or bishop.

If you haven’t already read this inspiring story, you can order Out of the Depths from the Women’s Ordination Conference for only $19.95. Send payment to the
Women’s Ordination Conference,
PO Box 2693,
Fairfax, VA 22031.
Or, order with your credit card by calling 703-352-1006, faxing 703-352-5181, or e-mailing press@womensordination.org. Include your credit card number and expiration date, as well as your mailing address for shipping. (To view other WOC merchandise visit http://www.womensordination.org.)

*** This ACTION ALERT E-MAIL is from the Women's Ordination Conference. Send comments or information for future ACTION ALERTS to Joy Barnes, WOC Program Director at grassroots@womensordination.org. For more information about WOC and how to become a WOC member, visit www.womensordination.org. ***