A Catholic diocese has hit out at 'fake sacraments' after a woman was ordained priest in the United States.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests has stated that Abigail Eltzroth was ordained on Sunday at the independent Jubilee Community centre in Asheville, North Carolina.
Eltzroth said: 'I'm surprised I'm here. This ordination is a confirmation of my calling to ministry. On this journey I have received the shoulder taps of encouragement from friends, hugs of blessing from fellow ministers, and swift kicks in the rear from the Holy Spirit. Going forward I need everyone's laughter and prayers.'
In a statement, the association said the ordination was '100 per cent valid' because of 'apostolic succession'.
Eltzroth was ordained by Presiding Bishop, Bridget Mary Meehan, Sarasota, Florida.
In her homily, Bishop Meehan said: 'As empowered companions on the journey, all of us are called to be prophets and work for the harmony envisioned in our first reading in which "The lion and the lamb lay down together."
'The story of Jesus' final days presented in Mark's Gospel provides the context for the story of the woman who anoints Jesus. It takes place two days before Jesus' execution. It is evident from Mark's perspective that the male disciples don't comprehend that suffering and rejection is part of the mission of Jesus. Its significance escapes them.
'In the end, they abandon or betray him. However, the female disciples, who have journeyed with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, are the true disciples who stick with him until the end.'
She said it was striking that God inspired 'a simple, unnamed woman, one of the ordinary, average people ,who form the larger circle of followers of Jesus, to be the anointer of the Messiah and prophet of his messiahship'.
She added: 'It is a sad testimony to patriarchy's influence that in spite of Jesus' words, Christians throughout the ages have forgotten this unnamed woman. Today, the Roman Catholic Church has relegated the story about this woman to one optional reading in the official three-year cycle of scripture readings for Sunday worship. So, most Catholics never hear the story about this woman at a Sunday liturgy.
'It is definitely time for a change so we can get to know and celebrate the women of faith who are role models for all Christians.'
She said their movement was a justice movement in which 'women will no longer be treated as second class citizens at the altar and in decision-making in our Church'.
The association claims the validity of apostolic succession because its first women bishops were ordained by an anonymous Roman Catholic male bishop. 'Therefore, all our ordinations are valid, but violate Church law. We are disobeying an unjust law in order to change it in prophetic obedience to the Spirit. This is the reason the institutional Church has excommunicated us,' said Meehan.
Eltzroth, 64, told the Charlotte Observer: 'It's time for a change and we're in the forefront, leading the charge. We expect that eventually everybody is going to follow us.'
David Hains, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, told the Observer: 'I hope that Catholics in the diocese will understand that it would be sinful to receive a fake sacrament from a woman priest and that includes attending a fake Mass.'
The association claims 250 women have now been ordained Catholic priests in 10 countries and that there are 65 Catholic women priests working in the US associated with them and another group, Roman Catholic Women Priests.
The Catholic Church automatically excommunicates any woman who is ordained and anyone who ordains her. Pope Francis has set up a commission to examine whether women can be ordained deacons.
