Woman ordained a priest defies the Vatican, faces excommunication

Anne Tropeano, known as Father Anne, dreamed of being ordained as a priest. To achieve this, she had to break the law of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church does not allow women to serve as priests, citing Jesus' example of choosing only men as his apostles. This teaching is also recorded in the Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith "Inter Insigniores" from 1976, the apostolic letter of John Paul II "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis" from 1994, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church from 1992.

Anne Tropeano, a woman living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was well aware of the Church's teachings. For years, she contemplated whether to join the ranks of nuns or to become more involved as a lay collaborator of the Church. However, her desire to be ordained as a priest was stronger.

She sought help from the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP), a worldwide organization that conducts ordinations not authorized by the Church. ARCWP ordained Tropeano, a priest, and she adopted the pseudonym, Father Anne.

By accepting ordination against Church teaching, Tropeano incurred the wrath of the Vatican and was excommunicated. This means she cannot receive the sacraments or have a church funeral.

Despite her excommunication, she humbly accepted the punishment and continues to consider herself a devout Catholic. She believes that the Church is at a pivotal moment and that the ordination of women as priests is inevitable. Anne claims this is God's desire.

"We've had male-only leadership everywhere for most of human history. Now we have war, poverty, global warming. It doesn't work," she said. "There's a massive dawning awareness in humanity of our relationships with one another and the earth," she said in a comment for NCR. She also added, "They can't remove me from the church; I will not be moved."