A St. Louis Reform Jewish congregation that offered its facilities for an ordination ceremony has angered Church officials.
The Central Reform Congregation was scheduled to host the ordination Sunday of two women by a former nun from the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, a 5-year-old movement independent of the Roman Catholic Church.
Rabbi Susan Talve and her congregation’s board voted unanimously to host the controversial ceremony, citing Reform Jewish values as the justification. That has caused a rift with the local archdiocese.
Under Catholic Church doctrine, only men can be ordained as priests and deacons. The two women have been threatened with excommunication.
The Rev. Vincent Heier called upon the local Jewish Community Relations Council to help stop the ceremony, but the council refused to step in, citing the congregation’s autonomy.
The Jewish community and the archdiocese said they would continue their interfaith dialogue.
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