The Question Women Keep Hearing
Every June, as another class of men is ordained to the Catholic priesthood, a small group of us gathers outside the ceremony holding signs and asking a simple question: Where are the women? We are not there to protest the young men being ordained. We are there because we believe women who feel called by God deserve the same opportunity to answer that call. This year, a young man approached me and asked a question many women have heard for decades: ‘What more do you women want?’
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When Following God’s Call Comes at a Cost
That conversation stayed with me as I sat down with Father Anne for a recent episode of Your Radical Truth. After years of study, prayer, discernment, and theological formation, she answered what she believed was God’s call to priesthood. The institutional Church responded by excommunicating her. Faced with a choice between denying her calling and following it, she chose God.
The Argument That Refuses to Go Away
The primary argument against women’s ordination remains remarkably simple: Jesus chose twelve men. Therefore, only men can be priests. Many Catholics hear that statement and assume the discussion is over. Yet simplicity does not necessarily equal truth.
Looking Beyond the Twelve
Jesus did not simply choose twelve men. He chose twelve Jewish men. If the characteristics of the Twelve determine who may serve as priests today, why is
only one characteristic considered essential? Why does gender matter while ethnicity does not? Father Anne explains that understanding the Jewish context of the Twelve changes the entire conversation.
Mary Magdalene and the Women Hidden in Plain Sight
Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the Resurrection and has long been known as the Apostle to the Apostles. Women traveled with Jesus, supported his ministry, remained faithful at the crucifixion, and played critical roles in the earliest Christian community. Yet their contributions are often minimized when discussions about leadership arise.
A History Built on Assumptions About Women
Theologian John Wijngaards documented how many historical arguments against women’s leadership were rooted in cultural assumptions rather than the teachings of Jesus. Women were often portrayed as intellectually inferior, morally weaker, and unsuitable for positions of authority. While the language has changed, many of the structures remain.
Why This Matters Far Beyond the Altar
The Catholic Church influences more than one billion people worldwide. Its teachings shape families, cultures, educational systems, and governments. When leadership remains exclusively male, the message extends beyond church walls and influences society’s understanding of authority and equality.
The Hidden Cost of Excluding Women
The cost of exclusion is often overlooked. Women who feel called to priesthood experience rejection not because they lack faith, education, or commitment, but because they are women. The Church loses valuable voices, perspectives, and gifts.
Expanding the Catholic Imagination
Father Anne observed that the Church cannot become what it cannot imagine. For centuries Catholics have been taught to imagine priests as male. Every movement toward justice begins when people become willing to imagine a different future.
A Question the Church Can No Longer Ignore
Can a Church sustained largely by women continue excluding them from ordained ministry? Can equality in baptism coexist with inequality in leadership? These questions are becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.
Following Conscience When the Institution Says No
Throughout history, meaningful change has often required courageous individuals willing to follow conscience despite opposition. For Father Anne, that courage came at a tremendous personal cost, yet she continues her ministry because she believes the issue is larger than her own experience.
Conclusion: What Happens When Women Say Yes to God?
Whether one agrees with Father Anne’s position or not, her story raises an important question: What happens when a woman says yes to God, but the institution
says no? The answer may shape not only the future of women’s leadership in the Church, but the future of the Church itself.
About Father Anne
Father Anne is the author of The Shepherd Within: Following God’s Incarnational Initiative to Fullness of Life Beyond Institutional Control, a work that invites readers to rediscover God’s living presence not as distant or hierarchical, but moving through human conscience, relationship, and justice.
She was ordained on October 16, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico through the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and now serves as an
independent Roman Catholic priest. Her priesthood is rooted in a profound love for the Society of Jesus and Ignatian spirituality, formed over twelve years of ministry alongside Jesuits.
Father Anne earned a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, and has served in multiple Jesuit parishes. In addition to her theological formation, she holds a master’s degree in Rhetoric and Writing Studies from San Diego State University and brings more than twenty-five years of experience in strategic communications.
Deeply grounded in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Father Anne is especially drawn to the work of discernment and to exploring what the next era of the Church may become. While many have understandably walked away from the Roman Catholic Church, she continues to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit, collaborating with God in the ongoing work of equality, truth, and transformation within one of the most powerful institutions in the world.
About Deacon Margaret Mary O’Connor
Deacon Margaret Mary O’Connor, a member of the Catholic laity, once believed she understood her Church and its teachings. Everything changed the day she uncovered a centuries old scandal of lies and institutional cover up surrounding the history of women in ordained ministry. Realizing that her own Church had hidden the truth about women priests, women deacons, and even women bishops, she felt a deep and unforgettable sense of betrayal.
That moment became the catalyst for her mission. Margaret Mary now travels what she calls the Highway of Radical Truth, exposing the layers of deception that
have kept millions of Catholics unaware of the prominent roles women held in early Church history. Her work challenges long held assumptions, confronts the
complicity of the hierarchy, and calls Catholics to learn the real history for themselves.
For Margaret Mary, every Catholic deserves the truth. She believes transparency is not optional, especially when the suppression of women’s vocations continues to harm the Church today. Her research shines a spotlight on hidden historical records that may even hold answers to the modern priest shortage.
Often described as a “Modern Day David,” Margaret Mary is relentless in her commitment to revealing what has been intentionally concealed. Through her well researched writings, public advocacy, and ministry within the Celtic Christian Church, she brings these buried truths to light.
She is the author of Scandal in the Shadows and Journey of a Celiac’s Soul, and remains a force for honesty, courage, and reform within the broader Catholic conversation.
