There’s a moment in life when you know something is true for you, even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. And sometimes, that truth comes with consequences. In this conversation, Reverend Shanon Sterringer shares what it really looks like to follow a calling that challenges the very institution that raised you.

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When the Call Comes From the Same Place That Rejects You

For many women priests, the call doesn’t come from outside the Church. It comes from within it.

Shanon explains that her vocation was formed through years of devotion, study, and service inside the Roman Catholic tradition. Yet the moment she stepped into ordination, she was no longer recognized by that same institution.

That contradiction is where the real story begins.

Excommunication Is Not Just a Policy, It’s a Break in Relationship

You can understand something intellectually and still not be prepared to live it.

Shanon knew what Canon law said. She knew what would happen. But when the letters came and the separation became real, it felt like a rupture.

Not just institutional. Personal.

What she describes is something many people can relate to, even outside religion. It is what happens when a long-standing relationship changes in a way you didn’t fully expect. There is grief. There is loss. And over time, there is healing.

Why Some Women Are Targeted and Others Are Not

One of the more revealing parts of the conversation is how inconsistent the response to women priests can be.

Some are ignored completely. Others, like Shanon, become highly visible examples.

Location, visibility, relationships, and timing all play a role. It is not always about policy. Often, it is about power and perception.

The Hildegard Most People Never Meet

Hildegard of Bingen is often presented as a gentle mystic connected to nature, herbs, and music.

That is only part of the story.

Shanon brings forward a fuller picture. Hildegard was also a theologian, a visionary, a composer, and at times deeply conservative in her thinking. She wrote about healing and creation, but she also wrote about judgment, struggle, and the human condition in ways that are not always easy to digest.

The truth is, Hildegard was not simple. And that is exactly why she still matters.

Why Her Letters Reveal the Real Person

Out of all Hildegard’s work, Shanon is especially drawn to her letters.

Over 400 of them still exist.

They are not polished theological treatises. They are responses to real people, real situations, and real challenges. In them, Hildegard is direct, sometimes sharp, often insightful, and occasionally even humorous.

If you want to understand who she really was, this is where to look.

Creating Sacred Space Outside the System

At Hildegard Haus, Shanon has built something that reflects both tradition and transformation.

It is a place where people can gather, learn, worship, and explore. Some come for spiritual reasons. Others come because they are curious about Hildegard. All are welcomed.

The gardens, the herbs, the music, and the teachings all come together to create something that feels both grounded and expansive.

Faith That Moves Beyond Permission

One of the strongest takeaways from this conversation is simple.

You do not always get permission to live your truth.

Sometimes, you move forward anyway.

Shanon’s journey is not just about religion. It is about leadership, conviction, and the willingness to step into something bigger than approval.

What Comes Next

Shanon is currently revising her book Forbidden Grace, which shares her journey alongside the story of Hildegard. She is also working on a new book focused on gender and ordination in the Catholic Church.

Her work continues to open doors, ask hard questions, and invite deeper conversations.

Where to Learn More

Hildegard Haus: www.hildegardhaus.org
Virtual Tour: www.hildegardtour.com
The Green Shepherdess: www.thegreenshepherdess.com

About Reverend Shanon Sterringer

Shanon Sterringer was ordained a priest in Linz, Austria on August 3, 2019, and a deacon in Boston Heights, Ohio on July 10, 2018 by RCWP and ARCWP.

She is the founding Pastor of the Community of St. Hildegard Church and Hildegard Haus shrine in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. She is a wife and mother, a published author, small business owner, and an amateur beekeeper.

Prior to following her call to ordination, Shanon served for over twenty years as a certified lay ecclesial minister and master catechist in the Diocese of Cleveland. In the parish she worked in the areas of catechetics, liturgical and pastoral ministry, parish administration, theology, and leadership training. She has travelled to Bingen, Germany several times over the last few years to walk in the footsteps of Hildegard of Bingen for research and personal/professional development and has led countless seminars and retreats on this topic.

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.