Women priests become Catholics
At least two Anglican women priests
have become Roman Catholics because they are �fed up with being treated
like dirt in their own Church,� according to Fr Michael Seed, the
Franciscan friar who is ecumenical adviser to Cardinal Murphy-O�Connor.
Fr Seed � a deeply inspiring priest who has received many Anglicans
into communion with Rome � reveals this extraordinary detail in an
interview with the Independent, which has buried it away in a feature.
He received two women himself � and has now told the Catholic Herald
that other female priests have come over to Rome as a result of
�persecution�.
This treatment is explained:
Christina Rees of Women and the Church says: �Every woman who is ordained as a priest in the Church of England knows in one sense there is still a question mark hanging over her orders in a way which does not hang over the order of her male colleagues.�
Anglican orders for women are just as valid as Anglican orders for men. So there is a strange but unintentional equality within Anglican orders since for the most part their male priests are not validly ordained in the first place. There are exceptions since some Anglican bishops have confused the issue by having Orthodox bishops with valid orders participate in their ordinations, though of course this doesn't matter in the case of attempted ordination of women.
It is rather interesting that in this environment of doubt that these women would decide to come into the Catholic Church where there is no doubt on the issue except within progressive elements who act as their own magisterium. I bet though that progressives will see these conversions of Anglican priestesses the same way Democrats seek black conservatives.
Known as 
Jeff,
Excellent post though the issue of having Orthodox bishops participate in the Anglican ordinations is a moot point. When Pope Leo XIII issued Apostolicae Curiae he noted that Anglican Orders weren't invalid only because of non-Apostolic succession but because the ritual had changed under King Edward VI. Even if a bishop with valid orders participated the sacrament wouldn't be confected because the form is defective.
It's not just the matter of defective form, but also of defective intention. Anglicans do not intend to ordain priests with the power to offer sacrifice.
To be fair, the former impediment of improper form doesn't necessarily exist any longer - the Anglicans changed it from the defective form about 200 years or so after. But, at that point, Orders had already ceased to exist. Defect of intent, though, is still arguably present.
What do you make of the accusations against Fr Seed in the com-boxes? Perhaps he's an expert bridge, leading people over the Tibre; or perhaps he's a little more loosely hinged...? Hard to tell.
Fr. Phillips,
Sure defective intent is there as well but I was pointing it out from the Orthodox Bishop standpoint. Even if he had the intent to Ordain as the Orthodox do (not as the Anglicans) there is still the issue of defect of form. While its really hard to know a person's intent the form is very tangible.
This story needs further explanation.
"Priestesses" feel second-class in Anglicanism. Clearly the frustration comes from their belief that they are not second-class. So they leave the Anglicans and come to Rome where the Church has definitively taught that women cannot be ordained.
There's a disconnect between their reasons for leaving Anglicanism and their desire to be received into the Church.
Can somebody fill in the blank?
This is awesome. I would have assumed an ordained female is one of the least likely to convert. I would love to hear their stories. Someone should tell Marcus Grodi.
Very interesting
You're right, Josh. I wasn't meaning to discount the defect of form; however, there are those who maintain it has been corrected in the more recent Anglican liturgies. Whether that's true or not, I leave to others. But I do know the "official intent" of Anglicanism regarding Holy Orders. And there is no intent to ordain priests who can offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, because official Anglicanism does not believe in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Many individual Anglicans may, but the ecclesial community to which they belong, and in which they are being ordained, does not.
One can hope their conversions was ChristCentric and not based on simple "treatment" by a Church?
We have a former Episcopalian "priest" in my parish who converted a few years ago. Her story is that she saw the need for authority that did not exist in the Anglican church. She is very orthodox and an awesome lady!
I hope they're looking for orthodoxy and not hoping to "modernize" the Church.
A few years ago there was a Journey Home show with a Sr. Constance Walton (?), a former ordained Presbyterian minister who is now a Catholic Franciscan nun. There was someone who knew her theology! She had some brief but poignant comments on the question of women and ordination. I wish this was available on home DVD.
Please identify the Orthodox bishops who have participated in Anglican ordinations. I can't imagine that such a thing is possible since we have roughly the same understanding of Anglican orders as Rome.