Iowa City woman seeks ordination, but wants to remain Catholic

The Catholic Church won't be celebrating one Iowa City resident's ordination next month.

In fact, neither the Diocese of Davenport nor the Vatican will even acknowledge Mary Kay Kusner's ordination through a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

That lack of institutional acknowledgment keeps Kusner, 50, motivated as she prepares for ordination by a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

“I believe Christ's intention was to have an inclusive church,” Kusner said. “I believe ‘catholic,' which means universal, needs to be a truly inclusive and welcoming church.”

Such a church, she said, would include the ordination of women.

Kusner, a self-described devout Catholic, is a Catholic deacon ordained by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests and has been a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics chaplain for more than 20 years. She sees the irony in deciding to go against the church to which she's devoted her life.

But she's following the lead of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an eight-year-old movement of believers who say they are “reclaiming our ancient spiritual heritage” and shaping a more inclusive “Christ-centered Church of equals.”

In her small congregation of about 20 people, called Full Circle and meeting at various homes in Iowa City and Coralville, “inclusion” means welcoming gay and lesbian worshippers, she said.

Kusner said she believes many seeking her out will have left the Catholic Church because they disagreed with some of the doctrine.

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas (SOA) Watch in Fort Benning, Ga., was in Iowa City earlier this month to give her support. As a supporter of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Bourgeois has been threatened with excommunication but has not received a letter finalizing the threat.

“It's time that we implement a model of the church that we want to worship in,” Bourgeois said. “It's time to remember that we are the church, that those people in Rome are not the owners.”

Kusner has strong opposition. The Catholic Church does not allow the ordination of women. Canon Law calls for the immediate excommunication of anyone who tries to ordain a woman.

Bishop Martin J. Amos of the Diocese of Davenport, to which Catholic churches in Johnson County belong, asked in a statement issued this week that anyone in the diocese considering the idea “prayerfully reconsider any participation in the process or advocacy of ordaining women to holy orders.”

Probably the hardest opponents for her to face are closer to home. Although her husband and children support her, Kusner's parents do not. “It was heart-wrenching to get their reaction, to get a letter from them begging me not to do this,” Kusner said.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests has no main office but has regional offices in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Kusner went through seminary and watched many of female Catholic peers become pastors in Lutheran or Episcopal churches. “It didn't seem to make sense to spend all that time without getting ordained, but I knew at the time that I couldn't go to those other faiths,” she said. “I tried other faith traditions, I just can't not be a Catholic.”

The Catholic Church won't be celebrating one Iowa City resident's ordination next month.

In fact, neither the Diocese of Davenport nor the Vatican will even acknowledge Mary Kay Kusner's ordination through a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

That lack of institutional acknowledgment keeps Kusner, 50, motivated as she prepares for ordination by a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

“I believe Christ's intention was to have an inclusive church,” Kusner said. “I believe ‘catholic,' which means universal, needs to be a truly inclusive and welcoming church.”

Such a church, she said, would include the ordination of women.

Kusner, a self-described devout Catholic, is an ordained Catholic Church deacon and has been a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics chaplain for more than 20 years. She sees the irony in deciding to go against the church to which she's devoted her life.

But she's following the lead of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an eight-year-old movement of believers who say they are “reclaiming our ancient spiritual heritage” and shaping a more inclusive “Christ-centered Church of equals.”

In her small congregation of about 20 people, called Full Circle and meeting at various homes in Iowa City and Coralville, “inclusion” means welcoming gay and lesbian worshippers, she said.

Kusner said she believes many seeking her out will have left the Catholic Church because they disagreed with some of the doctrine.

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas (SOA) Watch in Fort Benning, Ga., was in Iowa City earlier this month to give her support. As a supporter of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Bourgeois has been threatened with excommunication but has not received a letter finalizing the threat.

“It's time that we implement a model of the church that we want to worship in,” Bourgeois said. “It's time to remember that we are the church, that those people in Rome are not the owners.”

Kusner has strong opposition. The Catholic Church does not allow the ordination of women. Canon Law calls for the immediate excommunication of anyone who tries to ordain a woman.

Bishop Martin J. Amos of the Diocese of Davenport, to which Catholic churches in Johnson County belong, asked in a statement issued this week that anyone in the diocese considering the idea “prayerfully reconsider any participation in the process or advocacy of ordaining women to holy orders.”

Probably the hardest opponents for her to face are closer to home. Although her husband and children support her, Kusner's parents do not. “It was heart-wrenching to get their reaction, to get a letter from them begging me not to do this,” Kusner said.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests has no main office but has regional offices in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Kusner went through seminary and watched many of female Catholic peers become pastors in Lutheran or Episcopal churches. “It didn't seem to make sense to spend all that time without getting ordained, but I knew at the time that I couldn't go to those other faiths,” she said. “I tried other faith traditions, I just can't not be a Catholic.”The Catholic Church won't be celebrating one Iowa City resident's ordination next month.

In fact, neither the Diocese of Davenport nor the Vatican will even acknowledge Mary Kay Kusner's ordination through a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

That lack of institutional acknowledgment keeps Kusner, 50, motivated as she prepares for ordination by a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

“I believe Christ's intention was to have an inclusive church,” Kusner said. “I believe ‘catholic,' which means universal, needs to be a truly inclusive and welcoming church.”

Such a church, she said, would include the ordination of women.

Kusner, a self-described devout Catholic, is an ordained Catholic Church deacon and has been a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics chaplain for more than 20 years. She sees the irony in deciding to go against the church to which she's devoted her life.

But she's following the lead of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an eight-year-old movement of believers who say they are “reclaiming our ancient spiritual heritage” and shaping a more inclusive “Christ-centered Church of equals.”

In her small congregation of about 20 people, called Full Circle and meeting at various homes in Iowa City and Coralville, “inclusion” means welcoming gay and lesbian worshippers, she said.

Kusner said she believes many seeking her out will have left the Catholic Church because they disagreed with some of the doctrine.

The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas (SOA) Watch in Fort Benning, Ga., was in Iowa City earlier this month to give her support. As a supporter of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Bourgeois has been threatened with excommunication but has not received a letter finalizing the threat.

“It's time that we implement a model of the church that we want to worship in,” Bourgeois said. “It's time to remember that we are the church, that those people in Rome are not the owners.”

Kusner has strong opposition. The Catholic Church does not allow the ordination of women. Canon Law calls for the immediate excommunication of anyone who tries to ordain a woman.

Bishop Martin J. Amos of the Diocese of Davenport, to which Catholic churches in Johnson County belong, asked in a statement issued this week that anyone in the diocese considering the idea “prayerfully reconsider any participation in the process or advocacy of ordaining women to holy orders.”

Probably the hardest opponents for her to face are closer to home. Although her husband and children support her, Kusner's parents do not. “It was heart-wrenching to get their reaction, to get a letter from them begging me not to do this,” Kusner said.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests has no main office but has regional offices in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Kusner went through seminary and watched many of female Catholic peers become pastors in Lutheran or Episcopal churches. “It didn't seem to make sense to spend all that time without getting ordained, but I knew at the time that I couldn't go to those other faiths,” she said. “I tried other faith traditions, I just can't not be a Catholic.”