Women priests secretly ordained in the shadow of the Vatican

ROME, Italy — On a barge on Rome's River Tiber, a stone's throw from the Vatican, Loan Rocher was "ordained" in a secret ceremony in defiance of the Catholic Church's ban on women deacons and priests.

Dressed in a white robe with a rainbow stole, the 68-year-old Frenchwoman acknowledged her ordination was unauthorized by the Vatican, where a month-long summit on the future of the Church concludes next week.

No matter, said Rocher, who is transgender.

"They've been repeating the same message for 2,000 years -- women are inferior, subordinate, invisible. It's okay. We've waited long enough, so I'm doing it now," Rocher told AFP.

Thursday's ceremony in three languages, organized with the utmost discretion in the presence of around 50 faithful from several countries, followed the same liturgy as an official mass, with readings from the Bible, singing and Communion.

Yet it was illegal in the eyes of the Church.

Even more, canonical law says the six ordinands -- three priests and three deacons, including Rocher and another transgender person -- should all be excluded from the Catholic community, along with the ceremony's other participants.

Such excommunication would be an unjustified sanction according to US "bishop" Bridget Mary Meehan.

She belongs to the group organising the event, which says it has performed 270 ordinations of women in 14 countries since its creation in 2002.

"For 22 years, we have worked hard to create a more inclusive, loving church where LGBTQ, divorced and remarried (people) -- everyone -- is welcome at the table. No-one is excluded," said Meehan, 76.

On the upper deck of the barge, the six candidates committed to "serving the people of God" before an altar decorated with candles and two crowns of flowers.

Then one by one, the members of the congregation laid their hands on the heads of the newly ordained to bless them.

In recent weeks, feminist associations have multiplied initiatives to put pressure on the ongoing Synod, which began in 2021 and is due to end this month.

The groups -- occasionally supported by theologians -- condemn the way women are marginalized by the patriarchal system, despite their central role in parishes around the