Ordination of Catholic Feminist Writer

The Independent Catholic Movement is made-up of an independent sacramental movement of clergy who identify as Catholic and claim apostolic succession and sacraments but reject Papal infallibility which they believe to be unbiblical.

Originally this movement began in the Netherlands in the 18th century when the See of Utrecht refused to obey papal authority and its clergy were excommunicated.

Later Catholics who disagreed with papal infallibility joined with the See of Utrecht to form the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches and, since then, Old Catholicism has spread throughout the world.

St Brigid of Kildare

Today, however, the Independent Catholic Movement has spread beyond the original Old Catholic churches and now includes other churches which claim apostolic succession such as the Liberal Catholic Church; The Czechoslovak Hussite Church and the Open Episcopal Church.

In addition to the Independent Catholic Movement there is also the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests which prepares and ordains Roman Catholic women to serve as priests. Sadly, the women are automatically excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church on ordination but they continue to serve people as and when asked to do so.

Debra Maria Flint will be ordained in two churches which are part of the Independent Catholic Movement and these are the Open Episcopal Church and the Old Catholic Apostolic Church. Debra has written two books about the history of women in the Catholic Church and has chosen 1st February as her ordination date because this is the Feast Day of St Brigid of Kildare. Little is definitely known about St Brigid but she did live in the 5th century which was a time when women had much more influence in the Catholic Church and she is therefore frequently seen as a symbol Catholic feminism. Debra states:

‘In the early Church women were ordained as both deacons and priests. The ordination of women as priests was suppressed in the third and fourth centuries by rising patriarchal movements and this is evidenced both by the records of the Synod of Laodicea and the writings of Tertullian. The ordination of women as deacons continued in the East until the tenth century when it fell into disuse.

Rev'd Debra Maria Flint

However, in the West, the ordination of women as deacons was also suppressed. This can clearly be seen in the records of the Synod of Epaone (517 AD) where Canon 21 clearly states that the synod is abolishing the female deaconate.

The refusal by the Roman Catholic Church to ordain women is therefore not true to the teachings of Jesus and we, in the Independent Catholic Movement, are calling on Rome to at least restore the female deaconate.

The Greek Orthodox Church is now in the process of restoring this vocation and the Roman Catholic Church therefore stands alone in its refusal to ordain women.’

Debra currently works as a voluntary chaplain to nursing homes in the Scottish and English border area and she plans to continue with this work, as well as her writing, after her ordination. She states:

Holy Island of Lindisfarne

‘Individuals are called to be ordained in order to follow God and to serve their fellow human beings and ordination is about service not power or genitalia. My mission is to write in order to make history, in regards to female ordination, known and also to serve elderly people in the Scottish and English border areas. I am honoured to serve God in this way and am very pleased that people are attending my ordination not only from the English and Scottish border areas but also from London, Somerset and Birmingham and from other countries such as Ireland and the US.’

Rev. Debra Maria Flint is a Catholic Feminist Writer. Her most recent book, ‘No Place for a Woman’ was written in Barr, South Ayrshire.