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Catholic women ordained in Phila. despite censure

Two Roman Catholic woman were ordained yesterday, one as a deacon, the other as a priest, in the sanctuary of Congregation Mishkan Shalom, a Reconstructionist Jewish synagogue in Roxborough, Senior Rabbi Linda Holtzman said.

Two Roman Catholic woman were ordained yesterday, one as a deacon, the other as a priest, in the sanctuary of Congregation Mishkan Shalom, a Reconstructionist Jewish synagogue in Roxborough, Senior Rabbi Linda Holtzman said.

The ceremony was the first ordination of women in Philadelphia. On Friday, it elicited a one-page denunciation from Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia.

Mary Schoettly, 66, of Sussex County, N.J., was ordained a priest. Chava Redonnet, 51, of Rochester, N.Y., became a deacon.

About 200 attended, Holtzman said. "It was really beautiful," she said. - Harold Brubaker