Only In America

I saw a headline that caught my eye, made me think I was dreaming and then piqued my curiosity:

WOMAN TO BE ORDAINED AS AMERICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH PRIEST

Anytime I see the words "woman", "ordained" and "priest" in the same line, I'm interested.

Add the word "Catholic" to that collection, and I know it's only a dream.

American Catholic Church? I'd never heard of it. Have you?

The AP story that followed the headline in the Northwest Alabama Times Daily explained that Maureen T. Sullivan, who heads the American Catholic Church of the United States' Holy Spirit Pastoral Center in Jacksonville, Alabama, will be ordained as the church's first female priest this Saturday.

The article also chronicles Sullivan's journey from the Roman Catholic Church to the ACCUS, and explains how the new church is distinctively more open.

"We allow everyone to come to the table - married priests, women priests, gays, lesbians, those who have been divorced," she says. "We don't tell people how to mold their conscience.

"Unfortunately, the Roman Church has silenced people for how they live. We will not."

I checked the ACCUS web site. Founded in 1999 in Maryland. 18 locations. (I never thought of a church having locations. Parishes and communities, yes. But, locations?) A short list of saints, seven sacraments and an order of the mass that looks similar yet different. The fundamental values are inclusive, proactive and compassionate.

That's all I know. I'm just curious.
How about you?

And, congratulations Rev. Sullivan!