LAWRENCE — Tina Thompson found a different way to be Catholic.
She was ordained in November as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest, an international group that has tethered itself to the Catholic Church but isn’t officially recognized.
“This is about something so much bigger than me,” Thompson said in an interview on the Kansas Reflector podcast. “This is about women who want to show the world that we are the Roman Catholic Church.”
Thompson said she is the first Roman Catholic Woman Priest in Kansas, but she is one of hundreds of women Catholic priests around the world.
“We are still the church, but we are different in that we open the tent,” Thompson said. “We want everyone to feel like they are welcome.”
The organization’s mission focuses on ordaining mostly women who feel called to priesthood. It is often oriented toward social justice, Thompson said. The organization says its ordinations are valid because they have abided by apostolic succession, which refers to the transition of power from bishops and popes that originated with the Apostles. Each person who performs an ordination is connected to that line of authority.
A 10-member commission created by the late Pope Francis affirmed in a study made public earlier this month that women are not allowed to be ordained deacons, which are a rank below priests.
Thompson was raised Catholic. The religion was rooted in her family’s everyday. Her grandfather prayed each morning, she said. As she got older, Thompson drifted from the church. She did not condone its views, including those against divorce, women and same-sex marriage, and condemned its handling of cases of sexual abuse.
She was away from the church for roughly 20 years, but she said Catholicism was always a part of her.
“It sort of gets in your DNA,” she said.
It wasn’t until her 60s that Catholicism piqued her interest again.
It came after Thompson lost her younger brother unexpectedly. Reflecting upon his death, Thompson said he never lost his faith, even in the face of addiction and health issues. Following his burial, she began searching online for Catholic woman priests. She said she felt called to do something bigger, which led her to the organization.
Women priests do not perform their duties in Catholic churches, and they cannot be officially ordained in one either. They are not recognized and are often excommunicated from the Catholic Church if they are heavily involved before their ordination as Roman Catholic women priests.
“We’re just a schism, as they say,” Thompson said.
Thompson was ordained at Lawrence’s Unity Church, a religious movement founded in Kansas City, Missouri, that blends Christianity with spiritualism, emphasizing inclusivity, a loose approach to worship and embracing personal transformation.
Thompson said she loves the Catholic Church’s sacraments, celebration of the Eucharist and singing.
“If you said, ‘Well, go be an Episcopal priest,’ it’s not the same. It’s just not the same,” Thompson said. “And I believe the Roman Catholic institutional church could be so much more, and I don’t want to give up on the church.”
A lot of good things come out of the traditional Catholic Church, Thompson said, “but they’re misguided in so many ways. And male-guided, in so many ways.”
Her ministry as a priest isn’t yet clear. She said she gravitates toward art and ensuring an inclusive spiritual practice, but she also said she doesn’t want to limit herself so early into her priesthood. Ultimately, priests “want everyone to feel this mystery,” she said. But it can be difficult to explain.
“Faith is about being together,” she said,” and celebrating in community and recognizing the gifts that we each have to offer to make the world a much better place.”
This story was originally published by the Kansas Reflector.
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