Woman taking on Vatican for priesthood

CHICAGO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A 60-year-old woman in Chicago says she is set to face excommunication by the Vatican as part of her pursuit to become a priest.

Barbara Zeman said her planned participation in an ordination ceremony this weekend at a Protestant church in Chicago will directly violate a Roman Catholic Church ban on women entering the priesthood, The Chicago Tribune said Friday.

"I am disobeying an unjust law. I am following my conscience, and I am obeying God's call," Zeman said of her plan to begin the path to priesthood Saturday. "I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing this for the generations of women to come, because I don't want those women to have the fight that I've had."

The Roman Catholic Womenpriests event at St. Paul's United Church of Christ will feature the group declaring three women deacons as part of their goal to become Catholic priests.

The Tribune said the Vatican has already declared that any individuals taking part in such events will be excommunicated from the church.

"I'm not doing this unaware of the consequences. I'm aware," Zeman said of that threat. "I just think that the goal and the change are far greater than the consequences."