Episcopal Press and News
Old Catholic Church Ordains First Dutch Woman Priest
Episcopal News Service. October 6, 1999 [99-149E]
(ENI) The Netherlands' first woman priest was ordained on September 18. Grete Verhey-de Jager, was ordained in the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht by Archbishop Antonius-Jan Glazemaker.
"With women in office, I hope that there will be more integrity in the church, and also that ordinary churchgoers will relate more easily to the priest," said Verhey.
A report stated that Verhey's decision to seek ordination had not been her own. "The idea came from the people with whom I work daily," she said. Before being ordained, Verhey worked for the church in two small villages, Oudewater and Schoonhoven, and visited people in a local hospital.
The Old Catholic Church still has a special relationship with the Roman Catholic Church from which it broke away in the 18th century, and there is still partial recognition by the Vatican of the ordained clergy of the Old Catholic Church. However, Verhey said she expected the Vatican to declare her ordination invalid.
In an interview, she agreed that her ordination could be a new obstacle to relations between her church and the Roman Catholic Church. But she added, "What is the aim of ecumenism? If you want to unite with the Roman Catholic Church, you may as well stop most ecumenical activities. If your aim is to learn from each other's traditions, to enrich each other and to work together on special occasions, then why would my ordination be an obstacle?"
Nonetheless, she has no ambitions to become a bishop. "My strength and my biggest interest at this moment are pastoral work," Verhey said.
As recently as 1976 the International Bishops' Conference (IBC) -- uniting the leaders of the world's Old Catholic churches -- declared that the priesthood would not be opened to women. But in 1982 the IBC decided that women could become deacons, the first step on the way to priestly ordination. Then the Old Catholic Church in Germany ordained women priests, followed by the Old Catholic churches in Austria and Switzerland.