VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican Wednesday threatened to excommunicate seven women who were ordained as Catholic priests last month in Austria by a bishop who is not recognized by the Holy See.
The Austrian, German and U.S. women, including one nun, were ordained in a ceremony on a boat witnessed by 300 people.
The Vatican, strictly opposed to the ordination of women, said the ceremony "constitutes the simulation of a sacrament and is thus invalid and null, as well as constituting a grave offense to the divine institution of the Church."
In a letter, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the women have until July 22 to acknowledge the nullity of the ceremony and "ask forgiveness for the scandal" or face excommunication.
"Such an action is an affront to the dignity of women, whose specific role in the Church and society is distinctive and irreplaceable," he said.
The controversial ceremony was presided over by Argentine bishop Romulu Braschi, the founder of a schismatic community.