Associate pastor Mary Ramerman was removed from her job at a Corpus Christi, TX church for violating Vatican rules. Ramerman had served at the church for over a decade, lifting the communion cup and reciting prayers, actions considered violations when performed by women in the liturgy.
“My heart’s broken,” said Ramerman, who holds a master’s degree in theology. “I also feel angry with the church that it can’t stand up for what it believes in.” Callan had served at the Corpus Christi church for 22 years, raising attendance at Mass from 200 people in 1976 to nearly 4,000 today.
Rev. James Callan, who worked with Ramerman at the church, was reassigned to a parish in New York for conducting same-sex weddings, serving Holy Communion to non-Catholics, and allowing a woman a place on his church altar.
Ramerman says she will not abide by church officials’ request “not to go near the altar and not participate in the liturgy in any way except preaching, which is allowed in this diocese.”
“The reason that women are not allowed near the altar goes back in church history to a time when women were considered unclean and unholy,” she said. “Those feelings are still present in many ways in the church.”
