LORETO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — During a July Mass at the Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto for the Jubilee of Youth, a woman dressed in priestly garments participated in the Mass at the altar along with the concelebrants and appeared to lift her hands as if she were concelebrating the liturgy.
Video from the July 28 Mass, concelebrated by the bishops of the Marche region to commemorate the Jubilee of Youth, shows the unidentified woman (viewable in the link below beginning at 5:34), processing to the altar alongside the Catholic concelebrants of the Mass and may have attempted to “concelebrate” the Mass. In recent years, several female “priests” have been permitted to “concelebrate” Catholic Masses.
The Catholic Church teaches that it is impossible for women to receive validly the sacrament of holy orders. The Church also teaches that “ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation,” which the woman is likely a member of, do not have valid holy orders at all because of broken apostolic succession. They can neither confect the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist nor give absolution for sins.
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Canons 907 and 908 of the Code of Canon Law also expressly forbid the laity from offering the prayers of the Eucharist as well as prohibiting Catholic priests from concelebrating with non-Catholic ministers:
In the celebration of the Eucharist, deacons and lay persons are not permitted to say the prayers, especially the eucharistic prayer, nor to perform the actions which are proper to the celebrating priest.
Catholic priests are forbidden to concelebrate the Eucharist with priests or ministers of Churches or ecclesial communities which are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.
While the woman in the video is not wearing liturgical vestments, a congregant at the Mass told Italian website The Daily Compass that the woman extended her hand during the consecration, signifying her concelebration. While LifeSiteNews was unable to confirm this testimony, the woman notably raised her hands with the Catholic priests after the acclamation of the faithful (viewable at 50:02), suggesting she may have made the same gesture during the consecration.
The Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto did not respond to LifeSiteNews’ request for comment by publication time.
There have been several notable incidents of female “priests” attempting to concelebrate Catholic Masses in recent years. In 2022 at a Swiss parish, two women joined the clergy at the altar and attempted to concelebrate the Mass. One of them, parish leader Monika Schmid, went as far as reciting a modified Eucharistic prayer.
READ: Female Anglican bishop ‘concelebrates’ Mass with Catholic priests
In a more egregious episode in El Salvador earlier this year, a female Anglican “bishop” attempted to concelebrate a Mass honoring the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Saint Oscar Romero. The Apostolic Nuncio to El Salvador quickly issued a correction to this blatant violation of canon law.
