Sarah Bjorknas, Vancouver

There was a spontaneous, loud and exuberant outpouring of joy at Lakeview Multicultural United Church in Vancouver on Sunday, July 29, 2012. The source of the joy and celebration was the ordination of Victoria (Vikki) Marie as a Roman Catholic Womanpriest. This ordination, performed by Bishop Marie Bouclin of Sudbury, Ontario and blessed by the whole assembly, marks the welcoming of the 10th Roman Catholic Womanpriest to serve with the faithful in Canada and the first for Vancouver.
   Rev. Dr. Vikki Marie is a founding member of the Vancouver Catholic Worker community, has training as a spiritual director, as well as experience in community development and working with people in recovery from addiction.

There was a spontaneous, loud and exuberant outpouring of joy at Lakeview Multicultural United Church in Vancouver on Sunday, July 29, 2012. The source of the joy and celebration was the ordination of Victoria (Vikki) Marie as a Roman Catholic Womanpriest. This ordination, performed by Bishop Marie Bouclin of Sudbury, Ontario and blessed by the whole assembly, marks the welcoming of the 10th Roman Catholic Womanpriest to serve with the faithful in Canada and the first for Vancouver.
   Rev. Dr. Vikki Marie is a founding member of the Vancouver Catholic Worker community, has training as a spiritual director, as well as experience in community development and working with people in recovery from addiction.
   She was born in Brooklyn NY to a family of African American and Native American heritage. Her life experiences have given her a deep and compassionate understanding of how people can be marginalized in our world. It is the recognition of how this plays out in the Catholic church that drew her into the circle of the Roman Catholic Womanpriests movement.
   Prior to her ordination, Vikki was contacted by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Vancouver. In response to the question of why marginalized Catholics don’t join some other church rather than follow their desire to worship in the Catholic tradition, Vikki told the church official, “because they are Catholic.”
   For many Catholics who’ve struggled to connect their relationship with the Creator to their liturgical expression of that faith, this is very important. Dissatisfaction with institutional forms and practices can be found in every denomination of Christianity. That is a reflection of the human nature of organizing. So to simply ‘choose’ one institution over another doesn’t satisfy us when we’ve come to appreciate and find meaning in the way we worship in the Catholic tradition.
   Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) have brought changes in language and the definition of ministry to Catholic worship that are both beautiful and life-giving.  Through the ability to flatten institutional structures, to encourage all of us to work in circles of faith and community, and the call to recognize and honour the gifts that all of us have, RCWP is leading us to something more than a ‘church’. We are growing into true communities of shared faith and worship, capable of and called to engage in spiritual, intellectual and physical activities that support one another in all aspects of our lives.
   Vikki’s ordination was attended by a broad cross-section of the local community, including ministers from the Anglican, United, Lutheran and Mennonite traditions. The outpouring of interest in and support of her ministry is evidence of the deep need and acknowledgement of the call to “vibrant grassroots communities where all are equal and all are welcome.”
   Vikki will lead worship in and minister to the newly formed Our Lady of Guadalupe Tonantzin faith community in Vancouver as well as to the Vancouver Catholic Worker community and wherever the Spirit leads her.