VATICAN CITY
The Garden Island
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says an Austrian woman who defied church teaching by celebrating Mass has been excommunicated.
Vatican Radio said Thursday that Martha Heizer, a founder of the progressive We Are Church movement, was notified Wednesday by Innsbruck Bishop Manfred Scheuer that she and her husband, Gert, were excommunicated.
Celebrating Mass at their apartment defied church teaching that only a priest can celebrate Mass and that only a male can become a priest. Heizer advocates ending mandatory celibacy for priests and allowing women to become priests.
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