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Do not fill this in! ==={{anchor|Women and clergy}}Holy orders and women=== {{Main|Ordination of women in the Catholic Church|Women in the Catholic Church}} Women and men religious engage in a variety of occupations, from contemplative prayer, to teaching, to providing health care, to working as missionaries.<ref name=nunsworldwide/><ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7227629.stm|title=Europe β Catholic nuns and monks decline|work=BBC News|date=5 February 2008|access-date=12 March 2013}}</ref> While [[Holy Orders]] are reserved for men, [[Catholic Church and women|Catholic women]] have played diverse roles in the life of the church, with religious institutes providing a formal space for their participation and [[convent]]s providing spaces for their self-government, prayer and influence through many centuries. [[Religious sisters]] and [[nun]]s have been extensively involved in developing and running the church's worldwide health and education service networks.<!--note original source did not match content, this partially covers most content.--><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/us/21nuns.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Kevin|last=Sack|title=Nuns, a 'Dying Breed,' Fade From Leadership Roles at Catholic Hospitals|date=20 August 2011}}</ref> Efforts in support of the [[Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women|ordination of women]] to the priesthood led to several rulings by the Roman Curia or popes against the proposal, as in ''[[Inter Insigniores|Declaration on the Question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood]]'' (1976), ''[[Mulieris Dignitatem]]'' (1988) and ''[[Ordinatio sacerdotalis]]'' (1994). According to the latest ruling, found in ''Ordinatio sacerdotalis'', [[Pope John Paul II]] affirmed that the Catholic Church "does not consider herself authorised to admit women to priestly ordination".<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html ''Apostolic Letter ''Ordinatio Sacerdotalis'' of John Paul II to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125234700/http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html |date=25 November 2015 }} Copyright 1994 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 25 March 2015</ref> In defiance of these rulings, opposition groups such as [[Roman Catholic Womenpriests]] have performed ceremonies they affirm as sacramental ordinations (with, reputedly, an ordaining male Catholic bishop in the first few instances) which, according to [[canon law]], are both illicit and invalid and considered mere ''simulations''<ref name="cann1379">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P54.HTM|title=Canon 1379|website=1983 Code of Canon Law|publisher=Vatican.va|access-date=17 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020161758/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P54.HTM|archive-date=20 October 2012}}</ref> of the sacrament of ordination.<ref name="RCWP">[http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/ordained.htm "Ordinations: Response Regarding Excommunication Decree"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201114453/https://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/ordained.htm |date=1 February 2019 }}. 2011 Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, Inc. Retrieved 5 June 2011</ref>{{refn|According to Roman Catholic Womanpriests: <!--quote-->"The principal consecrating Roman Catholic male bishop who ordained our first women bishops is a bishop with apostolic succession within the Roman Catholic Church in full communion with the pope."<ref name="RCWP"/><!--endquote-->|group=note}} The [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] responded by issuing a statement clarifying that any Catholic bishops involved in ordination ceremonies for women, as well as the women themselves if they were Catholic, would automatically receive the penalty of [[excommunication]] (''[[latae sententiae]]'', literally "with the sentence already applied", i.e. automatically), citing canon 1378 of [[canon law]] and other church laws.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican_decrees_excommunication_for_participation_in_ordination_of_women/|title=Vatican decrees excommunication for participation in 'ordination' of women|publisher=Catholic News Agency|date=29 May 2008|access-date=6 June 2011}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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