Fringe Catholics defy 'sacrament' by ordaining women

Calling it a defiance of an unbreakable Catholic "sacrament," the Vatican is distancing itself from a Toronto ceremony in which five women and a married man were ordained as priests and deacons.

The Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement, which describes itself as an initiative operating "within the Roman Catholic Church," performed the ordinations on Sunday.

But upon learning of the ceremony, the Roman Catholic Church — which traditionally teaches that only men can be ordained — has said it will not recognize the ordinations or the Womenpriests Movement.