Northbrook Woman Risks Excommunication to Become Priest

NORTHBROOK, IL—Susan Vaickauski's Catholic faith is so strong that she's willing to risk being excommunicated from the very church she holds dear in order to fulfill her calling to become a priest.

Phil Rockrohr of the Northbrook Star spoke with Vaickauski, 69, about her decision to be ordained June 11 by Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an organization that professes to challenge and break church laws that are unjust toward women. Vaickauski, who has been a member of Our Lady of the Brook's congregation since 1974, says she's wanted to be a priest all her life even though it has led her down a path that flies in the face of the Catholic Church's prohibition on women becoming ordained priests.

"For me, 'call' is this inner presence and movement that pushes me in a certain direction, and it is a presence and movement that I have no control over. So when I say I am called to priesthood, I am saying there is this profound 'something' that is more than myself that says, 'Yes, this is what I am asking you to do.' "

Vaickauski tells the Star she thinks she'll be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, even though church representatives haven't indicated they would do so.

Vaickauski's ordination is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at United Methodist Church, 1190 Western Ave., Northbrook.

More via Northbrook Star

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