Kolkata :
It was a historic moment for the Diocese of Calcutta, Church of North India (CNI) on Sunday as Margaret Nilanjana Ali made it to the pulpit even as the diocese completed 200 years.
“It feels nice to be the first woman ordained as presbyter (priest) in the full time ministry of the Diocese of Calcutta, CNI. Rev Priscilla Papiya Durairaj was ordained earlier, but only in the part-time ministry,” Rev Ali told TOI.
The special service at St Paul’s Cathedral was officiated by Bishop Rt Rev Ashoke Biswas. On Sunday, he became the first bishop from the diocese to have ordained an Indian woman. Rev Biswas, a firm believer in gender equality, has been instrumental in having Ali take part in service along with the male priests.
Apart from Ali, the bishop ordained two male priests — Sebastian Hansda and Saikat Nath. At the ordination ceremony, he told the congregation, “Today is a very special day in the life of the Diocese of Calcutta. Ali, Hansda and Nath will now become Presbyter with God’s call upon their lives to serve.”
The solemn and elaborate oath-taking ceremony started at 6pm and continued till 7.30pm.
“Christianity was always a part of my growing up; my father (Rev John Nelson Ali) is a priest. My vocation evolved under his tutelage and today I feel complete,” Rev Ali said.
The clergy at Calcutta Diocese, the oldest diocese in the CNI, dating back to May 2, 1814, has been male-dominated and all a woman interested in theology could dream of was to become a lay worker in a parish or a deaconess.
Ordination of women remains a controversial issue in religious circles, either because of cultural prohibition, theological doctrine, or both.
In 1978, the ‘Movement for the Ordination of Women’ was founded in England. “There are a lot of women clergy now, and several women are entering theological colleges all over the world. But there are still pockets of resistance. If a woman felt that her vocation is to be a priest, she must be given the chance to explore the calling,” Rev Ali said.
The revolution came when a legislation for women priests was passed in 1994. On March 12 that year, the first batch of 32 women were ordained as priests of the Church of England.
As a priestess-designate, Ali was in charge of 40 children at the St Elizabeth Girls’ Hostel and had been attached to the Church of Epiphany where she gave sermons, read gospels and visited the sick as part of her grooming. She has been conducting services at St Paul’s Cathedral. She was groomed to succeed Margaret Macgregor, a Scottish woman who was the only other full-time priest.
“But she was white. I will be the first Indian priest from the diocese,” Rev Ali signed off.
source:http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / June 22nd, 2015