When Pope Francis travels to Slovakia next week (September 12 - 15, 2021), he will visit his Jesuit brothers and likely recall the heroism of Jesuit priest, Ján Chryzostom Korec, who, under Communist rule, was secretly ordained a bishop (at the age of 27) and carried out his underground pastoral ministry - work that landed him in prison. Korec was later made a cardinal by John Paul II.
Yet, Pope Francis will not spend time with 89 year-old Ludmila Javorova, a Catholic woman who put her duty to care for the Church and God's people over her need for safety by becoming secretly and licitly ordained as a priest under the communist regime. Ordained in 1970 by Bishop Felix Davidek, Javorova became vicar general for a major branch of the underground Czech church for twenty years.
Ludmilla Javorova became the first woman ordained to the priesthood to tell her story publicly, confiding her experience in its entirety with Sr. Miriam Therese Winter who later published her authorized biography in 2001.
Join us as Sr. Miriam Therese Winter shares her story of meeting Ludmila. Learn how the story of her heroism unfolded between them and how their friendship deepened along the way. We will also discuss the implications of her clandestine ordination and the Vatican's effort to "erase" it because Ludmila was a priest who was a woman.
This story is important for women and men in the Church as Pope Francis journeys to meet Catholics in Slovakia and celebrate those who courageously protected and pastored Catholics when the times called for such selfless measures.
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