The ceremony, like several others that have taken place around the world over the past six years, was denounced by the Roman Catholic Church, and critics said the event was a stunt with no religious significance.

The Catholic Church has consistently taught that only men can be ordained as priests, and the Archdiocese of Boston said that the women who participated in yesterday’s ceremony had automatically excommunicated themselves by participating in what it said was an invalid ordination ceremony.

PITTSBURGH - Aboard the Majestic sailing the three rivers of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia's Eileen McCafferty DiFranco participated in a ceremony yesterday that organizers say makes her among the first group of women to be ordained a priest in the United States by the organization Roman Catholic Womenpriests.