Denise Wyss (born 11 September 1965) is a Swiss

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...

priestess and counselor. She was the first woman to be ordained in the Old Catholic Church. Prior to her ordination to the priesthood in 2000, Wyss served as a deaconess.

Biography

Wyss was born on 11 September 1965 and grew up in

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...

. Wyss was raised in the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith. She graduated from high school in 1984 and went on to study

Roman Catholic theology Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on Biblical canon, canonical Catholic Bible, scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by ...

at the

University of Lucerne The University of Lucerne (UNILU; German: ''Universität Luzern'') is a public university with a campus in Lucerne, Switzerland. 1,460 undergraduates and 1,258 postgraduate students attend the university, which makes it Switzerland's smallest un ...

from 1986 to 1988. She became uncomfortable with the hierarchical and patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church, later taking part in protests held by feminist students. Wyss did not identify with

feminist theology Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religi ...

, which she considered to be limiting. She later ended her studies and left the Catholic Church. In 1990, she converted to

Old Catholicism The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...

and, in 1995, completed her theological studies with the Old Catholic Theological Faculty of the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

. She was ordained as a

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited ...

in Solothurn in 1997 and passed her practical state examination in 1998. From 1998 to 2000, Wyss served as a parish leader at the Christ-Cathoic parish in Trimbach and was a deaconess at the parish of Baden-Brugg in 1999.

On 19 February 2000 she was ordained as an Old Catholic priest in a mass at the Franziskanerkirche in Solothurn. She is the first woman to be ordained by the Old Catholic Church. She was ordained by Archbishop

Antonius Jan Glazemaker Antonius Jan Glazemaker (19 April 1931 – 20 January 2018) served as the twenty-first Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, from 1982 to 2000. Born on April 19, 1931 to Old Catholic parents, Glazemaker was raised in the Netherlands during a peri ...

. In 2004, Wyss resigned from pastoral service in order to continue her education, but remained a member of the clergy. She started a practice as a psychological and spiritual counselor and, in 2007, resumed part-time duties as a priest in the Obermumpf-Wallbach parish. On 1 November 2008, she was appointed as a pastor in the Laufen parish. In July 2014, Wyss became the pastor of the Christ-Catholic parish of

Baselland Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...

. She is an advocate for

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

References

{{Authority control Living people 1965 births Former Roman Catholics People from Solothurn People in Christian ecumenism Priestesses Swiss Old Catholics Swiss priests University of Bern alumni University of Lucerne