About Pink Smoke Over the Vatican

Pink Smoke Over the Vatican is a documentary film about the controversial movement of women seeking to be ordained as priests in the Roman Catholic Church. On June 3, 2008, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the modern name for The Holy Office of the Inquisition, issued a sweeping order of excommunication for "the crime of attempting sacred ordination of a woman.” Pink Smoke Over the Vatican chronicles the events that led up to this severe punishment and tells the stories of the determined women and men who, through the forbidden and illicit path of female ordination, are working to end the underlying misogyny and outdated feudal governance that is slowly destroying the Roman Catholic Church.

Pink Smoke Over the Vatican explores the complex ethical choices made by the women who are painfully discerning the difference between man’s law and God’s law. Their struggles encompass both the internal battles wrought by going against the Church they love as well as the external battles with the Church hierarchy, centuries-long tradition, police, and the rampant prejudice that still prevails against women in positions of power. But it is the impression that all have been undeniably touched by spirit that is certain to move both Catholics and the general public alike. Informative, beautifully filmed and edited, with a powerful soundtrack, this film will inspire any women or men who have experienced discrimination and marginalization to stand up to power, no matter the odds, and follow their true call.