Founder of Ordain Women excommunicated from Mormon Church by a panel of men

Founder of Ordain Women excommunicated from Mormon Church by a panel of men
(Image credit: George Frey/Getty Images)

Kate Kelly, the founder of a group that questions gender roles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was excommunicated on Monday on grounds of apostasy. The decision was made by an all-male panel in Northern Virginia.

A human rights attorney, Kelly, 33, started Ordain Women as a way of starting a discussion about women being able to join the Mormon priesthood, and has led public protests and training workshops to spread the word. While women can hold leadership positions in the church, only men can be called to the highest reaches as bishops, stake presidents, and members of the church's ruling bodies, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.