ETYM Latin ordinatio: cf. French ordination.
The act of ordaining; SYN. ordaining.
Religious ceremony by which a person is accepted into the priesthood or monastic life in various religions. Within the Christian church, ordination authorizes a person to administer the sacraments.
Ordination of women.
Many Protestant denominations, such as the Methodists and Baptists, ordain women as ministers, as do many churches in the Anglican Communion. In 1988 the first female bishop was elected within the Anglican Communion (in Massachusetts, us). The Anglican church in England and Australia voted in favor of the ordination of women priests Nov 1992, and the first women priests were ordained in England 1994. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches refuse to ordain women.