Fort Resolution (Apr 17/06) - Over the past four years, a woman has performed three wedding services at the Roman Catholic Church in Fort Resolution, a role normally reserved for priests.

However, Terry Villeneuve, 68, doesn't consider herself in the vanguard of any movement for women to one day become priests.

"I don't see myself that way," says the pastoral leader of St. Joseph's Parish.

Instead, she says her role is to help out when the Hay River priest is not available to perform a wedding ceremony.

"It was a necessary step," she says. "It happens that couples set their wedding dates and sometimes the priest in Hay River can't come."

She will be officiating at one or two more weddings this summer.

"I feel honoured to be doing it," she says. "I'm really enjoying it. I'm really thankful for the opportunity to work with the people."

Villeneuve, who has a certificate in theology from an Alberta college, says the reaction of the community and couples to a woman presiding at weddings has been positive.

She says most couples would prefer a priest. "But when you tell them the priest can't come, they sort of resolve themselves to it, especially when we're running short of priests."

Bishop Denis Croteau of the Diocese of Mackenzie says women have performed wedding ceremonies for seven or eight years in Catholic churches throughout the NWT.

Croteau explains the reason is a shortage of priests. There are just eight for 35 missions in the NWT.

"We have trained lay people to perform weddings," he says, noting the ceremonies are recognized by both the church and the territorial government.

"They do it just like a priest," he says.

The main difference is the lay people cannot offer a mass during the wedding ceremony. Instead, they do a prayer service of readings from scripture.

The bishop says the diocese has a list of 17 people, mostly women, who can perform weddings, funerals and baptisms, although they can't offer communion or hear confessions. They serve communities such as Norman Wells, Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, Deline, Tulita and Fort Good Hope.

Croteau says women offer such services in isolated areas elsewhere in Canada and the world.

However, he says it does not indicate a move towards women priests, noting the late Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have been clear about the role of women.

"They'll never be ordained to celebrate the Eucharist," Croteau says. "It's reserved for men."