A Vancouver Island woman says she's about to be ordained as Canada's first woman Roman Catholic priest.

Michele Birch-Conery is one of eight women from North America heading to Ontario this weekend to prepare for a special ordination ceremony on the waters of the St. Lawrence River -- one that will consequently draw attention to the Catholic church's policy against women priests.

"The church continues to take a stand that is against our human rights," Birch-Conery tells CTV Vancouver.

She says her faith remains as strong as ever, but under Catholic church canon law, women are prohibited from entering the priesthood.

Pope Benedict XVI has made it clear he won't bend the rule on the issue that's been in force in the church for two millennia.

But no Catholic diocese has jurisdiction in the international waters between the Ontario and U.S. border, where the ordination proceedings will be held on July 25.

Birch-Conery says she expects to be threatened with excommunication and that she doesn't expect to be invited to preach sermons at any local churches. But she's vowing to press on with the service in the name of human rights.

"It's time for this to happen. The time is now. We can't wait on it any longer," she says.

Father Glenn Dion of Vancouver's Holy Rosary Cathedral says the church has nothing against women. But he supports the Catholic tradition of reserving the holy pulpit for males only, and refuses to recognize the upcoming service.

"They might become women who went through some kind of a ceremony, but in terms of the Catholic teaching, they're incapable of becoming priests," Dion tells CTV Vancouver. "They don't have the intrinsic maleness to accomplish receiving that grace."

Dion says he wants to uphold the Catholic traditions and teachings that have been around for more than 2,000 years.

"The priesthood of Christ is a characterization of the man himself. Jesus was a man. And we are ordained as an imitation of Him, in the person of Christ," he adds.

"There's no ambivalence about that."

In 2002, seven women were quietly made bishops in Europe. When the Vatican found out, they were all excommunicated.

Birch-Conery says she's aware that she, too, may suffer the same fate. But she says she hopes the bold move she's about to embark on will one day unite those who share her faith.

"We can't skip addressing these gender, inequality issues in the church, or we're doomed to replicate those same systems over and over and over again," she says.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's St. John Alexander