A gathering of Mormon women were turned away on Saturday from entering an all-male meeting of priests at a conference at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints in Utah.
This is the second time the women have been denied entrance to the priesthood meeting and another setback in their attempts to gain religious equality in the eyes of the Mormon church, Reuters reported.
"This time it was more painful," Emma Tueller, a high school student who tried entering the meeting at the conference in the fall of 2013, told Reuters.
Tueller, 16, is a member of Ordain Women, an organization that calls for the church to allow women to enter the priesthood.
"I love this church and I think my personal gifts and my personal talents could be much better utilized if I had the priesthood," Tueller told Reuters.
Marching to the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square, where the church is located, members of Ordain Women were turned away, politely, by a church spokeswoman.
Church officials previously told Ordain Women they would prefer the group keep their issues away from the meeting, claiming it would take away the conference's "spirit of harmony," Reuters reported.
"Ordination of women to the priesthood is a matter of doctrine that is contrary to the Lord's revealed organization for His Church," said a letter from the church obtained by Reuters.
Ordain Women said they are against the church calling them protesters, and that their faith is strong and they deserve a greater role in the religion. A spokeswoman from the group told Reuters they have over 500 members.
"We're not activists. We're not protesters," Kate Kelly, a Mormon and co-founder of Ordain Women, told Reuters. "We're people on the inside. We are investing in an institution...not critiquing it to tear it down."
Joining the priesthood would allow Mormon women to have greater religious authority, performing ceremonies including baptisms, confirmations, blessings and the ability to lead congregations, Reuters reported.
