SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Mormon church excommunicated the founder of a prominent women's group Monday, a rare move that brings down the harshest punishment available on an adherent who created an organization and staged demonstrations in a push for women to join the faith's priesthood.
The ousting of Kate Kelly marks one of the most significant excommunications in recent church history and sends a warning to others publicly challenging church practice and forming groups around their cause, scholars who study Mormonism say.
"It does more than excommunicate Kelly," said Jan Shipps, a retired religion professor from Indiana who is a non-Mormon expert on the church. "It warns everybody."
Shipps said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is implementing "boundary maintenance," using Kelly as an example to show people how far they can go in questioning church practices.
Church officials had no immediate comment Monday.