New Jersey ? An excommunicated Roman Catholic archbishop continued his defiance of the Vatican on Sunday when he ordained two married men as priests.

In front of a congregation that included nearly two dozen members of the media at the Trinity Reformed Church in West New York, Raymond A. Grosswirth of Rochester, N.Y., and Dominic Riccio, of Newark, were installed by Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo.

The men now will be able to perform the duties of a priest, such as administering last rites.

Joining Milingo at the altar were bishops from as far away as Brazil, the Philippines and Albania. Also in attendance were the Rev. Peter Paul Brennan and the Rev. Patrick Trujillo, two of four married men installed as Roman Catholic bishops by Milingo in September.

That act led to Milingo’s excommunication by the Vatican, and Pope Benedict XVI followed that decision by convening a summit that reaffirmed mandatory celibacy for clergy.