Media Advisory: Ordain Women, Yes We Can!

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For Immediate Release: September 28, 2024

Women’s Ordination Worldwide returns to Rome to appeal to Pope Francis & Synod delegates

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW), in collaboration with the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), is excited to announce a series of events to take place in Rome during the October 2024 Synod of Bishops. 

These events aim to raise global awareness and advocate for the full inclusion of women in the Roman Catholic Church, particularly through priestly ordination. As the Vatican convenes the second session of the Synodal Congress, WOW remains steadfast in its call for the renewal of oppressive systems, and the opening of all doors for the vocations of women to be fully recognized, celebrated, and honored within the sacramental life of the Church.

Through these creative actions, WOW’s global members will stand as a visible, prayerful, and determined witness to the Church’s urgent need for reform.

Key Events in Rome:

  • Tuesday, 1st October - 3 pm 

The synthesis report from the first session of the synod writes: In Christ, women and men are clothed with the same baptismal dignity (Gal 3:28) and receive equally the variety of gifts of the Spirit. We are called together into a communion of loving, non-competitive relationships in Christ, and to a co-responsibility to be expressed at every level of the Church’s life.  

Inspired by these themes, we will host a prayer vigil on the eve of the Synod, reflecting on women’s baptismal equality. Featuring the testimonies of women worldwide, we will share stories of vocation, hope, and deep prayer for a church that fully expresses women’s co-responsibility at every level. 

  • Wednesday, October 2nd 8 a.m. - 9 a.m.

    • “Women Can Be Priests” witness and prayer

    • Activists will gather along Lungotevere Castello, angolo Largo dei Mutilati Ed Invalidi di Guerra

On the opening day of the Synod, advocates for women’s ordination will witness in a colorful and creative way to remind the Vatican that women’s contributions can no longer be dismissed or delayed. Through art, action, and community, we will embody the spirit of hope and equality.

  • Friday, 4th October - afternoon

    • “Why not me?” Action and Greeting of Synod Delegates

Women’s Ordination Worldwide, Women’s Ordination Conference, Catholic Women’s Council and other supporters will gather prayerfully  to witness with a simple yet powerful question for participants in the Synod: "Why not me?" Our witness carries the hopes of so many women who long to fulfill their call to ordained ministry. We ask the church to confront the inadequacy and injustice of its prohibition of women’s ordination, and take seriously the gifts, vocations, and baptismal equality of women in the church. We have invited delegates of the synod to stand in solidarity with us. 

  • October 2-26, at 7 PM (Rome time), WOW members will gather in solidarity and prayer outside St. Peter’s with baptismal candles, symbolizing our collective commitment to the renewal of the Church. This nightly vigil invites Catholics everywhere to light candles in their own homes and parishes, standing with us in prayer for a more inclusive and collaborative Church.

For more information, please contact:

Kate McElwee
Women’s Ordination Conference
Phone: +39 393 692 2100 or +1 607-725-1364
Email: kmcelwee@womensordination.org 

Miriam Duignan
Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research
Phone: +44 7970 926910
Email: miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

Background: 

Founded in 1996 at the First European Women's Synod in Austria, Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is an ecumenical network of national and international groups whose primary mission at this time is the admission of Roman Catholic women to all ordained ministries. Member groups of WOW that will be present in Rome include: 

Catholic Network for Women’s Equality (Canada)

Catholic Women’s Ordination (UK)

Women’s Ordination Conference (USA)

Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research (Global)

Roman Catholic Women Priests (Global)

As well as individual members from India and Poland.

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Women’s Ordination Advocates March to the Vatican asking: Pope Francis, How Long Must Women Wait for Equality? 05 October 2023

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Women’s Ordination Advocates March to the Vatican asking: Pope Francis, How Long Must Women Wait for Equality?

05 October 2023
For Immediate Release
Rome, Italy

On October 6, the Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) will lead a procession through Rome toward the Vatican calling upon the Catholic Church to open all ordained ministries to women.

Activists from around the world will assemble on the steps of the Roman church that contains a relic of Saint Mary Magdalene’s foot. The inscription by the reliquary reminds us that her’s was ‘the first foot to be entered into the tomb of the risen Christ.’ Recognised by the Vatican as the ‘Apostle to the Apostles’, Mary Magdalene is the model of priesthood for women, empowered by Jesus to 'go and tell’ his followers the Good News of his Resurrection. The women of WOW walk in her footsteps, urging the church to listen to the voices of women calling out for equality’.

In the spirit of Pope Francis’ ongoing Synod on Synodality, a meeting to discern and attend to the needs of the church today, the demonstration will make visible the injustice of women’s exclusion from full participation in the life of the church.

If the church is truly listening, it must walk with women—especially those who have discerned a sincere call to priesthood— throughout the synodal process and recognize the vibrant and necessary gifts they bring to the church. If the church is to attend to larger issues of oppression, violence, and injustice in the world, it must begin with affirming women’s equality.

When: Friday, October 6th. Activists will gather at 2.30pm and begin to march at 3pm.

Where: Route begins at San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (Via Acciaioli, 2). We will proceed to Lungotevere Castello (where we have a permit to demonstrate) and some will attempt to process toward St. Peter’s Square, risking police interference.

What: “Walk with Women” is a witness organized by Women’s Ordination Worldwide, calling the institutional Catholic church to walk with women as equals and open all ordained ministries to people of all genders.

Who: Founded in 1996, Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is an international network of organizations and groups whose mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’(Galatians 3:28)

Press Contacts:

Kate McElwee
+ 1 607 725 1364
or + 39 393 692 2100
kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Miriam Duignan
+ 44 7970 926910
miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

Background: Women’s Ordination Worldwide has actively and faithfully engaged with the discernment of the Synod, encouraging broad and hope filled participation by women in the process, despite the Vatican’s minimal credibility in truly listening to the voices, vocations, and concerns of women.  Yet against these odds, synod reports from all corners of the church have lifted up the call for women’s ordination, both as a pastoral need and as a matter of justice.  WOW is hopeful that the inclusion of women in ordained ministry is clearly high on the agenda, and prays that the Holy Spirit is not constrained by misogyny, clericalism, or fear.

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently  includes representatives from Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, South Africa,  and the United States.

Campaigners mark the start of the Synod with women-led liturgy in Catholic Basilica and demonstration outside the Vatican 04 October 2023

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Campaigners mark the start of the Synod with women-led liturgy in Catholic Basilica and Demonstrating Outside the Vatican

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Rome, Italy

Today marks the beginning of an unprecedented four-week long Synod where bishops and lay people will discuss the formerly taboo issue of women’s ordination and the need for women’s full participation in the life of the church. For the first time ever, Catholic women will be able to vote alongside men in an attempt to respond to the needs of the church today.

On October 3rd, the eve of the synod, Women’s Ordination Worldwide, an international group that advocates for the opening of all ordained ministries to women, gathered in the Catholic Basilica of St. Praxedes in Rome to pray for the radical inclusion of women in the church. Through personal testimonies, prayer, and preaching, women spoke of the heartbreak and  injustice of being barred from ministry on account of their gender.   (Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dy3Lm56Qow)

As Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality opened at the Vatican this morning, nearly forty women from across four continents opened a large purple banner with the message, “Ordain Women,” in the shadows of the Vatican. A symbolic reference to the synod’s preparatory document urging the church to “Enlarge the space of your tent…” (Isaiah 54:2), women’s ordination advocates called upon the synod assembly to make room for the voices and vocations of women called to ordained ministry.

“Our presence is a witness to the global calls for women’s ordination, both as a pastoral need and a matter of justice,” said Kate McElwee, the executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, and one of the coordinators of the action. “We ask that the synod attend to the painful injustice of women’s exclusion from ordained ministry with fierce urgency, making room in the ‘synodal tent’ for the living reality that God calls women to serve the church as priests and deacons.”

“Last night, we stood on holy ground, resuming women’s rightful place at the altar and sending a strong message to the Vatican that women can no longer be silenced and excluded from their own church.” said Miriam Duignan, member of the leadership team for Women’s Ordination Worldwide.

Our actions continue on Friday, October 6th at 3pm with a women’s march. Route begins at San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (Via Acciaioli, 2) processing via Lungotevere Castello (where we have apermit to gather) and will conclude at St. Peter’s Square

Contact:

Kate McElwee +1 607-725-1364
or  +39 393 692 2100 
kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Miriam Duignan +44 7970 926910
miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

Background:

Women’s Ordination Worldwide has actively and faithfully engaged with the discernment of the Synod, encouraging broad and hope filled participation by women in the process, despite the Vatican’s minimal credibility in truly listening to the voices, vocations, and concerns of women.  Yet against these odds, synod reports from all corners of the church have lifted up the call for women’s ordination, both as a pastoral need and as a matter of justice.  WOW is hopeful that the inclusion of women in ordained ministry is clearly high on the agenda, and prays that the Holy Spirit is not constrained by misogyny, clericalism, or fear.

The men are talking, the women are walking! Advocates for women’s ordination launch prayerful demonstrations in Rome and respond to the dubious dubia

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The men are talking, the women are walking! Advocates for women’s ordination launch prayerful demonstrations in Rome and respond to the dubious dubia: 03 October 2023

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Rome, Italy
03 October 2023

As Women’s Ordination Worldwide launches a series of demonstrations to mark the opening of the Synod on Synodality, senior clerics remain fixated on silencing and excluding women.

Five cardinals have submitted a new set of five dubia (doubts) to Pope Francis focusing on women’s ordination, as well as the blessing of same-sex unions and the authority of the synod to issue binding teaching.

Their concern about women is: Could the Church in the future have the faculty to confer priestly ordination on women, thus contradicting that the exclusive reservation of this sacrament to baptized males belongs to the very substance of the Sacrament of Orders, which the Church cannot change?

This fearful reaction is no doubt a response to the synodal listening sessions where the majority of parishes around the world raised their own question for the Catholic hierarchy, namely: How long must women wait for equality? The call for women’s ordination was heard around the world as both a pastoral need and a matter of justice.

In his response to the dubia, Pope Francis stated that Pope John Paul II’s teaching that the ban on women’s ordination to the priesthood must be definitively held is not a dogmatic definition, and yet it must be adhered to by all. Francis said no one can contradict it publicly, and yet it can be a subject of study.

To this, WOW, responds: women do not need to be the subject of further study. If the synodal process has revealed anything to the global church so far, it is that women must be protagonists in the collective discernment of the movements of the Holy Spirit. The days of Catholics being silenced are over, and such treatment, especially of women, does not align with the collective call of a synodal church to attend to the urgent injustices in our church.

Those five cardinals are right to be worried: Pope Francis has now confirmed that the ban on women priests is not dogma. We recognise that further study is a stalling tactic but trust that the ever increasing calls for justice will lead to the restoration of women’s equal ministry sooner rather than later.

And we will not stop, we will not be silenced. WOW will continue to publicly demonstrate to send a clear message that our church can no longer be ruled over by a small but influential minority of hard-line clerics who have an unhealthy fixation on maintaining an all-male hierarchy despite the fact that this is clearly contrary to the intentions of Christ, the practise of the early Church and the will of the people they are supposed to serve.
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Press Contacts:

Kate McElwee
+ 1 607 725 1364
or + 39 393 692 2100
kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Miriam Duignan
+ 44 7970 926910
miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

WOW’s Synodal Demonstrations:

As Pope Francis convenes the historic Synod on Synodality this October, Women’s Ordination Worldwide, and global partners, will host several events on the prophetic edges of the Vatican with the simple message for Pope Francis and the synod assembly: walk with women as equals.  Details below.

Tuesday, 3rd October - 4:30 pm GMT +2

Prayer vigil: Let Her Voice Carry
Live-Streamed: https://www.youtube.com/ordainwomen

Location of the vigil not widely publicised due to security concerns. Any media who would like to attend should contact us directly.

We will host a prayer vigil featuring the stories and testimonies of women worldwide praying for the courageous inclusion of women’s voices during the synodal gathering. Following the prayer service, WOW invites attendees and press to a drinks reception. (For details please contact us)

Wednesday, 4th October -  7:30- 8:30 am GMT +2

Widen the space of your tent action and delivery to Synod Office

Lungotevere Castello (Angolo Largo dei Mutilati ed Invalidi di Guerra)

On the opening day of the Synod, advocates for women’s ordination will offer a visual display of the synodal tent in a message that reflects the Synod’s official mission statement to Enlarge the space of your tent (Isaiah 54:2). We will then process to the Synod office and deliver more than 1000 symbolic squares of extra material for the Vatican to enlarge the space of their tent to include the voices of those who support opening all ordained ministries to all genders. Each piece of fabric represents a person from the grassroots calling for a larger, colorful, wide-open tent where all are included.

Friday, 6th October - 3 pm (activists gather at 2:30) GMT+2

Walk with Women: March to the Vatican
Route begins at San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (Via Acciaioli, 2) via Lungotevere Castello

and concludes at St. Peter’s Square

At the Opening Mass of the Synod in 2021, Pope Francis said: ‘The Holy Spirit always surprises us, to suggest fresh paths and new ways of thinking.’ Let’s make our Walk with Women a fresh path to full equality in the church.

Global advocates for women’s ordination will process from the site of a relic of the foot of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles, and walk peacefully to St. Peter’s Square. Inspired by US suffragist movements, advocates will carry messages such as: Pope Francis, How Long Must Women Wait for Equality? and Resistance to Patriarchy is Obedience to God.

Background:

Women’s Ordination Worldwide has actively and faithfully engaged with the discernment of the Synod, encouraging broad and hope filled participation by women in the process, despite the Vatican’s minimal credibility in truly listening to the voices, vocations, and concerns of women.  Yet against these odds, synod reports from all corners of the church have lifted up the call for women’s ordination, both as a pastoral need and as a matter of justice.  WOW is hopeful that the inclusion of women in ordained ministry is clearly high on the agenda, and prays that the Holy Spirit is not constrained by misogyny, clericalism, or fear.

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently  includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada,  France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, South Africa,  and the United States.

Women's Ordination Worldwide Responds to Voting Rights for a Handful of Women

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide Responds to Handful of Voting Rights for Women

Press Release For Immediate Release
28 April 2023:

The Vatican has taken a step in the right direction with its decision to grant a small group of non-ordained people, including women, voting rights in the October 2023 Synod General Assembly,

This breakthrough is the result of decades of unrelenting advocacy by people who believe in the teachings and leadership modelled by Jesus. The shift signals rising awareness in Church leadership that our all-male priesthood amounts to a rejection of women’s baptismal equality. The exclusively male priesthood and hierarchy continue to stand today as an exemplar to the world of an international bastion of sexism.

If our Church is to become the discipleship of equals that we are called to be, we must go much further. While Pope Francis' decision to appoint a small number of women to the voting ranks contributes to the painfully slow grinding down of anti-woman practices that corrupt the official Church, it is not enough. The continuing exclusion of women from priesthood is an injustice that undermines our Church’s moral authority around the world.

We note how eager Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich was to stress this announcement constituted an important change but 'not a revolution.' He sought to reassure his clerical colleagues that the synod itself would continue to have a majority of bishops making decisions: 'Change is normal in life and history. Sometimes there are revolutions in history, but revolutions have victims. We don't want to have victims.'

We urge caution in expecting radical inclusivity anytime soon without putting further pressure on the Vatican to recognise that it is Catholic women who suffer the consequences of institutional sexism and not the priests and Bishops who fear becoming ‘victims’ by virtue of a handful of women sharing in decision making.

Women's Ordination Worldwide will continue to work for the day when the conscience of Church leadership is moved to open doors to women, as it has to men, who long to be heard and to serve their church as equals in Christ.

Until then, we will carry on.

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide Media Contacts:

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, and the United States.

Women's Ordination Worldwide Responds to Death of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI

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Women's Ordination Worldwide responds to death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI


PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 31, 2022

Today, Women’s Ordination Worldwide marks the death of Joseph Ratzinger, an academic who understood church history better than most and began his clerical life as a liberal theologian knowing  full well that women were equal founding leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. However, as head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office for decades, and later as pope, Benedict XVI caused immense harm through his fixation on the ‘crimes’ of  Catholics seeking equality, inclusion and justice.


We lament the fact that Pope Benedict died without apologizing for silencing his fellow theologians and women's ordination campaigners who dared to question his increasingly extreme positions on women’s ordained ministry. In particular, we call to mind Pope Benedict’s 2010 decision to classify the “attempted ordination of a woman” as a grave crime, on a par with the sexual abuse of a child, but with the punishment of automatic excommunication for women.


We extend our sympathy and solidarity to the survivors of abuse by clergy and note that Pope Benedict’s tolerance for the crimes of male priests was in sharp contrast to his determination to punish those who challenged his absolute intolerance for the equality of women.


We pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict and for the healing of divisions that his intransigent theology deepened within the church.
 

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide Media Contacts:

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, and the United States.

Women's Ordination Advocates Detained at Vatican

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 29, 2022

 

On August 29, as Pope Francis convened an extraordinary two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals, a delegation of Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) processed towards the Vatican carrying red parasols with messages of inclusion and reform. Making their way toward the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the women welcomed the prelates with the message: “Remember your sisters who remain outside.” WOW is an international leader in creative, prayerful action bringing visibility to the urgent need for the full equality of women in the Catholic church.

After respectfully greeting several cardinals, the group was detained and later escorted across St. Peter’s Square to the local police station. The parasols, which in part read: “Sexism is a cardinal sin;” “Ordain women;” “Reform means women;” and “It’s reigning men,” were confiscated and the international group of seven women were detained for more than four hours, released “pending investigation.” 

Meanwhile, the male prelates met behind closed doors to discuss Pope Francis’ reorganization of the Vatican’s governing departments, which allows for the expansion of leadership roles to include women in positions once reserved for bishops and cardinals. Despite comprising more than half of the world’s 1.36 billion Catholics, no women were invited to be in dialogue with the cardinals about their own inclusion. 

WOW prays that today’s witness stirs the collective conscience of church leadership to open its doors to women who long to be heard and to serve their church as equals in Christ. 

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CONTACT: 

Kate McElwee, Executive Director, Women's Ordination Conference

 +1 607-725-1364 or +39 393 692 2100; kmcelwee@womensordination.org 

Miriam Duignan, Communications Director, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research: +44 7970 926910;  miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com  

Founded in 1975, the Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) is the oldest and largest organization working to ordain women as deacons, priests, and bishops into an inclusive and accountable Roman Catholic Church. A feminist voice for women in the church, WOC is a grassroots-driven movement that promotes activism, dialogue, and prayerful witness to call for women's full equality in the church.

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, and the United States.

Women’s Ordination Worldwide light up the Vatican: Campaigners shine a light on the Vatican’s exclusion of women ahead of historic meeting

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For Immediate release: 27 August 2022 

On the eve of Pope Francis’ all-male consistory, Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) shined a bright light on one of the greatest cons-in-history: the exclusion of women from ordained ministry. In a stealth operation on the night of Friday August 26, WOW assembled in the shadow of St. Peter’s to draw attention to those who were not invited to be present.

Following the creation of 20 new cardinals, Pope Francis has called an extraordinary consistory for the world’s cardinals to discuss his new Apostolic Constitution in a closed door session. The reforms significantly expand leadership roles once reserved for cardinals and bishops to laypeople, including women, who will ironically be left out of the meeting. Nevertheless, extraordinary women are making themselves present outside those doors.   

On the morning of Monday, August 29, WOW will welcome the male cardinals with some delicate reminders that the world is watching and will see that an all-male consistory is a shameful display of discrimination. 

The following quotes are from members of the WOW delegation in Rome: 

“The ever-moving Holy Spirit is calling us to be a more just, inclusive, and transparent church. The church cannot fly with one wing, cannot “journey together” behind closed doors, and cannot model Jesus by excluding women. Jesus counted women as partners in ministry. We ask church leaders to do the same.”  — Kate McElwee, Women’s Ordination Conference (USA) 

“We are lighting the way to a renewed model of priesthood and servant leadership in a church where all are welcome and all are equal. We stand outside with and for all women who have no voice and no vote, yet represent more than half the church.” — Kathleen Gibbons Schuck, Roman Catholic Women Priests (International)

“Women, who constitute more than half the Catholic church and the world’s population, are barred from the sacramental life of and highest leadership roles in the church. We’re here to shed light on this injustice.”  — Rhiannon Parry Thompson and Pat Brown, Catholic Women’s Ordination (UK)   

“The church calls us to pray for more vocations to the priesthood, yet it chooses to ignore the vocations already here. The church wastes the gifts of women, who are called to sacramental ministries and ready to lead.”  — Alicja Baranowska, WOW individual member (Poland)

“The Vatican’s cover-up of the history of women’s founding role and leadership in the early centuries of the church is a con that must be challenged. Expert theologians, including those inside the Vatican, have concluded there is no scriptural justification for the banishing of women;  it is a choice and it can and must be changed.” — Miriam Duignan, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research (International)

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Media contacts: 

Kate McElwee +1 607-725-1364 or +39 393 692 2100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org 

Miriam Duignan: +44 7970 926910; miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com 

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, and the United States.


Catholic Campaigners call for solidarity on International Women’s Day  

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March 8th, 2022 

 Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is marking International Women’s Day by calling for the all-male leadership of the Catholic Church to show true solidarity with women by recognising them as equals. 

Yesterday Pope Francis appealed for peace in Ukraine and sent two representatives to the border saying: "The presence of the two cardinals is the presence not only of the pope, but of all the Christian people who want to get closer and say: 'War is madness!” We echo the Pope’s call for peace and would love to see women standing alongside those cardinals as spiritual leaders who would then truly represent all Christian people. 

While their presence and solidarity is significant, peace demands justice.  The exclusion of women from priesthood is an injustice that undermines the Church's moral authority in peace-making. So long as the Vatican refuses to embrace women as co-equals in leadership - in the world and at the altar - its diplomatic efforts are compromised. At this time of war and unimaginable loss and pain, we pray for more balance and harmony in the world and this must include the world’s largest organised religion whose capacity to do good continues to be severely compromised. 

#IWD2022 #OrdainWomen  

One vote for women - Women’s Ordination Worldwide responds to the breaking of a barrier

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) celebrates the news that Sister Nathalie Becquart has been appointed as one of two new undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops. We are hopeful this means she will become the first, but not the last, woman to be able to vote in the Roman Catholic Church.

When Sister Becquart takes her place among hundreds of male Bishops in the next Synod, she will not be voting as someone recognised as their equal who has the authority to influence and change teaching. She will be the sole woman permitted to participate in the decision-making process but those decisions will have been made exclusively by men and her presence among them cannot change this fact.

We lament the fact that Sr Becquart’s new colleague and counterpart in this role will not be her peer. Father San Martin has, by virtue of his gender, been automatically elevated to the status of Bishop – something still unthinkable for a woman in today’s all-male hierarchical church. The first woman to ever be allowed to vote in a Vatican synod will only do so because she has been temporarily appointed to this position of responsibility as undersecretary. Sr Becquart can be removed at any time and, like all women in the Catholic Church, she will be at the mercy of her male supervisors at whose sole discretion she serves.

This small but visible step towards women’s inclusion is a result of decades of pressure being put on the Vatican to stop excluding women from their own church. And whilst we welcome every sign of progress, we refuse to accept as inevitable the slow drip of occasional solitary positions for individual women. Our work will only be done when women everywhere can fulfill their vocation to minister as priests alongside men and can take up roles in every institutional department based on their qualifications and commitment.

WOMEN’S ORDINATION WORLDWIDE MEDIA CONTACTS:

Kate McElwee (USA and Italy): +39 393 692 2100; kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Miriam Duignan (Ireland and UK): +44 7970 926910; miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

Therese Koturbash (Canada): +1 204 648 5720; t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

Alicja Baranowska(Belgium & Poland): +32 488 67 60 20  alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28).

Pope Francis Nudges Canon Law in the Right Direction - 11 January 2021

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) welcomes what we consider to be a small step in the right direction that Pope Francis has taken by changing Canon law to formally permit women’s service as lectors and acolytes. This change means that women will now officially stand shoulder to shoulder with lay men as ministers of communion and lectors at mass and girls can be altar servers. Until now, official installation in these roles has been reserved for men and any instances where women have been lectors and acolytes and girls serving on the altar, they have done so because it was permitted as an exception and always at the sole discretion of the local Bishop or priest.

Therefore, while this may not seem like a change of substance in places where women have, for several decades, been permitted to serve in these roles, in many parishes, this has not been the case and women and girls have remained essentially banned from the altar at the say-so of a misogynist man.

This change opens a door. It means that bishops and pastors around the world can no longer refuse women the right to these ministries on account of Canon Law. Bishops can now be held accountable and not given impunity to discriminate against women even more than the wider Church already does.

Today’s announcement contributes to a slow chipping away at the wall of anti-women exclusion that still lingers and corrupts the official church. Today’s shift signals a growing awareness of what has been the rejection of women’s baptism in Christ. Today women are one step closer to being part of officially mediating the sacred. Slowly but surely, we will keep pushing for full equality and WOW is confident more change must come.

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide Media Contacts:

Kate McElwee (USA and Italy): +39 393 692 2100; kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Miriam Duignan (Ireland and UK): +44 7970 926910; miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

Therese Koturbash (Canada): +1 204 648 5720; t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

Alicja Baranowska(Belgium & Poland): +32 488 67 60 20  alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW stands in solidarity with Tony Flannery

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For Immediate Release: Fr. Tony Flannery is long-time friend and ally of Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) and today we stand in solidarity with him as he resists the Vatican's attempts to punish him for his advocacy for women's equality and ordination in the Catholic Church.    

In drawing attention to the tragic litmus test of obedience(*) from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Tony Flannery does a great service in shining a light on the misogyny and homophobia that so preoccupies and taints the official Catholic church. His courageous commitment to upholding his conscience is a model of pastoral leadership the institutional Church so desperately needs more of. 

WOW calls on Pope Francis, the CDF and the rest of the male leadership in the Vatican to get a grip and free themselves from the demons of discrimination. In their pursuit of Tony Flannery, a popular and influential priest, they again show their fear of Catholics growing in awareness of the bogus theology that bans women from ordained ministry. We call on clergy everywhere to speak out with conviction for radical equality, the way that Tony Flannery has dared to do.  

* (1. Reservation of the sacred priesthood to men alone; 2. The moral liceity of homosexual practices; 3. The legal recognition of marriage between persons of the same sex; 4. ‘Gender Theory’) 

Press contacts: 

Kate McElwee: +39 393 692 2100; kmcelwee@womensordination.org 

Miriam Duignan: +44 7970 926910; miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com  

Therese Koturbash: +1 204 648 5720; t.m.koturbash@gmail.com