Ministry of Irritation challenges the Vatican’s policies regarding women by engaging the hierarchy and organizing on a grassroots level to bring public attention to the issue of women’s ordination and the need for structural change in the church.

Ministry of Walking with Women Called supports and provides resources for women discerning if they are called to ordination into a renewing priestly ministry, for women who know they are called and are discerning how to proceed, and for women in an ordination formation process.

Ministry of Prophetic Obedience supports and promotes the ministries of Catholic women who have answered their call to spiritual leadership and that are making a positive difference in the Catholic Church and the world.

Introduction

As the church is always reforming itself—that marvelous Vatican II concept—so must our organization. Our "Three Ministries" are helping us do just that, as they are helping us fulfill our mission of creating a continually renewing priestly ministry.

As with any healthy movement for social justice, the women’s ordination movement holds many different opinions on the best way to go about advocating for a renewing priestly ministry within its ranks. In order to encompass some of this diversity, WOC launched the Three Ministries in 2003. They were created to focus WOC’s programming on the three most common areas of thought and action within the movement.

The following will describe each of these areas, as well as the programming and activity within each ministry. WOC’s mission is to work for women’s ordination and a renewing priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic Church, and WOC works in the U.S. and in collaboration with the global women’s ordination movement.

In order to fulfill our mission, WOC believes the movement must be united and learn from different perspectives and opinions. WOC values differences because they will allow the movement to create a more full picture of God and better reflect the Body of Christ.

Ministry of Irritation

The Ministry of Irritation is the area that most people already associate with WOC – it is our ministry of witnessing and prayerful protest. The purpose of this ministry is to challenge the Church’s policies regarding women by engaging the hierarchy and organizing on a grassroots level to publicly witness for women’s ordination into a renewing priestly ministry.

To explain why we use the term “irritation,” we use the analogy of the grain of sand and the oyster. The grain of sand irritates the inside of the oyster to create a beautiful pearl, and the people active in this ministry are the grains of sand, irritating the Catholic hierarchy to create a pearl of wisdom for the Church that bring about repentance for the sins of the Kyriarchy and bring about a renewing priestly ministry!

Although most of the U.S. bishops have made it clear they do not want to talk with us, through this ministry, we continue to make attempts to dialogue with them. In addition, we are developing new and creative ideas to fulfill our mission. In this ministry, WOC members organize and participate in the witness events that are a meaningful part of WOC’s history, actions such as:

  • The Showering the Bishops with Roses from St. Therese prayerful protest, street theater, and Eucharistic liturgy outside the November 2005 bishop’s meeting in Washington, DC
  • The Pink Smoke events during the 2005 papal conclave in five U.S. cities to call attention to the absence of women in the conclave and all church decision making
  • The successful 2001 billboard campaign featured in five U.S. cities and Rome
  • Holy Thursday witness events each year in Pennsylvania
  • Prayerful and peaceful demonstrations outside local ordinations of male seminarians in May
  • The annual World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination events celebrated by women’s ordination advocacy groups around the globe each year on March 25 th, the Annunciation

These public witnesses allow Catholics in the pew to see there are women called to a renewing priesthood and many Catholics are working to change the unjust church structures that exclude women and many other faithful Catholics from participating in church governance. We view the public actions of the Ministry of Irritation as essential to bringing public attention to the need for women’s ordination and a renewing priestly ministry and Roman Catholic Church.

Click here for more information about the Ministry of Irritation

 

Ministry of Walking With Women Called

WOC also saw the need to support individual women called to ordination, so through our Ministry of Walking with Women Called (WwWC), we identify, support and serve as a resource for women called, or discerning a call, to ordination in a renewing priestly ministry. The Ministry of WwWC focuses on the women who are waiting for the hierarchy to overturn Canon 1024, which prohibits the ordination of women, and for a Roman Catholic Bishop to ordain them with the approval of the official church structures. This is the heart of the Ministry of WwWC.

Through the Ministry of Walking with Women Called, WOC:

  • Sponsors and promotes events that affirm women’s call, like the Conversation and Celebration of Women Called event in Santa Barbara, Calif. on February 18, 2006
  • Provides a forum to discuss and develop vision for a renewing and inclusive priestly ministry by creating a resource the National Catholic Ministerial Alliance
  • Offers the Bishop Frank Murphy Scholarship for Women in Ministry to encourage education and preparation for ministry
  • Connects women called through a national on-line community specifically for women called with discussion topics and networking opportunities
  • Promotes resources about certification programs where women can be certified to minister and provide services at wedding ceremonies, anniversary celebrations, funerals, and other special occasions.
  • Connects women with spiritual directors in their discernment process

This ministry provides a safe space where women can be affirmed in their calling, discern their calling, share their stories with other women who feel called to ordination, and/or gain courage to speak to others about their calling. The purpose of this ministry is not only to provide women support, it is also preparing a base of women who are skilled, active in ministry, and ready to serve in priestly ministry once the hierarchy re-instates the tradition of women’s ordination.


To join the online community of this ministry, please contact Nidza Vázquez at nvazquez@womensordination.org or (703) 352-1006

 

Ministry of Prophetic Obedience

Within the movement, we are seeing a groundswell of women living out their call to priesthood by being ordained in their small faith community, the Old Catholic Church, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, and the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. The powerful examples of women like Mary Ramerman, Denise Donato, the Danube Seven, the St. Lawrence Nine, and countless others who are moving forward with prophetic ordinations, led WOC to develop our third ministry, the Ministry of Prophetic Obedience, which identifies, supports and serves as a resource for women taking the prophetic step of ordination to live out their call. It was created to help women determine what options they have for ordination and to support these women on their individual journeys. This ministry also helps identify communities ready to move forward with having ordained women deacons, priests and bishops serve in their communities. WOC stands in solidarity with the women and communities of this ministry in following their call and creating this powerful this witness.

These women are moving forward with ordination without the overturning of Canon 1024, and many are saying “unjust laws must be broken.” These women cannot wait another century while the church officials drag their feet on women’s ordination. Now more than ever before, we are seeing that the ordination of women will come -- and is coming -- from the bottom up, rather than from the hierarchy down.

These ordinations are creating a growing dialogue around the question, “What type of ordination should we support?” This dialogue is healthy, and it helps us deal with the issues of maintaining integrity to our Catholic traditions yet being open to the new possibilities with the Holy Spirit.

In the Ministry of Prophetic Obedience, WOC is not only providing women with resources and networks of support like the Ministry of Walking with Women Called, we are also:

When WOC was considering names for this ministry, we originally called it the “Ministry of Ecclesiastical Disobedience.” However, after more consideration we realized this ministry is about more than just butting heads with the ecclesiastical hierarchy. It is about listening to and encouraging the prophetic voices of our time. This ministry is not about “disobeying the hierarchy;” it is about obeying God’s call to serve.

Click here for more information about Prophetic Obedience

 

Young Feminist Network and Other WOC Ministries

 In addition to WOC’s “Three Ministries,” there is another ministry called the Young Feminist Network, whose mission is to equip and mobilize young Catholic women to integrate faith with feminism and to eliminate oppression within ourselves, society and the Roman Catholic Church.

For more information on WOC's current ministries and programs, click here .

WOC also works in coalition with many groups in the U.S. and abroad, including Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW), Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR), National Catholic Ministerial Alliance (NCMA), Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) and more.  

Conclusion

WOC’s Three Ministries are a three-pronged approach that attempts to encompass the diversity of thought and action within the women’s ordination movement. Within the ministries themselves, there are differences of opinion and strategy, and by creating only three, we are not attempting to say there are only three perspectives in the movement. Like every social movement, we need a continuum of actions to bring about our vision. We need some women to be public in their witness for women’s ordination to bring public attention on the issue (Ministry of Irritation), we need some women to serve as examples of women in ministry within Roman Catholic structures (Ministry of Walking with Women Called), and we some need women to take the difficult step of contra legem ordination to be examples of women as priests and bishops (Ministry of Prophetic Obedience). All of the above groups are essential to the movement and our representation of them must be in balance. Each ministry should have room to speak about their particular concerns and areas of interest, and no one perspective should hold power over the other. As we move forward, we must maintain integrity to our Catholic roots and traditions, yet we must also be open the new directions and expanded horizons to which the Holy Spirit leads us. This is one of the most difficult struggles we as a movement face right now. What are the elements that we hold on to -- what is essential to our Catholic identity? Conversely, what prophetic examples and actions is the Holy Spirit leading us to? Right now, we must figure out how to hold these two questions in tension as we work together answer them. And, we must not silence each other when differences arise. We must engage our differences, be honest with each other, and learn from our different perspectives. Once we do this, we will be better equipped to reflect the discipleship of equals and a constantly renewing priestly ministry that Jesus and his disciples modeled for us.

Aisha Taylor prepared this presentation on WOC's Three Ministries as the Executive Director of the Women’s Ordination Conference.

The celebrations and work of our Three Ministries are focused on the grassroots,so we need local folks to help with committee work and in spreading the ideas. Share your dreams, time, and energy with WOC and help us move forward in this exciting time.

WOC members interested in helping should contact Nidza Vázquez at the WOC office 703-352-1006 or nvazquez@womensordination.org or visit www.womensordination.org.

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© Women's Ordination Conference, 2007