For Immediate Release

April 19, 2005

Contact: Aisha Taylor 703 352-1006 office, 202 422-2235 cell

Catholic women’s ordination supporters react to the election of Ratzinger

WASHINGTON, DC — Following the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), the leading Catholic feminist organization working for women priests, reacts with concern and lays out hope for the future.

“When our church desperately needed a healer, the Cardinals elected Ratzinger — well known for being divisive in the church,” stated Joy Barnes, Executive Director of the Women’s Ordination Conference. “We need a pope who will build a bridge between progressive and orthodox Catholics, but based on Ratzinger’s hard-lined record, it is doubtful that this will become a reality.”

“This is another example of how the hierarchy is out of touch with Catholics in the pews. Recent polls show over two-thirds of US Catholics support women’s ordination, yet Ratzinger has repeatedly stated his firm opposition to women priests,” Barnes continued. “He also rejects the theological, biblical and historical reasons for women’s ordination.”

In July 2004, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — the former Inquisition — he wrote the Vatican letter, “On the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and the World.” This called for women to “inspire the policies of nations and to promote innovative solutions to economic and social problems,” yet he justified excluding women from church governance and he fervently supported the ban of women priests.

“Cardinal Ratzinger’s election as pope will galvanize faithful Catholics to work even more passionately for a renewed priesthood that includes women,” Aisha Taylor, WOC’s Program Director, asserted. “We pray for Pope Benedict XVI to lead the Roman Catholic Church toward reconciliation for the church’s sins of abuse, sexism, racism, heterosexism and all oppression. We trust the Holy Spirit will continue to work in our church to fulfill Jesus’ radical message of justice.”

Founded in 1975, the Women’s Ordination Conference promotes the voices of Catholic women excluded from official church structures. WOC can arrange interviews with women called to priesthood, ordained Catholic women, feminist theologians, and church historians to speak about the issue of women priests . For more resources on women’s ordination and reactions to the papal election, visit www.womensordination.org.