Confronting the Pope

A turning point occurred in 1979 when Pope John Paul II came to the United States. Across the country, progressive women and men wore blue armbands and protested against sexism in the church. Three WOC members held an all night vigil in Washington, D.C. where the Pope was staying. As he emerged early in the morning, Ruth Fitzpatrick held her candle high, and greeted him with the words, "Ordain Women!" The Pope smiled and shook his head in a negative reply. Later that morning at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Sister Theresa Kane, President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), gave a speech to a full house of women religious in which she recommended to the Pope (who was sitting nearby) to permit women to serve in all ministries of the church. Thirty other nuns, arms banded in blue, stood during all the talks that morning, adding a visual statement and making national headlines along with Theresa Kane.