WOC Finds Hope in New Working Document of the Synod on Synodality
For Immediate Release: June 20, 2023
The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) finds hope in the Vatican’s document released June 20 that will guide discussions for the Synod of Bishops this October. Known as the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, the text invites discernment on the urgent needs of the church today, including ways to recognize the equal dignity of women through spiritual reflection and concrete steps.
The document directly poses the question of envisaging ordained women deacons as well as the possibility of the creation of new ministries for women, conversations that WOC welcomes.
However, the synodal dialogue will be painfully incomplete if it does not adequately address the widespread calls to open all ordained ministries to women. WOC asks that women who have discerned sincere calls to priesthood – some of the most marginalized voices in the church – are heard this October. If the church is to live up to its synodal call to recognize the “common dignity deriving from Baptism,” it must welcome their witness.
WOC shares the “missionary urgency” the synod calls us to and commits to continue walking with the People of God on the prophetic edges of the church. Our presence in Rome this October will serve as a witness and a prayer that the synodal dialogue will be courageously receptive to the movements of the Spirit, calling people of all genders to serve in all ministries of the church.
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CONTACT: Kate McElwee, Executive Director, Women’s Ordination Conference
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 Roman Catholic Church, WOC is a grassroots-driven movement that promotes activism, dialogue, and prayerful witness to call for women’s full equality in the Church.