Ahead of the Conclave: Pink Smoke Rises Over the Vatican

For Immediate Release: 7 May 2025

As a group of 133 ordained men gather behind closed doors to make a consequential decision about the future of the Catholic church, advocates for women’s ordination released pink smoke over the Vatican to call for women’s full equality in the Catholic church. 

Echoing the iconic white and black smoke released from the Sistine Chapel during the male-only conclave, the pink smoke sends a clear message: a woman’s place is in the conclave. 

With song, prayer, and billows of pink smoke, global advocates gathered in front of the world’s press to call for the cardinals to heed the voices, vocations, and longing of women of the Catholic church who are denied ordination, leadership and decision-making roles. 

Our pink smoke is also a distress call that the cardinals cannot ignore: women’s equality cannot wait. The church has lost generations of women who endured the pain and humiliation of having to prove the validity of their calling and the value of their ministry.  

Pope Francis inspired a spirit of dialogue and great inclusion for women in the life of the church, yet that work remains painfully incomplete. Our prayer for the next pontiff is that he will courageously embrace synodality and correct the injustice of women’s exclusion from ordained ministry. 

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Contact: Kate McElwee, Women’s Ordination Conference

kmcelwee@womensordination.org