A young Christine Schenk once sat in a pew at St. John Catholic Church in Lima, overcome by the beauty of the Mass, and thought she would love to be a priest. But the second grader knew she couldn’t because she was a girl. After graduating from Lima Central Catholic High School and earning several…
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It was a time to look back at a 50-year journey, but also a time to look forward to the next 50 years. More than 200 attendees at the Women’s Ordination Conference’s 50th anniversary celebration May 22-24 mourned the members who have died since the first gathering in 1975, examined the first flourishing of the movement…
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There were so many uplifting and energizing things to celebrate at the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) held over Pentecost weekend in Detroit, Michigan. Coalition work is key to any movement, and this one is no exception. So it was wonderful to see and celebrate the blessed diversity of women’s ministries —…
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It’s time to completely rethink what ordination could look like in the Catholic Church, said one keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Women’s Ordination Conference. More than 200 attendees at the May 22-24 Women’s Ordination Conference’s mourned the members who have died since the first gathering in 1975, examined the first flourishing of the…
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For Immediate Release: May 22, 2026 DETROIT, MI: The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a landmark gathering in Detroit, Michigan, May 22–24, 2026. Returning to the city that hosted its first conference in 1975, the conference will bring together hundreds of Catholics and thought-leaders who support women’s ordination to honor…
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A Catholic woman who flew from the United States for the installation of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury has voiced her hope that the Vatican is “paying attention” to the historic occasion. Jane Varner Malhotra, 57, from Washington DC, held a sign reading “Catholics, let’s do this” outside Canterbury Cathedral in Kent on Wednesday, ahead of Dame…
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Catholic Women’s Ordination and Women’s Ordination Worldwide offer ‘warmest congratulations’ to Dame Sarah Mullally ahead of installation tomorrow. Campaigners for women priests and deacons in the Catholic Church extended their “warmest congratulations” to Dame Sarah Mullally as she prepares to be formally installed as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral tomorrow. “We are…
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Carol Crowley was a twenty-one-year-old student at Michigan State University when a parish staff member invited her to a Thanksgiving-weekend conference in Detroit on women and Catholic priesthood. Crowley had already discerned, with the help of priests at the student parish, that she was called to ordination, so when women with a calling were asked…
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For Immediate Release (23 March 2026) The Women’s Ordination Conference celebrates the historic installation of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold this role in its 1,400-year history. We honor the countless courageous advocates within the Anglican Communion whose faith and persistence helped open hearts and doors to women’s ordination. Their…
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In a frank assessment of the complex role of women in the Catholic Church and its leadership, a Vatican study group called for broader access to positions of authority for Catholic women worldwide and for the church to confront what it described as persistent patterns of clericalism and “machismo.” … In a statement reacting to…
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