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…
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Pope Francis says women will be allowed to vote on a Vatican panel that had been exclusively male. NPR’s Scott Simon asks Kate McElwee of the Women’s Ordination Conference about it.
On May 31, WOC hosted an evening of contemplation with a Pentecost-themed virtual Taizé service. With song, scripture, silence, and inspired preaching by Sister of Charity Louise Lears, we celebrated (and will continue to celebrate!) when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles, of all genders, empowering them to prophesy and do the work…
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WOC will be in Rome throughout the month of October for the Synod of Bishops! Our witness is essential to ensure women’s voices, experiences, stories, and vocations are not erased or silenced in the synodal process. We will work for accountability to the grassroots, and be an uncompromising voice for equitable inclusion of women at…
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For Immediate Release: April 26, 2023 Today, in a historic move, the Vatican’s synod office expanded participation in the Synod of Bishops, granting non-ordained lay persons—including women—the right to vote as full members of the body. In an April 26 press conference, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general…
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On “Vocations Sunday,” or the annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the institutional church prays for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. Women are standing on the “prophetic edge” of the church, denied the opportunity to stand in roles of meaningful leadership or ordained ministry. They have worn out their shoes walking the…
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Job Description Position Title: Development Associate Reports to: Executive Director Organizational Description: Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is a feminist non-profit organization that advocates and prays for the ordination and the full equality of women in an inclusive and accountable Roman Catholic Church. Position Summary: WOC seeks a highly motivated and organized individual to support the…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 31, 2022 Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) joins Catholics worldwide to mourn the death of Pope Benedict XVI. His lifelong devotion to the Roman Catholic Church led him to offer a profound example of humility and willingness to overturn tradition by resigning from the papacy in 2013. However, as head of the Vatican’s doctrine…
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Editors’ note: On Nov. 22, five representatives of America Media interviewed Pope Francis in his residence at Santa Marta at the Vatican. They discussed a range of issues, including polarization in the U.S. church, racism, the war in Ukraine and the Vatican’s relations with China. The pope’s comments on the ordination of women in particular…
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For Immediate Release: November 28, 2022 In an interview with America Magazine, Pope Francis upheld the Catholic church’s unequal treatment of women by exploiting misogynistic metaphors to dismiss the sincerely discerned vocations of women. When asked what he might say to a woman who serves her church and experiences a call to priesthood, Francis responded…
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