On March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, when we honor Mary’s “yes” to God to bear Christ for the world and celebrate the women who courageously say “yes, I am called” to priestly ministry. This year, our World Day of Prayer falls on the…
Read more
This Lent, the Women’s Ordination Conference will host a series of workshops for our Young Feminist Network members to: Expand and explore spiritual foundations and expressions; Deepen understanding and practical applications of various liberation theologies; Enhance leadership skills as activists, ministers, and people on the path toward justice. WHO: Young adults (20-40) with Catholic roots…
Read more
On Sunday, January 23, Pope Francis conferred—for the first time—the ministries of lector and catechist upon lay women and men in St. Peter’s Basilica. As it recognized their sincere vocations and formation, the ceremony was rich with symbolism and meaning for the global church as it was live-streamed around the world. It was just a…
Read more
The Vatican has given space on its website to a Catholic group that demands the ordination of women priests during consultations ahead of a key meeting next year. While the Church remains opposed to women priests, the inclusion of resource material from the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is part of an opening up of debate…
Read more
The Vatican has included a group that advocates for women’s ordination on a website promoting a two-year consultation of rank-and-file Catholics, indicating that Pope Francis wants to hear from all Catholics during the process. The inclusion of the Women’s Ordination Conference on the website promoting the Vatican’s 2023 “synod,” or meeting of bishops, is significant…
Read more
The Women’s Ordination Conference and our partners in church reform gathered on Monday, November 15, in Baltimore for a prayerful witness calling for “Bread, Not Stones,” ahead of the US bishops’ conference meeting where they were to vote on a controversial document on the Eucharist. Just about 50 of us were there, praying, marching, chanting, and singing,…
Read more
At the end of the first public day of the fall general assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, it’s hard not to feel that one has attended the church’s version of the Iowa caucuses. All the heavy hitters of both parties are gathered in one place at one time, and journalists are…
Read more
As bishops gathered in Baltimore this week to begin their November conference, protesters on both sides of the issue gathered to encourage the assembly members to either vote for or against the proposed document, which the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine chairman said received more than 100 pages of comments and went through several revisions over…
Read more
Protests are common at gatherings of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which often touch on national politics or attract heavy media scrutiny, such as during the height of the Catholic sex abuse crisis. But this year’s annual fall U.S. bishops’ gathering in Baltimore, convened Nov. 15-18, is set to host at least two unusually…
Read more
The ethnographic work Womanpriest: Tradition and Transgression in the Contemporary Roman Catholic Church by Jill Peterfeso is one of the most comprehensive studies of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. The book thoughtfully wades through the “unfolding case study” of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests in the U.S. as the movement negotiates its relationship with Rome, Catholicism and priesthood as a…
Read more
