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By Nicole Winfield and Trisha Thomas VATICAN CITY (AP) — A few years ago, Pope Francis told the head of the main Vatican-backed Catholic women’s organization to be “brave” in pushing for change for women in the Catholic Church. … …“I’m hopeful that there is room in that space for these bold conversations, courageous conversations,…
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WOC Executive Director, Kate McElwee appeared on CNN This Morning on Sunday, August 8th 2023 to discuss Pope Francis’ far-right critics and what makes them so nervous about the upcoming Synod on Synodality. Watch the interview:

This November (17-19), the Women’s Ordination Conference will commemorate our 48th anniversary with a virtual gala and auction: “Synodality and the Fierce Urgency of Equality: The Call for Women’s Ordination Now.” Our theme refers to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s prophetic phrase, “the fierce urgency of now,” which he spoke of on August 28th, 1963…
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On October 6th, WOC is organizing a “Walk with Women,” a procession through Rome to the synod hall to encourage the church to walk alongside women as equals throughout the synod and beyond. Together with our global sisters, we will begin at the site of the relic of the foot of St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles,…
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“We will not accept men telling women they can’t be priests because that’s the way God wants it,” Ms. Fitzpatrick once said. “She does not!” Ruth M. Fitzpatrick, a prominent and fierce advocate for the ordination of women as priests who called the Catholic Church “the last of the sexist institutions,” died June 15 at…
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Ruth Fitzpatrick, who felt she was called to the Roman Catholic priesthood beginning as a teenager and later helped lead a movement to press the church to stop barring women like her from being ordained, died on June 15 in Fairfax, Va. She was 90. The cause was cerebral arteriosclerosis, her son John Fitzpatrick said.…
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Kate McElwee contributed this piece to the National Catholic Reporter on the Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming Synod on Synodality. And while I will not discount the value and affirmation that comes from a Vatican process or document capturing the experiences of women with a semblance of depth, we simply must journey together beyond words.…
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“And while I will not discount the value and affirmation that comes from a Vatican process or document capturing the experiences of women with a semblance of depth, we simply must journey together beyond words. If we are to take up the challenge of “missionary urgency” the synod must listen to and walk with those…
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You already know that WOC is creative, courageous, uncompromising, and faith-filled. But we are also bold. And leading up to the end of our fiscal year, we want to do something really bold. We have the *audacity* to believe our grassroots network has the power to help us raise $15,000 (or more!) in one day. Mark your calendars: Thursday, June…
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Church reform groups and theologians say they are finding hope in the new Vatican document setting the stage for the upcoming Synod of Bishops in October, even as many harbor reservations or skepticism about the possible outcomes of the synod itself. The document, released June 20, mentioned many topics previously considered taboo in similar high-level conversations,…
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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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The latest move, however, represents a welcome, if long overdue, step in the right direction, a “significant crack in the stained glass ceiling,” as Kate McElwee director of the Women’s Ordination Conference put it.Read the full editorial here.