In the News

Hear WOC executive director, Kate McElwee, on the Tablet’s podcast to discuss their editorial encouraging dialogue on women’s ordination, and “Fratelli Tutti.”

Read the full article by Joanna Moorhead, featuring an interview with Executive Director Kate McElwee, in the Tablet here. The year is 2025, or perhaps it’s 2030. Francis is gone; we have a new pope and, like all leaders, he must decide on the priorities that will dominate his time in office. Across hundreds of…
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Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the day that women’s right to vote was enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. The passage of the 19th amendment was the result of more than 80 years of women agitating, picketing and lobbying; some endured jail time and force-feedings when they went on strike to protest their…
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Read the full article by Madeleine Davison on NCRonline.org In a July open letter released ahead of the national party conventions, the Women-Church Convergence, a coalition of progressive, feminist Catholic organizations, urged Catholics to vote in November by listening to their consciences rather than their clergy. “We’re encouraging Catholics to search their own conscience and values and…
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Read the full article by Alexandra Greenwald on NCRonline.org Titled “Mainstreaming Women’s Ministries in the Roman Catholic Church,” the survey found that 82% of those surveyed felt that women’s ministries were not valued equally to men’s. Of the 224 young Catholic women in formation and ministry in the U.S. who responded, 80% were dissatisfied with…
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By Pat Ashworth Read the full article here. THE Pope has set up a new commission to study the possibility of ordaining women to the diaconate, after an initial study commissioned in 2016 reported last year inconclusively. At the Synod of Bishops’ meeting in October 2019, which focused on the peoples of the Amazon, bishops acknowledged that many…
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By Mada Jurado Read the full article here. On the subject of his new commission to study the possible ordination of female deacons, Catholic women have warned Pope Francis against cementing their “second-class status” in the Church. In a press release April 8, the same day the Vatican announced the formation of the new commission, the…
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By Franca Giansoldati Read the full article (in Italian) here. L’incarico stavolta lo ha affidato al cardinale dell’Aquila, Giuseppe Petrocchi, un ottimo mediatore, uno che ha dovuto gestire il post terremoto all’Aquila. Papa Francesco ha deciso di istituire una nuova Commissione di studio sul diaconato femminile, dopo lo stop verificatosi per le troppe opposizioni interne.…
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By Mary E. Hunt Read the full review here. You can tell a book by its cover. The luminous picture of Theresa Kane on the cover of this volume (courtesy of makers.com) portrays a beautiful woman of calm, confidence, vision and joy. Theresa Kane is a Catholic feminist with a powerful claim on the hearts and…
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By Christopher Vondracek Read the full article here. Some American Catholics are wary of Pope Francis‘ call for a commission to study the idea of female deacons, saying the panel likely will be mostly conservative theologians…. … The Women’s Ordination Conference, a Washington D.C.-based group advocating for “feminist voice for women in the Roman Catholic Church,”…
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