In the News

Religious Women Press for Change James Carroll, Boston Globe April 15, 2013    MORMON WOMEN cannot be priests. Catholic women cannot be priests. Muslim women cannot lead prayers in mixed-gender congregations. Jewish women are restricted in praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. But Mormons have the “Let Women Pray” campaign. Catholics have the “Women’s Ordination…
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By Naomi O’Leary ROME (Reuters) – Pope Francis stressed the "fundamental" importance of women in the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, a message hailed as a significant shift from the position of his predecessor Benedict. Supporters of liberal reform of the Church have called on it to give a greater voice to women and recognize their importance to the largest religious…
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(Reuters) – Protesters demanding a greater role for women in the Roman Catholic Church set off a pink smoke flare on a hill above the Vatican on Tuesday as the men-only conclave that will choose the next pope began. Mimicking traditional smoke signals from the Sistine Chapel – white for a new pontiff and black…
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As white smoke over the Sistine Chapel captured the world’s attention, smoke of another hue at the Vatican has gone largely unnoticed. According to Reuters, protestors in Rome set off pink smoke on a hill above the Vatican on Tuesday, as they called for the ordination of female priests and a more prominent role for…
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Even as pope-watchers spotted the first puffs of white smoke coming from the Vatican chimney and announcing a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, a few other Catholics were setting off their own fireworks. The Women’s Ordination Conference renewed its calls to expand the role of females in the church, in particular allowing them to become priests, and sent…
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While the world waited for white smoke to flow from the Sistine Chapel chimney to indicate a new pope had been chosen, smoke of a different color began billowing into the sky over the Vatican. It was released by protesters demanding a greater role for women in the Catholic Church. [includes rush transcript] On Wednesday, Democracy…
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EuroNews: The smoke billowing into the Rome sky was neither white, nor black, but pink – to back the argument in favour of women being able to be ordained as priests in the Catholic Church. A group of several Catholic women – from Britain, America and Australia – gathered in Rome to protest against the…
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….   Benedict also gets poor grades from liberal Catholics who felt abandoned by a pope who seemed to roll back the clock on the modernizing reforms of Vatican II and launched a crackdown on Vatican nuns, deemed to have strayed too far from his doctrinal orthodoxy. Some priests are now living in open rebellion…
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NEWARK — For those hoping to change the role of women in the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI’s tenure did not inspire much hope. During his eight years as pope, the Vatican reaffirmed the church’s ban on women priests and publicly rebuked American nuns for promoting "radical feminist" causes. But with a new pope comes…
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Executive Director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, Erin Saiz Hanna, discusses the resignation of Pope Benedict with host Barbara Serra. Watch here