Press Releases

For immediate release: 25 September 2019 With the release of the list of participants for the Vatican’s upcoming Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region (Oct. 6-27), the Women’s Ordination Conference notes with disappointment and bewilderment the continued lack of voting rights for Catholic sisters and nuns at the assembly. Since…
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On the occasion of the upcoming synod on Amazonia, a clear message comes from religious sisters from across the world: Why is there still such resistance to women’s participation when it comes to leadership and decision making in our Church? Why are sisters, who have dedicated their whole lives to prayer and devotion to the…
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By Katie Lacz, Program Associate In the America magazine article “Should Women Preach at Mass? Here’s a Better Question” (Pia de Solenni, Sept. 9), the question referred to in the title comes at the end: “Does being a woman or man affect what I do?” As is true for many deceptively simple questions, the answer…
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MEDIA ADVISORYAugust 21, 2019Marie Collins, the foremost advocate for justice for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and accountability in the Roman Catholic Church, will speak in 6 U.S. cities from September 9-20, 2019, stopping in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Collins, a survivor of clergy abuse as a child in…
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We are pleased to announce today that for the first time the Women’s Ordination Conference has been granted consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).  We spent several years sharing our work and mission with committees of the United Nations as part of their extensive application process, and consider this decision a very significant achievement for WOC. Having…
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On May 10, Pope Francis handed a copy of the report from the study commission on women deacons to the 850 religious of the UISG with the comment: “I cannot make a sacramental decree [on women deacons] without a theological, historical foundation.” The “theological, historical foundation” exists in abundance, thanks to the work of scholars like Dr.…
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May 7, 2019 For Immediate Release WOC’s response to Pope Francis’ remarks on May 7 indicating that the Vatican study commission on the history of women deacons in the Catholic Church has been unable to reach consensus: For centuries, women have served in the tradition of Phoebe (Rm 16:1) and our parishes and communities are…
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2 April 2019For Immediate Release Pope Francis’ new post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, “Christus Vivit” (Christ is Alive), offers only lip service to the movement for women’s equality in the Roman Catholic Church, suggesting no concrete actions to further his own bishops’ call for the inclusion of women in decision-making and leadership roles in the Church. The…
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Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Lilian Medina-Romero as Outreach Coordinator to lead “Escuchando a las mujeres,” a listening session for Spanish-speaking women in Catholic parishes in the United States. Ms. Medina-Romero is a passionate human rights advocate who developed a career creating and implementing programs to empower Hispanic immigrant…
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Contact: Cathy Renna, cathy@targetcue.com, 917-757-6123 for more information or to RSVP for either event Advocates and Experts Call for Removal of the Holy See from the Commission on the Status of Women On March 14th 2019, during the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the United Nations’ intergovernmental official commission that focuses…
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