Press Releases

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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As the Vatican’s summit on sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy gets underway, leaders of 12 U.S. Catholic reform organizations have issued their advice to the bishops who will participate. In a letter sent to Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, one of four organizers of the meeting, the leaders acknowledged the “pain and disappointment” the…
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For Immediate Release: 27 October 2018 The XV Ordinary Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment approved a final document calling the inclusion of women in decision-making structures a “duty of justice” and recommending “making everyone more aware of the urgency of an inescapable change.” The Women’s Ordination Conference applauds the Synod’s…
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In light of the continued denial of a right to vote for women participating in the upcoming Synod on Youth, the Faith Life, and Vocational Discernment, we are happy to collaborate with our Italian sisters—Donne per la Chiesa— and with Catholic Women Speak in writing a letter to those women who have been invited to participate…
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