Press Releases

Dear members, I wanted to let you know that my last day with the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) will be tomorrow, August 23rd. I have accepted a position of Director of Philanthropy back in my home state of Rhode Island in the education of young women and girls field. Let me begin by saying what a privilege it…
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As President of the National Board of Directors, I am excited to announce a transition in Women’s Ordination Conference leadership.  Kate McElwee, Co-Executive Director since 2014, has been voted by our Board of Directors as the sole Executive Director of the Women’s Ordination Conference as of August 24, 2017. Kate McElwee has been with WOC since…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), with the financial support of Sheila Durkin Dierks and her family, is pleased to announce Lisa Cathelyn, Sarah Holst, and Elaina Jo Polovick were selected to receive the Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship for Women Discerning Priestly Ordination from the Women’s Ordination Conference for the 2017-18 academic year. …
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July 5, 2017 Women-Church Convergence issued the following letter: Dear Friends in Faith, Our hearts go out to you who have been subjected to pastorally inadequate and insensitive theology in the recent DECREE “Regarding Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and Related Pastoral Issues” given by your bishop the Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki. You deserve better because our…
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Over a dozen progressive Catholic organizations representing diversity within the Church signed a joint letter to Bishop Thomas Paprocki expressing disappointment over a decree he issued denying communion and funeral rites for same sex spouses. The groups—representing a broad coalition of feminist, LGBTQI and prochoice Catholic voices– called upon the bishop to unite fellow Catholics…
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Kate McElwee: 607-725-1364 kmcelwee@womensordination.org Erin Saiz Hanna: 401-588-0457 ehanna@womensordination.org For Immediate Release: 5 May 2017 The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is dismayed by the comments released by David Hains, spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, regarding the ordination of Abigail Eltzroth. In his statement, Hains stated: “I hope that Catholics in the diocese will understand…
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In this moment in history, the Women’s Ordination Conference upholds our unwavering commitment to justice for all people. Our values of grassroots activism, radical inclusion, and feminist thought and action will empower our work forward as we work for a better Church and world for all. As Hillary Rodham Clinton said: “Let us not grow…
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For Immediate Release: 1 November 2016 Contact:  Kate McElwee +1 607.725.1364 On the papal plane from Sweden to Rome, Pope Francis was asked by a journalist: “Is it realistic to think that there might be women priests in the next few decades?”   “On the Ordination of women in the Catholic church, the last word…
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For Immediate Release                                                                      October 21, 2016  Contacts: Deborah Rose-Milavec, FutureChurch – 513.673.1401 (c) 216.228.0869 (o), debrose@futurechurch Kate McElwee, Women’s Ordination Conference – 607-725-1364 (c), kmcelwee@womensordination.org Bob Bonnot, Association of U.S. Catholic Priests – 330-397-1257 (c), auscpbonnot@gmail.com From October 17 – 20, 2016, forty priests and lay persons from ten countries gathered in Chicago to develop strategies…
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Kate McElwee: Italy (+39) 393-692-2100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org Erin Saiz Hanna: USA (+1) 401-588-0457 ehanna@womensordination.org For Immediate Release: 2 August 2016 Rome, Italy:  The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) welcomes and is encouraged by Pope Francis’ gender-balanced and lay-inclusive appointments to study women deacons in the early Church, including U.S. expert and 2015 Women’s Ordination Worldwide presenter, Dr.…
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