Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) welcomes the election of Pope Leo XIV, who greeted the people of Rome and the world with a message of peace. His clear emphasis on bridge-building and dialogue offer WOC hope that Pope Leo XIV might be a leader who will also build bridges to Catholic women,…
Read more

For Immediate Release: 7 May 2025 As a group of 133 ordained men gather behind closed doors to make a consequential decision about the future of the Catholic church, advocates for women’s ordination released pink smoke over the Vatican to call for women’s full equality in the Catholic church.  Echoing the iconic white and black…
Read more

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2025 The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) joins Catholics around the world in mourning the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, as reported by the Vatican early this morning. We extend our heartfelt condolences and hold in prayer the global church during this time of grief and transition. His…
Read more

For Immediate Release March 5, 2025 Catholic women around the world will begin a Lenten strike on Wednesday, March 5th, withholding time, labor, and financial resources from the Roman Catholic Church.  Catholic Women Strike, organized by the Women’s Ordination Conference and global partners, seeks to disrupt a patriarchal status quo that too often depends on…
Read more

For Immediate Release: October 26, 2024 The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) finds the Final Document of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, released 26 October 2024 by the Vatican’s synod office, an insufficient and disappointing response to the multi-year process meant to respond to the needs of the church today.  While…
Read more

For Immediate Release: Oct. 3, 2024 During the October 2 opening session of Pope Francis’ month-long Synod on Synodality—anticipated to take up important issues facing the church today—the Vatican preemptively and blatantly undermined their own process by dismissing the call for women deacons as not yet “mature” with “no room for a positive decision.”  The equivocation took…
Read more

For Immediate Release: May 21, 2024 During a wide-ranging CBS television interview with journalist Norah O’Donnell aired on May 20, Pope Francis rejected the possibility of women serving as ordained deacons or as members of the clergy. When asked by O’Donnell if a young Catholic girl ever would ever have the opportunity to be a…
Read more

For Immediate Release: October 28, 2023 Following the month-long 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops convened by Pope Francis at the Vatican, the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) expresses its support for the ways in which the need for the greater participation of women in the pastoral life and governance of the church…
Read more

For Immediate ReleaseRome, Italy [See this press release on the Women’s Ordination Worldwide website.] Today marks the beginning of an unprecedented four-week long Synod where bishops and lay people will discuss the formerly taboo issue of women’s ordination and the need for women’s full participation in the life of the church. For the first time…
Read more

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2023 The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) finds hope in the Vatican’s document released June 20 that will guide discussions for the Synod of Bishops this October. Known as the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, the text invites discernment on the urgent needs of the church today, including ways to recognize…
Read more