An Open Letter to Pope Benedict from Catholic Organizations on the World Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination, March 14, 2007
/AN OPEN LETTER FROM CATHOLIC ORGANIZATIONS TO POPE BENEDICT XVI
ON THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR WOMEN’S ORDINATION
MARCH 14, 2007
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Apostolic Palace
VATICAN CITY
Your Holiness,
Every year on 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholics around the world organize events to bring attention to the fact that Catholic women are excluded from ordination. This year will be the 14th annual World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, and we expect that there will be over 25 events around the world.
In honor of this day, we invite you to lead the way in presenting a fair and equitable model of how women should be treated in our world by taking the necessary steps to open all doors to women within the Roman Catholic Church, including admission to all ordained ministries. We also ask that you work to renew church structures in order to involve all members in governance. By acting justly within our own ranks, we, the body of Christ, can affect society.
On the same day that we celebrate Mary saying ‘yes’ to God, we are saying ‘yes’ to women’s leadership in the Church. Mary’s decision was conscious and deliberate, and it made her an active partner in bringing about the reign of God. By praying for women to be priests on this day, we embrace Mary’s spiritual power and her prophetic role in God’s plan of justice for the world.
Because Mary is a spiritual leader and some even call her a priest, on 25 March we will pray for women’s ordination to a renewed priestly ministry. We will also pray for the difference that women in church governance would make by addressing the issues of social justice that disproportionately affect women, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS, genocide and more.
The exclusion of women and lay men from the full decision making and sacramental life of the Church is linked to these issues in that — while the impact has extremely different levels of intensity — the root cause is the same: male domination and sexism.
As this day of prayer approaches, we urge you to open the discussion on women’s ordination and the need for change in Church structures. To bring our beloved Church closer to the gospel values that Jesus modeled for us, we need all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in women as well as in men, to be fully integrated into every aspect and ministry of the Church.
Thanking you for your time and consideration,
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Ireland
Call to Action, USA
Catholics for a Free Choice, USA
Catholics for a Free Choice, Canada
Catholic Network for Women’s Equality, Canada
Catholic Women’s Ordination, United Kingdom
CORPUS, USA
Dignity, USA
Interreligious Conference of European Women Theologians, Germany
Femmes at Hommes en Eglise, France
Housetop, United Kingdom
National Coalition of American Nuns, USA
New Wine, Great Britain
New Ways Ministry, USA
Phoebe, Japan
Purple Stole Movement of We Are Church, Germany
Quixote Center, USA
Roman Catholic Womenpriests Europe-West, Germany, France, and Switzerland
Roman Catholic Womenpriests North America, USA and Canada
Save Our Sacraments, USA
Sisters Against Sexism, USA
Southeastern Pennsylvania Women's Ordination Conference, USA
Women’s Ordination Conference, USA
Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, USA
CC:
Most Reverend Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States
Most Reverend William S. Skylstad, President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Most Reverend David J. Malloy, General Secretariat, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
