Women’s Ordination Advocates Support Irish Priests’ Statement on Women: Call for Greater Moral Courage of Catholic Hierarchy to Join Grassroots

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For Immediate Release: November 12, 2015

 

Contact:

 

Pat Brown: UK: +44(0)7950048628 pat@patbrown-at.co.uk

Miriam Duignan: UK (+44) 7970 926910 m_duignan@hotmail.com

Erin Saiz Hanna: USA (+1) 401-588-0457 ehanna@womensordination.org

Kate McElwee: Italy (+39) 393-692-2100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) extends our deepest gratitude to the twelve Irish priests who publicly signed their names to a statement calling for open discussion on the need for equality for women in all aspects of Church life, including ministry. Calling the situation “damaging,” “alienating” and “scandalizing,” the priests stressed that the policy of discrimination against women upheld by the Catholic Church “encourages” and “reinforces” abuse and violence against women around the world.

“We believe that we can no longer remain silent because to do so colludes with the systemic oppression of women within the Catholic Church,”  the priests’ statement reads.

Pope John Paul II’s 1994 Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, recently called “an abuse of his power,” by Eamonn Duffy, Professor of History at Cambridge University, is an offensive, out-dated, and fallible attempt to control Catholic thought, and moreover, Catholic women.

For more than two decades, employees at Catholic institutions have risked their jobs and ministries by speaking and writing about women’s ordination; clerics and women religious have been excommunicated, dismissed and silenced for their support; and for an even longer time women have felt the pain and humiliation of having their priestly vocations rejected.

WOW hopes that the moral courage of these Irish priests inspires others to stand in solidarity with all those who believe in equality in our institutions and in our faith. When male priests and those in positions of authority in our Church speak out, they not only do what is just, but they join they grassroots movements of many Catholics around the world who are tirelessly calling for equality.

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RESPONSE ON WOMEN DEACONS DISCUSSED AT VATICAN SYNOD ON FAMILY OCTOBER 6, 2015

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Women's Ordination Worldwide

For Immediate Release

6 October 2015

Response On Women Deacons Discussed at Vatican Synod

Contact :

  • Miriam Duignan: UK (+44) 7970 926910 m_duignan@hotmail.com
  • Kate McElwee: Italy (+39) 393-692-2100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org
  • Erin Saiz Hanna: USA (+1) 401-588-0457 ehanna@womensordination.org

Rome, Italy: Recent statements made by Canadian Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Gatineau, Quebec during the Vatican's Synod on the Family suggests an emergence of a discussion about including women in the ordained permanent diaconate. We applaud Archbishop Durocher for raising the suggestion to the exclusively male-voting body, and furthermore, for highlighting the relationship between the "degradation" of women in Church and society and violence against women around the world.

We call on our Church leaders to state clearly that "domination" over women is never acceptable, and until women are empowered as equals our Church perpetuates an inequality contrary to the Gospel. We pray that women's voices will not only be heard in forthcoming discussions, but given an equal vote.

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) supports the restoration of the sacramentally ordained diaconate for women in its true form. Including women in the diaconate would not be something new. Instead the Church would be returning to its ancient roots when both women and men were deacons. While the women's diaconate continues in some parts of the Eastern Church even until today, we also now know that in the West, it was suppressed only on account of the prejudice against women.

Though restoration of an ordained women's diaconate would not alone be a satisfactory progression to including women in all realms of Church leadership, governance, and sacramental ministry - only ordination to the priesthood and episcopacy could begin to accomplish this - WOW supports restoration of the diaconate. It is long overdue. The so-called changing 'reasons' that have been used to try to justify the exclusion of women from ordained ministry rests squarely on the shoulders of prejudice alone.

The hierarchy deprives people of the pastors God calls for them and of the leadership gifts found in women who would serve the Church; upholding this discrimination, as though it were the will of God, is simply indefensible.

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#‎Synod15 #‎ordainwomen

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WOW's position statement on restoration of the ordained women's diaconate is found here: http://womensordinationworldwide.org/wow-position-statement-on-the-diaconate/

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Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of women in all ordained ministries in the Roman Catholic Church. Founded on the principle of equality,WOW opposes all discrimination.'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free,there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh,Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and the United States.

WOW's 3rd International Conference, 'Gender, Gospel, and Global Justice' was recently held in Philadelphia 18-20 September 2015. For more visit www.womensordinationworldwide.org

WOW on the web:

MEDIA ADVISORY: 500 ADVOCATES FOR WOMEN'S ORDINATION GATHER DAYS BEFORE POPE FRANCIS' ARRIVAL IN U.S. September 18, 2015

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Details: 18 - 20th Sept, Marriott Downtown Philadelphia, 1201 Market St

Contact: Miriam Duignan: (+1) 510- 984- 8678

Philadelphia, PA: Five hundred women's ordination advocates and leaders from 19 countries and 5 continents will gather in Philadelphia, September 18-20th to call for ordination and equality for women in the Roman Catholic Church.  As Pope Francis arrives in the United States, Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) urgently calls on the institutional Church to model equality and end the unjust treatment of women. 

The theme of the conference, "Gender, Gospel, and Global Justice," links the exclusion of women from priesthood to the greater inequalities and injustices experienced by women worldwide.  Speakers include, Sr. Teresa Forcades, Tina Beattie, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Mary E. Hunt, Sr. Theresa Kane, Shannen Dee Williams, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Fr. Tony Flannery, Sr. Christine Schenk, Kate Kelly, Asra Nomani, Sr. Maureen Fiedler, and Barbara Blaine. See schedule here.

"Our hope for the conference is to mainstream the conversation about women's ordination as a social justice issue," said Kate McElwee, organizer and co-executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference.

"We call out sexism when we see it in our schools, the workplace, and in politics, but when it comes to the Catholic Church, far too many look the other way. Women's leadership is integral to all aspects of church and society and it is long overdue that our church opens the door to the ordination of women." Erin Saiz Hanna, organizer and co-executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference. 

"Women's Ordination Worldwide urges Pope Francis to recognize that maintaining false teaching to keep women excluded from priesthood legitimizes prejudice throughout the world. Pope Francis' integrity as a faith leader is compromised by his refusal to recognize women as fully human and able to discern their own vocations. Pope Francis' mission must include freeing the Church from the sin of sexism," stated Miriam Duignan, organizer and communications director of the Wijngaard's Institute for Catholic Research.

"Pope Francis and the Catholic Church must model equality by opening all ministries, including ordination, to women. As an institution that educates and provides healthcare and services to millions of women and girls globally, the Catholic Church must model full equality as the cornerstone of its mission," McElwee continued. 

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SEXISM IS THE ORIGINAL SIN: STATEMENT ON THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE'S PLENARY ASSEMBLY ABOUT WOMEN'S CULTURES February 02, 2015

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For Immediate Release  February 2, 2015

Pat Brown, (UK) +44 (0) 113 268 2887

Miriam Duignan (USA) +1 510 984 8678

Marilyn Hatton (Australia) +61 2 6262 5275

Kate McElwee, (Italy) +39 393 6922100

The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture’s Plenary Assembly about Women’s Cultures has released its Working Document for the Assembly set to begin on February 4, 2015.  The document yet again shows that the Vatican refuses to read the signs of the times to an unacceptable degree. The international umbrella network, Women’s Ordination Worldwide (founded in 1996 at the First European Women’s Synod), observes several glaring aspects about the document:

The document claims that there will be no discussion on women’s ordination because “according to statistics, [ordination] is not something that women want.”  This undeniable falsehood and the Vatican’s refusal to open dialogue shows contempt for the faithful and demonstrates that as a leadership, the male hierarchy is out of touch with the people it is called to serve. Many qualified women, with the support of their communities, discern vocations to priesthood, and yet the hierarchy is comfortable in rejecting the obvious: God does not discriminate.

The document divides humanity into socially-constructed stereotypes and attempts to say they are “natural,” with corresponding gender-defined roles. This thinking and language have been challenged and rejected in scholarship for decades, and are wildly culturally and spiritually unacceptable.  Human beings exist on multiple continuums, with intersectional identities: without including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, this document denies the full humanity of God’s people.

Sexism is the original sin of Church leadership.  It is long past due for the Church to rid itself of this sin and to welcome women as equal partners in all realms of ministry and leadership.

The Church’s stance on female inequality in decision-making within our Church (which is so influential in our world) works to legitimize other unjust treatment of women to the point of violence across the world.

From 18-20 September, 2015, Women’s Ordination Worldwide will host it’s third international conference, “Gender, Gospel, and Global Justice,” set to take place in Philadelphia on the Eve of the Vatican’s World Meeting of Families (also in Philadelphia).  We invite the Pontifical Council for Culture and all those who believe “Women’s Culture” is a culture of equality, to join advocates for women’s ordination from around the world to celebrate and support our movement.

Keynote speakers include: Benedictine Sister Teresa Forcades of Spain; Sister Mary John Manazan of the Philippines; Kristina Keneally from Australia; Mary Hunt, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, and Sr. Theresa Kane of the U.S; and Tina Beattie of the U.K.

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of women in all ordained ministries in the Roman Catholic Church. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and the United States.

WOW’s 3rd International Conference, ‘Gender, Gospel, and Global Justice’ will be held in Philadelphia 18-20 September 2015. For more visitwww.womensordinationworldwide.org

POPE FRANCIS, IT'S TIME TO TALK: WOW CALLS FOR DIALOGUE AND THE END OF ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS: May 22, 2014

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WOMEN'S ORDINATION WORLDWIDE (WOW)
For Immediate International Release
Contact:

●Miriam Duignan (UK): +44.7970 926910; m_duignan@hotmail.com

● Erin Saiz Hanna (USA): +1.401.588.0457; ehanna@womensordination.org

● Therese Koturbash (Canada): +1.204.648.5720; t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

● Alicja Baranowska (Poland/Belgium): kaplanstwokobiet@wp.eu

Rome, Italy: Today, May 22, the Church marks the 20th anniversary of ‘the papal no’ -- the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis also known as Pope John Paul II’s attempt to categorically exclude women from priesthood and ban discussion about it.

At a press conference held in Rome this morning, the international umbrella group Women’s Ordination Worldwide issued a joint statement as they prepared to deliver hundreds of letters to Pope Francis from ordinary Catholics around the globe who want an end to the ban. Many letters are from women called to priesthood. Others are from people saying they are frustrated with a Church whose leaders are complicit in the oppression of women because of the ban. 

Erin Saiz Hanna, Executive Director of the U.S. Women’s Ordination Conference pointed out, “For 20 years now Catholics have been forbidden from discussing women’s leadership. For 20 years, employees at Catholic institutions have risked job security if they talk about women’s ordination.” She added, “For an even longer time, Catholic women called to priesthood have had door after door slammed in their faces. People around the world are deprived of sacraments only because male Church leaders reject the women God is calling. God doesn't reject them; male Church leaders do. This is wrong.” 

Miriam Duignan from the academic organisation womenpriests.org said that, "It's true that Pope Francis is portraying a new image of the Church being open to all and that he is trying to shake off the judgements and restrictions of the past. But despite this openness that's exemplified for instance by his response to questions about gay men in priesthood, 'Who am I to judge?, Francis holds fast to the old party line that says 'women in priesthood is not open to discussion. It is reserved for men alone. Women are not welcome.' The community of faith recognises the women who are called. How long do women have to wait to be considered equal and worthy of receiving the same welcome by the official Church as men?" 

According to Poland’s Alicja Baranowska, "The Church should not be afraid to re-examine customs – even those with deep historical roots – when they no longer communicate the Gospel. A male only priesthood does not communicate Gospel. It goes against the clear message that there is `neither male nor female in Christ`. It goes against so much evidence of women's leadership in the early Church. It goes against the teaching of Jesus and his inclusion of women in his mission and legacy.”

“As internationally loved as Pope Francis is, the status of women in the Catholic Church is his blind spot,” said Kate Conmy of the U.S. Women’s Ordination Conference. “If the Church has confidence in exclusion, it makes no sense that discussion about including women as priests should be banned. A refusal to dialogue gives away the fact that there is no strong theology to support the Vatican’s position.”

WOW encourages Pope Francis to stop making Jesus the Vatican’s partner in gender discrimination. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis is an outdated, fallible and painful document created by his predecessors to diminish the leadership of women.  We are asking Pope Francis to open the doors of dialogue to talk with us about women’s ordination.   

For the full statement, go to www.womensordinationworldwide.org

POPE FRANCIS -- PRIESTHOOD IS A CALL TO SERVICE AND WOMEN ARE CALLED Nov. 27, 2013

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WOMEN'S ORDINATION WORLDWIDE (WOW)

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate International Release

November 27, 2013

Contact:

 

WOW: POPE FRANCIS -- PRIESTHOOD IS A CALL TO SERVICE AND WOMEN ARE CALLED

 

In his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis explicitly challenges global leaders to act against poverty and inequality. While Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) applauds this message as a breath of fresh air, we are troubled by the document’s context on women and equation of priesthood with pursuit of power.

 

As Francis knows from personal experience, a call to priesthood is a call from God to a vocation of service. Like Mary who freely gave her yes to God to bear Christ for the world, women who are called to priesthood yearn to respond with a yes to sacramental ministry to the people of our Church.

 

Pope Francis points out that the Church should not be afraid to re-examine customs – even those with deep historical roots – when they no longer serve as a means of communicating the Gospel. A male only priesthood does not communicate Gospel. It jars against the message that there is neither male nor female in Christ. It jars against the proof of women's leadership in the early Church.

 

Fitting it is then that as we enter season of Advent we ponder: 2,000 years ago, the question was asked: ‘How can it be that God would choose a peasant girl -- Mary-- to bring the Christ child into the world?’And later on, 'how can it be that Jesus would choose a woman –Mary Magdalene -- to preach the Good News of resurrection to the Apostles?' Among today’s Vatican leadership, the same sort of question persists: ‘How can it be that God would choose women to sacramentally bring Christ to the world?’

 

As Mary knew, with God all things are possible. We pray for our Pope, we pray for our Church, we pray that the will of God be done. Be not afraid, Pope Francis. The Gospel calls.

 

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Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW): Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’(Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh,Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Malta,Poland, and the United States.

NO WOMEN PRIESTS? WOW RESPONDS TO POPE FRANCIS - July 13, 2013

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July 30, 2013

Contact: 

  • Miriam Duignan, WOW Leadership Circle (United Kingdom) t: 011.44.1923.77946; e: m_duignan@hotmail.com

  • Therese Koturbash, WOW Communications Coordinator (Canada) t: 001.204.648.5720: e: t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

  • Alicja Baranowska, WOW Communications Task Force (Belgium + Poland) e: alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

'No Women Priests?' WOW Responds to Pope Francis 

On the question of 'women', WOW is alarmed by remarks made by Pope Francis during an interview with international journalists at the end of World Youth Days 2013. While saying that our Church ‘doesn't yet have a truly deep theology of women’, he also said that, on the question of the ordination of women, ‘the church has spoken and said no. John Paul II, in a definitive formulation, said that door is closed.'

The church has spoken? We remind Pope Francis that the church is made up of millions of women and men who have been officially forbidden by the Vatican from even discussing the question of women's ordination. Pope John Paul II may have spoken but he is not the Church. The ban on women priests may have been a definitive expression of prejudice but it was not an infallible ruling and it does not reflect the will or best interests of the people of the Church.

Pope Francis recently called for an elimination of all forms of elitism and said that dialogue is the only way for individuals, families and societies to grow. Yet in trying to close down the question of women’s ordination, Vatican leadership demonstrates how it clings to an elitist vision of an elevated and exclusively male priesthood that stifles growth. In the refusal to dialogue, we are also witnessing a leadership fearful of open examination of the exclusion of women due to the shameful fact that it is based on sexism alone.

No truly deep theology of women in the Church? Pope Francis himself has recognised that ‘women have a special mission in the Church as first witnesses of Christ's  esurrection’ and there are hundreds of documents and studies available on women’s’ active involvement in the Church since the very beginning. We encourage Pope Francis to open his eyes to the plentiful theology available rather than focusing his energy on trying to limit women to non speaking support roles.

No women priests? Perhaps, Pope Francis, it is time to show some more courage. It is long since past time that the Vatican officially opens wide the doors to genuine dialogue on the question of women's ordination in our Church.

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Founded in 1996, Women's Ordination Worldwide(WOW) is an international network of groups whose current mission is to see Catholic women admitted to all ordained ministries in the Church. WOW is founded on the gospel principle of equality and therefore opposes any discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no long male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28) WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany Great Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and the United States.

Timeline of Work for Women’s Ordination

 

 

WOW RESPONDS TO ELECTION OF POPE FRANCIS - March 13, 2013

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WOMEN'S ORDINATION WORLDWIDE PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WOW RESPONDS TO ELECTION OF POPE FRANCIS

March 13, 2013

Contact:

• Erin Saiz Hanna - Women’s Ordination Conference (USA): 001.401.588.0457
• Miriam Duignan –womenpriests.org (UK/ International): 011.44.1923.779446
• Therese Koturbash – WOW Communications (Canada): 001.204.622.7000

Women's Ordination Worldwide congratulates Pope Francis on his election as pope. 

We take hope from the fact that he is a leader who takes seriously his sense of solidarity with the poor and marginalized. Our prayer is that during his papacy, he will extend that compassion for the marginalized to women in the Church.
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Founded in 1996, Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is an international network of groups whose current mission is to see Catholic women admitted to all ordained ministries in the Church. WOW is founded on the gospel principle of equality and therefore opposes any discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no long male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).www.womensordinationcampaign.org

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany Great Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and the United States.
WOW on the web:
womensordinationworldwide.org
Like us on Facebook!

Timeline of Work for Women’s Ordination

WOW ASKS NEW LEADERSHIP TO END SIN OF SEXISM IN THE CHURCH - Feb. 14, 2013

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PRESS RELEASE INTERNATIONAL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 14, 2013

Contact: 

• Alicja Baranowska (Poland): kaplanstwokobiet@wp.eu

• Erin Saiz Hanna (USA): +001.401.588.0457; ehanna@womensordination.org

• Miriam Duignan (UK): +011.44.1923.779446; m_duignan@hotmail.com

• Therese Koturbash (Canada): + 001.204.622.7000; t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) Urges New Pope to End Shameful Sin of Sexism in Church

Women's  Ordination  Worldwide  respects  the  courage  shown  by  Pope  Benedict  in honouring  his conscience as he steps down from the papacy on account of failing health. This cannot have been an easy decision. Looking back, Pope Benedict has consistently refused dialogue with the faithful who call for the inclusion of women in all realms of Church leadership. WOW prays that his successor is not chosen with  a  mandate  to  continue  this  negative  path  of  exclusion. The  shameful  culture  of silence surrounding  women's  leadership  only  highlights  the  Vatican's  persistent  failure  to uphold  the Church’s own teaching on the primacy of conscience. We hope that in his last acts of guidance, Pope Benedict will show courage in urging future leadership to end the sin of sexism and open the doors to equal partnership with women and dialogue. Love can conquer fear.

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Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW):  Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany Great Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and the United States.

Timeline of Work for Women’s Ordination

WOW DISMAYED BY LAICISATION OF ROY BOURGEOIS - Nov. 27, 2012

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WOW DISMAYED BY LAICISATION OF ROY BOURGEOIS

November 27, 2012

Contact:

• Erin Saiz Hanna - Women’s Ordination Conference (USA):  001.401.588.0457

• Miriam Duignan –womenpriests.org (UK/ International): 011.44.1923.779446

• Therese Koturbash – WOW Communications (Canada): 001.204.622.7000

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers have announced that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has dismissed and canonically stripped Roy Bourgeois of his status as a priest because of his support for women's ordination.

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is dismayed to learn that Roy Bourgeois has been stripped of his status as a priest because of his support for women's ordination.  'In a Church that upholds primacy of conscience as a central tenet of faith,' says WOW Leadership Circle member Miriam Duignan of the UK, 'it is disturbing that a pastor of outstanding character like Roy Bourgeois – a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, a Vietnam veteran decorated with the Purple Heart – is excommunicated, dismissed and laicised on account of what is deemed to be the grave offence of actively advocating the ordination of women as priests.

Grave Scandal

The CDF and now Maryknoll leaders say that Roy Bourgeois's witness and subsequent refusal to recant his support for an inclusive priesthood causes grave scandal to the Church. This may be so to them but in the eyes of the faithful, even graver scandals lie in the facts that:

  • Catholic faithful are officially forbidden from merely talking about women's ordination even though theological scholarship clearly supports it

  • in the twenty-first century, women are still excluded from Catholic sacramental ministry even though the majority of Catholics know from their sense of faith that Jesus would not exclude women

  • While Roy Bourgeois endures the severest sanctions possible, remaining untouched in office and sometimes even elevated to higher positions are Bishops who not only failed to protect children from paedophile priests but in many cases, actively manipulated systems so as to protect those paeodophile priests from scrutiny. On this count, at least one Bishop was recently criminally convicted of this. His current status is that of Bishop is in good standing.

No Reason to Exclude Women

When an informed examination is made of the attempts the Vatican makes to justify excluding women from sacred ministry, it is clear that:

  • there is absolutely no reason in scripture, theology, or the tradition of the Church to support a male only priesthood. This is evidenced in the huge body of studies available on the academic website womencanbepriests.org.

  • for century after century, cascading prejudice against women has continued to creep into the Church as though that prejudice were truth! This prejudice now underpins the Vatican's official rationale for the exclusion of women.

The Duty of the Faithful

Church teaching recognises that it is from the hearts of the faithful that truth can emerge. To this end, canon law 212§3 provides that:

'the Christian faithful have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of faith and morals and reverence towards their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and dignity of persons.'

Women's Ordination Worldwide stands strong in saying that  is time both to end the ban against official dialogue about this matter and to end the Vatican’s tyrannical bullying of Catholics who speak out for the Gospel value of gender equality and their concerns for the Eucharist and sacramental ministry.

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Founded in 1996, Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is an international network of groups whose current mission is to see Catholic women admitted to all ordained ministries in the Church. WOW is founded on the gospel principle of equality and therefore opposes any discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no long male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). www.womensordinationcampaign.org

Timeline of Work for Women’s Ordination

WOW PRAISES ELEVATION OF HILDEGARD OF BINGEN - Oct. 7, 2012

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WOMEN'S ORDINATION WORLDWIDE (W0W) Challenges Pope Benedict to Include Women in Church Leadership as Church Celebrates Proclamation of 12th  Century Feminist to be 4th woman Doctor of the Church in 2,000 years

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 7, 2012

  • Erin Saiz Hanna: 401.588.0457

  • Therese Koturbash: 204.648.5720

WOW Praises Pope Benedict for elevating Hildegard of Bingen to 4thWoman Doctor of Church

 – Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) joins Pope Benedict in celebrating as he proclaims Hildegard of Bingen to be the 4th woman Doctor of the Church. 

An environmentalist, composer, writer, and spiritual director,  Hildegard was a 12th century modern feminist of her time who was fiercely sanctioned by Church authorities for her outspoken criticism of their wrongdoings.

WOW Communications Coordinator, Therese Koturbash observes:  'While the  Pope presents Hildegard as an inspiration for women of today,  considering that his administration freely levies sanctions against modern women who challenge  Church leadership to do better for women, we take little comfort in knowing that were she alive today, Hildegard, on account of her outspokenness, would still be an outsider.'

Hildegard now joins other ancient and long since deceased women -- Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux -- as the only women Doctors of the Church in its 2,000 year old history.

On this day in particular, Hildegard's elevation begs the question, 'When will this Pope welcome modern living feminist women to equally participate with men in all levels of Church ministry and leadership?' 

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW):  Founded in 1996, WOW is an international network of groups whose current mission is the inclusion of Roman Catholic women in all ordained ministries. Founded on the principle of equality, WOW opposes all discrimination. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'. (Galatians 3:28)

WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany Great Britain, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and the United States.

Timeline of Work for Women’s Ordination

WOW SUPPORTS AUSTRALIA'S BISHOP WILLIAM MORRIS - May 25, 2011

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WOW SUPPORTS AUSTRALIA'S BISHOP WILLIAM MORRIS - May 25, 2011

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is gravely disheartened to learn that the Vatican has forced Australia’s Bishop Wm. Morris into early retirement because of his suggestion to open dialogue about women’s ordination. Morris’s pastorally sensitive suggestion was made out of his concern for growing numbers of Catholics being deprived of the Eucharist due to priest shortages.

 

 

 

 

 

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