WOW support Cardinal’s call for a Council to review the question women’s ordination

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In a wide-ranging interview with Salzburger Nachrichten, Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, and member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, says a future Council should review the question of the ordination of women as deacons, priests and bishops.

Responding to a “developing need,” Schönborn believes these “big questions” should not be left to the Pope alone, but rather decided by the Church community.

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) supports the Cardinal’s call for a Council and Church-wide discussion to consider the question of sacramental ministry of women and reformed decision-making structures which include the Church community. For too long Church officials have attempted to silence the discussion of women’s ordination, claiming: “That door is closed.” The so-called “authoritative” documents prohibiting women from ordination are neither infallible nor theologically persuasive.

No door can keep out the Holy Spirit nor silence God’s call in the lives of women. WOW urges our Church leaders to challenge the “closed door” of women’s ordination and break the silence on the exclusion of women for sacramental ministry and decision-making roles in the Church.

As Sr. Joan Chittister and actor Martin Sheen wrote in 2015 in support of WOW:

The reason some questions cannot be suppressed, do not go away--regardless how many people think they should--is because the human heart knows they must be asked or have yet to be clearly answered.  When that question concerns the quality of the discipleship of half the Catholics in the world, it cries out for attention. And will continue to cry out until the church itself attends to it. Why? Because the model of Jesus with women demands it.

Since 1996 WOW has urged global dialogue on the issue of women’s ordination, refusing to accept this “closed door” to women, including hand-delivering hundreds of letters urging the Pope to open the discussion on the possibility of ordaining women to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

WOW calls on all Church leaders to reexamine its exclusionary policies on women, listen to the voices of women called to sacramental ministry and those who yearn for women’s full and equal participation in the Church, and commit to reflect on its own participation in the oppression of women everywhere. The cure for outdated, misogynistic policies is radical equality.

 

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Contact WOW Leadership: 

Alicja Baranowska: (Belgium & Poland)  +32 488 67 60 20  alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

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

Colm Holmes: (Ireland)  +353 86 606 3636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com

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

Women's Ordination Advocates call for Progress, not 'Process,' on International Women's Day

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Women's Ordination Advocates call for Progress, not 'Process,' on International Women's Day

The exploitation of women in the Vatican and the Church must end.

March 8, 2018

This International Women's Day, Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) joins the global community in the #PressForProgress for women's equality by calling for an end to sexism and abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.

The theme of International Women's Day, "Press for Progress," is a rallying call for collective action and to reject complacency when women's lives are on the line.

"In the Roman Catholic Church, too often women are told that inclusion is a 'process,' and we must wait for equality," said Alicja Baranowska. Women's Ordination Worldwide laments the glacial pace of the Vatican to acknowledge women's full humanity. While the Vatican attempts to protect male power, women are walking away.

The clerical and patriarchal system of the Roman Catholic Church fosters an environment where women are not only rejected from positions of leadership and ministry, but are at great risk of exploitation and abuse.

The banning of former Ireland President Mary McAleese and Ugandan LGBT rights advocate Ssenfuka Joanita Warry from speaking in the Vatican by Cardinal Kevin Farrell is an insult to the Christian dignity of Catholic women around the world. We applaud Voices of Faith for moving their conference to another location rather than accepting such censorship.

Recent reports published in the Vatican's own L'Osservatore Romano revealed the exploitation of women religious serving the Vatican bureaucracy for little or no pay, nor opportunity for advancement. The article made clear it is not only about fair payment, but a clerical culture that treats women as inferior.

"The Catholic Church is not exempt from the #MeToo conversation; it is a painful example of the extremes of patriarchal power and the absolute scandal of sexism," said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference. "Only when women are full and equal partners in all realms of leadership and ministry will the healing begin. Until then, the 'process' is simply broken: we need progress."

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Read the WOW statement on Voices of Faith

Contact WOW Leadership: 

Alicja Baranowska: (Belgium & Poland)  +32 488 67 60 20  alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

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

Colm Holmes: (Ireland)  +353 86 606 3636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com

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

WOW Responds to news of Voices of Faith Speaker Mary McAleese

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For Immediate Release: 2 February 2018

Contact: 

Alicja Baranowska: (Belgium & Poland)  +32 488 67 60 20  alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

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

Colm Holmes: (Ireland)  +353 86 606 3636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com

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

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) notes with disappointment the news that organizers for a fifth annual event at the Vatican for International Women's Day were told they could not feature former Irish president Mary McAleese and Ugandan activist Ssenfuka Joanita Warry.

Pope Francis has called repeatedly for fearless dialogue in the church. Yet, within the Vatican bureaucracy silencing and policing of women's voices continues to be the status quo. It is reported that Cardinal Kevin Farrell's Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is responsible for the decision. No reason was cited, but McAleese is known as an outspoken advocate for women's ordination and LGBT rights.

"For the past four years organizers have carefully curated the invited speakers and painstakingly avoided the topic of women's ordination," said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference and member of WOW.  "While this turn of events is unfortunate, perhaps it is an opportunity to bring the Vatican's role in the structural and spiritual oppression of women into this year's discussion."

WOW supports the organizers of Voices of Faith for continuing in their mission despite the lack of hospitality from the church hierarchy. As we know too well: we may be marginalized but we will not be silenced.

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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 Supports Fr. Roy Donovan, calls more clergy to speak out for equality

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Contact:

Alicja Baranowska: (Belgium & Poland)  +32 488 67 60 20  alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

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

Colm Holmes: (Ireland)  +353 86 606 3636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com

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

For Immediate Release - 12th August 2017

Women's Ordination Worldwide offers our support to Limerick parish priest, Fr. Roy Donovan, for his recent public statements in support of women's ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood and diaconate. 

We pray that more members of the clergy and hierarchy will speak out for women's full inclusion in our Church, joining the majority of Catholics around the world who support greater roles, including ordination, for women in the Church. 

The Church hierarchy must rid itself of the sin of sexism and once and for all, model its own Gospel values by recognizing women as equal partners in faith. 

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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)

Longing for the Sun of Justice

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WOW Leadership Circle:     
Pat Brown (UK)
+447950048628  patbrownalextechnique@btinternet.com             
Alicja Baranowska (Belgium & Poland) +32488676020or +48694725337 alicja.baranowska@wp.pl
Colm Holmes  (Ireland)                       
+353866063636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com
Kate McElwee (Italy & USA)
+393936922100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org
 

Press Release 22 July 2017

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) celebrates the feast of St. Mary Magdalene (22 July) with the launch of Dr. Annette Esser’s beautiful original painting, "Longing for the Sun of Justice." The painting symbolizes women’s calling to priesthood, not granted by men in the church, but through Christ.

The painting shows two dissimilar hands varied in shape and color, joining together to resemble a chalice, illuminated by a blazoned sun in the place of a host along a horizon. You may also notice a small cross in the middle of the sun. Made whole and Holy by one another, the hands are united in the Sun, in Christ. 

WOW reaffirms our call for the institutional Church to rid itself of the sin of sexism and model unconditional equality by opening up all ministries to Catholic women who have the talent and vocation to serve their communities as St. Mary Magdalene did.

On the Feast of the "Apostle to the Apostles," we are reminded that Mary Magdalene followed Jesus' call to go and tell the Good News of the Resurrection, inspiring women for centuries to answer God's call to preach, minister, and live the Gospel message of equality.
 
Artist:  © Annette Esser, Oil and Gold on Canvas, 40x50cm (2017)

womensordinationworldwide.org


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Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW), founded in 1996 at the First European Women's Synod in Austria, is an ecumenical network of national and international groups whose primary mission at this time is the admission of Roman Catholic women to all ordained ministries.

Advocates for women’s ordination to witness for equality on “Vocations Sunday”

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Media Advisory

Contact: Alicja Baranowska: (Belgium & Poland)  +32 488 67 60 20    alicja.baranowska@wp.pl

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

Colm Holmes: (Ireland)  +353 86 606 3636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com

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

Women’s Ordination Worldwide advocates will mark “Vocations Sunday” (May 7th) with prayerful witnesses around the world -- from Dublin to Des Moines -- calling for women’s inclusion into all ministries of the Roman Catholic Church.

May 7th marks the 54th annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations — a day when the global Church prays for the ministers of the Church and for “young men and women to hear and respond generously to the Lord’s call to the priesthood, diaconate, religious life, [and] societies of apostolic life.”

While seemingly inclusive, this language neglects to footnote those ministries where women are rejected, silenced and punished for following their call to ordination. WOW recognizes that women are called to serve at every level of the Church, including the diaconate as well as priesthood.  The Roman Catholic Church’s exclusion of women perpetuates the inequality of women around the world.

On this day, WOW prays that our global Church may transform and renew its institution and practices to become a prophetic voice and witness for global gender justice. We pray that our Church will uphold the Gospel message of equality and honor the vocations and ministries of all its members.

At a time when women are leaving the Church more rapidly than any other group (Pew Research, 2015), and many go without the Eucharist because of a “priesthood shortage,” WOW calls the institutional Church to model equality and open all ministries to women.  

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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. WOW currently includes representatives from Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, India, Malta, Poland, Spain, and the United States. For details of witness locations visit: womensordinationworldwide.org

Pope Francis confirms he has a blind spot regarding women priests

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For Immediate Release:

Kate McElwee: (Italy) +39 393 692 2100 kmcelwee@womensordination.org
Pat Brown: (UK) +44 7950048628
pat@patbrown-at.co.uk
Alicja Baranowska: (Belgium & Poland)  +32 488 67 69 20    alicja.baranowska@wp.pl
Colm Holmes: (Ireland)  +353 86 606 3636 colmholmes2020@gmail.com
 
Pope Francis is reported (1 Nov 2016) on a flight from Sweden as saying that the ban on priestly ordination for women will continue forever. Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) sees this as confirmation that Pope Francis has a blind spot as regards women. He prefers to place women high on a pedestal. Yet is was Mary the Mother of Christ who was the first to say: “This is my body, this is my blood.”
 
The oppression and poverty of women and girls around the world is reinforced when women and men are not seen as equally imaging God and this inequality in leadership, governance and ministry is reflected in our Church. It is long past due for the Church to rid itself of the sin of sexism and to welcome women as equal partners in all realms of ministry and leadership.
 
The community of faith recognises that women are called. Time for the church to do likewise.

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Women’s Ordination Advocates celebrated Feast Day of Mary Magdalene in Krakow

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Miriam Duignan: (UK): +44 7970 926910 miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

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

Pat Brown: (UK)  pat@patbrown-at.co.uk

For Immediate Release:

Krakow, Poland: Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) celebrated their 20th Anniversary on the newly created liturgical Feast Day  of St. Mary Magdalene outside the Bishop’s House in Krakow where Pope John Paul II lived for 15 years.

With an official permit from the city and assigned police protection, WOW advocates wore purple stoles marked with “Ordain Women” and held posters of an image of Mary Magdalene preaching to the Apostles. Our signs, written in Polish, read: “Priestly Ordination for Women,” & “Mary Magdalene, Apostle and Priest.”

The international delegation from WOW requested a meeting with Cardinal Dziwisz and hand delivered a follow up letter to his office this afternoon. We are still waiting for a response, no meeting was granted so far.

Outside his former home, members of WOW appealed for a rejection of Pope John Paul II’s 1994 ban on the ordination of women and celebrated Mary Magdalene by calling for women’s full equality in the Church, including as ordained ministers.

As Pope Francis prepares for his flight to Poland for World Youth Day, WOW stood in witness to call on the Church to restore the priesthood for women who have the talent and vocation to serve their communities as St. Mary Magdalene did.

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July 22nd, 2016 - Mary Magdalene (in GERMAN)

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Zu Ehren von Maria aus Magdala, „Apostelin der Apostel“, feiern Vertreterinnen und Delegierte von Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) das neu aufgewertete Fest der Heiligen am 22. Juli 2016 in Krakau

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW)* feiert in diesem Jahr das liturgische Fest der Maria aus Magdala, die nun offiziell als „Apostelin der Apostel“ anerkannt ist und erstmalig in diesem Jahr in den Allgemeinen Römischen Kalender einbezogen wurde.

 Aus diesem Anlass versammeln sich Vertreterinnen und Mitglieder von WOW im Stadtzentrum von Krakau bei dem Bischofshaus, wo Papst Johannes Paul II.  15 Jahre als Kardinal gelebt hat.

Sie werden das von diesem Papst i. J. 1994 erlassene definitive Verbot der Frauenordination öffentlich zurückweisen und in Erinnerung an Maria von Magdala für volle Gleichberechtigung der Frauen einschließlich ihrer Ordination eintreten. 

Maria aus Magdalas offizielle Anerkennung als von Jesus auserwählter Apostelin bekräftigt die rechtmäßige Fähigkeit von Frauen, „in persona Christi“ zu handeln und stellt das oft verleugnete Vermächtnis dieser Heiligen wieder her, die bedeutsam für unseren Glauben ist und gleichberechtigt neben ihren Apostel-Kollegen steht.

Ansprüche einer männlichen klerikalen Überlegenheit, die auf einer körperlichen Ähnlichkeit mit Jesus basieren, haben niemals überzeugen können, noch dienten sie der Kirche.

WOW fordert die Kirche auf, sich selbst von der Sünde des Sexismus zu befreien und sich für uneingeschränkte Gleichberechtigung einzusetzen, indem sie alle Ämter und Dienste für katholische Frauen öffnet, die die Fähigkeit und Berufung haben, ihren Gemeinden zu dienen, wie es auch die heilige Maria aus Magdala tat.

WOW feiert ebenfalls ihr 20jähriges Jubiläum im Juli und hält ihr jährliches Treffen in Krakau vor dem Besuch von Papst Franziskus am „Welt-Jugend-Tag“.

In den vergangenen 20 Jahren hat WOW alle noch vorhandenen Argumente gegen die Frauenordination entkräftet. Die offizielle Anerkennung der Bedeutung von Maria aus Magdala macht die Aufrechterhaltung einer ausschließlich männlichen Kirchenleitung unmöglich, – sie stärkt die Geschlechtergerechtigkeit.

Wir appellieren an Papst Franziskus: Er möge anerkennen, dass eine „Nachfolge Jesu von Gleichgestellten“ (discipleship of equals) und eine erneuerte Kirche nur dann möglich wird, wenn Frauen als gleichberechtigt akzeptiert werden und sie auf der gleichen Stufe mit den Männern (am kirchlichen Leben) teilnehmen können. 

*Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) wurde im Jahr 1996 auf der Ersten Europäischen Frauensynode in Österreich gegründet. Die Organisation ist ein ökumenisches Netzwerk von nationalen und internationalen Gruppen. Hauptaufgabe dieses Netzwerkes ist zur Zeit die Öffnung aller Weiheämter für römisch-katholische Frauen.

(Übersetzung aus dem Englischen: I. Raming)

 

Pope Francis will create a commission to study the possibility of women deacons - Women’s Ordination Worldwide responds

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Miriam Duignan: UK (+44) (0)7970 926910 miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

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

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

Pat Brown: UK (+44)  (0)7950 048628 pat@patbrown-at.co.uk

Therese Koturbash: (Canada) +1 205-648-5720 t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

 For Immediate Release - 12th May 2016

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) welcomes today’s news as a step forward in the right direction and we offer our support to Pope Francis in the setting up of the commission on women deacons. However, the 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 is grateful to the women religious who asked Pope Francis some challenging questions about the absence of women in our church. We are also grateful to Pope Francis for his honest answer - that there should be openness to considering women deacons but that he doesn’t yet know the full history of women’s leadership in the early Church.

We lament the fact that such a significant part of the story of our faith is not taught in seminaries, and that the contributions and callings of all women leaders in the church, including deacons, continue to be obscured and denied.

We call on all Catholics to model the bravery shown by the women religious in their meeting with Pope Francis and to keep asking why women are excluded from decision-making processes and leadership.

We are disappointed that Pope Francis told the nuns women cannot preach at Mass, because the priest serves “in persona Christi” and therefore only he can do this. We ask, how it can be that Mary Magdalene was chosen by Jesus to be the first preacher of the Gospel news, yet the pope still believes that maleness is the essential qualification to act in memory of Jesus. WOW calls for our Church to model unconditional equality by opening up ministries to all Catholics.

Francis referred to consecrated women as ‘icons of Mary’ whereas the priest is an icon of the apostles and disciples thus reinforcing the impossibility of women priests. We urge Pope Francis, at this time of renewed interest in the history of women in the Church, to take note of the fact that women were also named as disciples and apostles.

WOW will host a ‘Jubilee for Women Priests’ in Rome on June 1st to call for dialogue about full, not partial, equality:  womensordinationworldwide.org/a-jubilee-for-women-priests/


WOW responds to Amoris Laetitia

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For Immediate Release: 8 April 2016

Contact:  

  • Pat Brown: UK: (+44) (0)7950 048628 pat@patbrown-at.co.uk

  • Miriam Duignan: UK (+44) (0)7970 926910 miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

  • Kate McElwee: USA (+1) 607 725 1364 kmcelwee@womensordination.org

  • Therese Koturbash: Canada (+1) 204 648 5720 t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

Pope Francis’ exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, released today at the Vatican offers seeds of hope for a Church moving away from general and strict doctrinal rules to one of grace and growth. This challenging, and at-times poetic document exhibits highs and lows, both championing pastoral discernment, the primacy of conscience, and even “the women’s movement,” but is riddled with an incomplete and painful understanding of feminism, reproductive health, gender, and sexual identity.

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) is encouraged by the document’s strong condemnation of violence and discrimination against women and the role of social movements to work for equality: “we must … see in the women’s movement the working of the Spirit for a clearer recognition of the dignity and rights of women.” Yet while Pope Francis also writes that he “values feminism,” he fails to include the modern sexism upheld by the Church’s hierarchy as part of the “patriarchal cultures that considered women inferior,” which has “burdened history.”

WOW also upholds the pope’s emphasis on the consciences of the faithful, “[who are] capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations.”  Primacy of one’s conscience allows individuals and families to “respond as best they can to the Gospel,” which WOW believes must include discernment of all vocations to family and loving relationships, reproductive health, and ordained ministry.  

Nevertheless, disappointment is interspersed throughout Amoris Laetitia, as too often women’s “dignity” is substituted for women’s “equality,” denying the full and equal participation of women in Church decision-making and ordained ministries. Pope Francis also reinforces the Church’s stance on motherhood, LGBT families and adoption, transgender people, and reproductive health care choices. This is a missed opportunity to recognize the full equality and faithful paths of all people. We pray that the exhortation unfolds and challenges the Church to more deeply live the Gospel message of equality.

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WOW WELCOMES FRANCIS' CALL TO INCLUDE WOMEN IN FOOTWASHING CEREMONIES AND HOPE IT SIGNIFIES A BOLDER APPROACH TO END SEXIST EXCLUSION January 25, 2016

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January 25, 2016

For Immediate Release

Contact:

  • Pat Brown: UK: (+44) (0)7950 048628 pat@patbrown-at.co.uk

  • Miriam Duignan: UK (+44) (0)7970 926910 miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

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

  • Therese Koturbash: Canada (+1) 204 648 5720 t.m.koturbash@gmail.com

  • Marilyn Hatton: Australia (+62) 26262 6159 marilynhatton2@gmail.com

Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW) welcomes Pope Francis’ call to include women in foot washing ceremonies and hope it signifies a bolder approach to ending sexist exclusion

Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) welcomes Pope Francis’ formal decree confirming that women can and should be part of Holy Thursday foot washing ceremonies. We commend Pope Francis for moving our Church one step closer to the inclusiveness modeled by Jesus.

This may seem like a small move forward because women have already been included in this rite for many years in some churches. The fact that it is still prohibited by some parish priests around the world betrays the reality of the challenge women face at a local level, with many Church officials refusing to include women in the Last Supper commemoration.

Decrees such as this one from Pope Francis are important, because they send an official signal to the entire Catholic world that change, even when it is incremental, is happening. Jesus was taught the symbolic ritual of feet washing by a woman and we know that there were women present at his last Passover meal on Holy Thursday. If we are to be truly faithful to our tradition, women must be included in all our rituals and sacraments and we must continue to challenge those clerics who cling to their own interpretation of tradition, based on sexism alone. As Pope Francis warned earlier this week, those 'who say “it’s always been done that way,” and stop there have hearts closed to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. They are idolaters and rebels who will never arrive at the fullness of the truth'.

We eagerly anticipate the day when women, head, heart, hands and feet will be fully welcome in the sacramental and governing leadership of our Church.'