18th Annual World Day of Prayer

The World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination is a concerted global action held annually on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, to draw attention to women’s ordination into an inclusive and accountable Catholic Church. Every year, WOC members in the USA and women’s ordination activists around the world host events to honor this special day.

On March 25th 2012, WOC members honored the 18th Annual World Day of Prayer in their own creative ways in their communities. I’ve received emails of gratitude, stories of prayer groups using the Liturgy for Women of Vision and Courage, photographs of springtime house-gatherings or screenings of Pink Smoke Over the Vatican, and notes of the witnessing for women’s ordination to come. Many WOC and Call to Action members will bear witness outside the Chrism mass in their city during Holy Week.

Here is some of the action captured for World Day of Prayer 2012:

WOC, Call to Action, and Roman Catholic Women Priests held a vigil for women’s ordination outside the Religious Education Congress on March 24th.

Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an ordained woman priest, speaks and answers questions about the documentary Pink Smoke Over the Vatican.

In Milwaukee, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, Roman Catholic Women Priest, screened the film Pink Smoke Over the Vatican for over one hundred Marquette students. Fr. Roy Bourgeois joined WOC Executive Director, Erin Hanna, and Roman Catholic Woman Priest, Jean Marchant in Providence, RI for a screening of Pink Smoke as well!

Sometimes it can be difficult to understand the tone of our World Day of Prayer gatherings. Are we celebrating women of faith, courage, and vision? Are we bearing witness to sex discrimination and injustice? Are we mourning a hierarchy so out of touch with its people–the body of Christ–that they’re refusing the gifts of half the human race? All of these, and more, are part of the rich and beautiful tapestry that strengthens the Church justice movement; it is the fabric that keeps those outside of the hierarchical Church warm, and reminds those lonely and left cold in the pews, that the movement for women’s rights and justice within the Catholic Church is here to embrace you. On this day, and especially throughout Lent, we are reminded that for those who seek justice, the Women’s Ordination Conference is your home.

Women-Church gathering in Claremont, CA

How did you honor the World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination? Will you witness during Holy Week?