10 Reasons to Support WOC
We know that unjust practices and laws don’t reverse themselves. Change is not possible without an empowered grassroots movement. As we prepare to count down to a new year, we need your help to keep the movement for women’s equality strong, visible, and vocal.
While the journey is long, we are determined to work uncompromisingly and unwaveringly for gender justice and women’s ordination in a renewed Roman Catholic Church.
If you need one more reason to give to WOC before the new year, here are ten. Let’s count down to equality!
| 10. Until the Catholic church changes its teaching so that there are truly seven sacraments for men, women, non-binary and queer people, we will speak forcefully for the need for gender equity. We work to hold the church to its highest calling. 9. Excluding women from ordained ministry compromises the church’s ability to be an effective advocate for the rights of women and girls worldwide. Our efforts call the Vatican to account at the United Nations and the Commission on the Status of Women meetings. 8. Latinx Catholics long to express the fullness of God’s presence in their lives. Our Escuchando a las Mujeres outreach initiative has created space for community-building, faith-sharing, and the telling of the stories of what it means to be Latina, Catholic women in the U.S. today. 7. Women are the backbone of the church. The Vatican is beginning to open its eyes and see the valuable ministry women do as acolytes, lectors, and catechists by making their roles official, but we know that gender equity will not be achieved so long as all decision-making, leadership and ordained roles are restricted to men. 6. The Vatican silences women by excluding them from the rooms where decisions are made. We influence the conversation at the highest levels and we are committed to raising the voices of ordination justice advocates throughout the Synod on Synodality. We will ensure there is no synod about us without us. 5. Young Catholics are disaffected and disillusioned with a church they see as misogynistic, out-of-touch, and harmful to women and LGBTQ+ people. We support young Catholics in their ministries by listening, creating spaces for dialogue and questions, and empowering them through our Young Feminist Network. 4. Women make up more than half of students earning advanced theology degrees, but lack the financial support of seminarians preparing for the priesthood. We are the only organization offering scholarship funding for women and non-binary people discerning ordination in the Catholic church through the Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship. 3. The liberation of women in the Catholic church is intrinsically connected to the liberation of all people. As Sr. Joan Chittister said: “Do not separate the questions of the Women’s Ordination Conference from the questions of women everywhere.” 2. Women’s personhood and vocations are more complex than the simplistic “feminine genius” promoted by the Vatican. WOC holds the tension of calling for ordination of women and non-binary people into a renewed priesthood, supports prophetic obedience of those who answer their call, and knows the value of confronting the institutional church. 1. Discrimination is simply wrong and sexism is a sin. We refuse to let those values define our church, because WE are the church. |
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