MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 13, 2005

CONTACT: Chicago: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, cell: 859 684-4247 National WOC: Aisha Taylor, office: 703 352-1006

Catholic women priest advocates host press conference during U.S. bishops meeting

CHICAGO, IL — On June 17, 2005, members of the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), the nation’s largest and oldest organization working for Roman Catholic women priests, will host a press conference to urge the bishops to speak out on behalf of women’s ordination. The press conference will be held at 8:00 am outside the Fairmont Hotel at 200 N. Columbus Drive.

“We are reminding U.S. Catholic bishops that the evidence of women’s leadership in the Church is older than evidence of the papacy,” stated Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a WOC Board member. In preparation for the bishops meeting, WOC and the Minnesota St. Joan’s Community sent the bishops a calendar prepared by Dr. Dorothy Irvin, which contains photographs of archaeological evidence showing women ordained as priests, deacons, and bishops in the early Christian church.

“In Early Christianity, women played critical roles in spreading Jesus’ message.  Today, women are called to do the same through ordination,” stated Joy Barnes, WOC Executive Director.  “Dr. Irvin’s calendars help justify modern ordination by displaying our historical roots.”

Friday’s press conference will also discuss the upcoming ordinations of women as priests and deacons on the St. Lawrence Seaway on July 25, 2005. In 2002, at least two Catholic bishops ordained seven women on the Danube River. Two of these women, Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Gisela Forster, were ordained bishops in 2003. This summer, Mayr-Lumetzberger and Forster will ordain the four priests and five deacons on the St. Lawrence.

“We affirm all the ways women are courageously living out their calls from God,” stated Barnes. “The women who will be ordained on the St. Lawrence Seaway are following God’s call to service. They are taking a prophetic step in the path of Jesus Christ, who was also silenced by his own religious leaders. They are not creating a schism in the church; they are working from within to transform it.”

In addition to the press conference, WOC members will hold a prayerful protest on June 15 th outside the bishops’ opening mass. Participants will gather at 4:45 pm at Holy Name Cathedral.

“With Pope Benedict XVI recently elected and the bishops receiving Dr. Irvin’s calendars, it is time to stand up for justice,” concluded Sevre-Duszynska. “Women have served as priests in the church; there is a precedent for this in Jesus’ ministry and in the early church tradition. Now — at this meeting — it is time for the bishops to return to church tradition and speak out on behalf of women’s full inclusion in the church – on behalf of women’s ordination.”

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Founded in 1975, the Women’s Ordination Conference promotes the voices of Catholic women excluded from official church structures. WOC works for equality in all dimensions of life and ministry in the Catholic Church, including women’s ordination to a renewed priestly ministry. WOC can arrange interviews with Chicago WOC members and the women to be ordained on the St. Lawrence . For more resources on women’s ordination, visit www.womensordination.org.

Contact: Aisha Taylor, 703 352-1006

Catholic Reform Groups Convene Press Conference to Voice Vision of Church Under Pope Benedict XVI

WASHINGTON, DC: On the day of Pope Benedict XVI’s Ceremony of Investiture — a Mass which will formally begin his pontificate — national progressive Catholic reform groups will host a press conference at the Virginia Theological Seminary, 3737 Seminary RD in Alexandria, Va. on Sunday, April 24 th at 12:15pm. The press conference will be held in Aspinwall Hall in the Goodwin Board Room.

The progressive Catholic reform groups will release a general statement on their vision for the Roman Catholic Church with Joseph Ratzinger as the newly elected Pope.

Leaders from these groups will also make statements. These leaders include Anthony Padovano of CORPUS: Married Priests Federation and Rea Howarth of Catholics Speak Out — who both recently returned from Rome and conducted seminars with the International Movement of We are Church — Joy Barnes of the Women’s Ordination Conference, working for women priests; Sr. Bridget Mary Meehan of Women-Church Convergence, who convened the “Open Conclave” online conversation; and Aisha Taylor of the Young Feminist Network, working to connect the faith and progressive values of young adult Catholics.

Invited speakers include Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry for gay and lesbian Catholics; Bill Thompson of Call to Action, working for Vatican II reforms; and press statements from Catholics for a Free Choice, advancing sexual and reproductive ethics.

Representatives from twenty progressive national and regional Catholic reform organizations will be available for comment as well.

The press conference is not affiliated with the Virginia Theological Seminary.