Women’s Ordination Worldwide Asks New Leadership to End Sin of Sexism in the Church
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 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.