Catholics For Human Rights

On March 14, as the U.N.’s 63rd Commission on the Status of Women gathered to focus on the human rights of and empowerment of women, the Women’s Ordination Conference and a coalition called “Catholics for Human Rights: Challenging the Holy See at the United Nations,” did just that.

We offered a powerful Catholic voice as a counter to the Holy See, which in its non-state member status too often acts as a blockade to international agreements and policies that affect women’s rights and health. We challenged their legitimacy as a state-actor, and filed an official complaint with the United Nations as to why an institution that does not practice gender equality should have any place at a UN meeting on women’s rights.

First, we held an official parallel event with experts who interrogated the role of the Holy See at the United Nations through theological, historical and legal analyses. A second event championed the stories of survivors of abuse and advocates, linking the harmful policies of the Vatican to the experiences of women and girls. 

You can read about our campaign on the AP wire, Religion Dispatches, The Table, or Global Sisters Report, and support our challenge by signing the Change.org petition today. The formal complaint to the U.N. is available here.

While many Catholics may not be aware of the privileged status the Vatican enjoys at the United Nations, nor their ironic obsession with gender and women’s rights, we at WOC know this is not a harmless quirk of history.  Please share this information with your community and continue to challenge the “moral authority” of an institution that discriminates.