Catholic women still don’t have suffrage in their church

Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the day that women’s right to vote was enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. The passage of the 19th amendment was the result of more than 80 years of women agitating, picketing and lobbying; some endured jail time and force-feedings when they went on strike to protest their arrests.

The moment celebrated as the official “start” of the suffrage movement was the first ever women’s rights convention held 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. A week before the event, the organizers put out an ad in the local paper, advertising it as a convention “to discuss the social, civil and religious condition and rights of Woman.” Even in those earliest days of the fight for suffrage, women realized, and spoke openly about, the need for equality not only in the government, but also in the church.

Read Jamie Manson’s article featuring WOC Executive Director, Kate McElwee and our #VotesForCatholicWomen campaign on NCRonline.org