Catholic Women’s Groups Issue Letter to Voters for Justice; Call for a New Era of Equality
August 18, 2020
Fifteen leading organizations headed by “progressive feminist Catholics” have issued an Open Letter to Catholic Voters and All Voters for Justice, calling on voters to “stem the tide of injustice and usher in a new era of equality.” They say the letter responds to “[t]he need for action beyond words” given current national and international concerns.
Recognizing the challenges posed by a global pandemic, economic crises, and the reexamination of racial injustice and white supremacy, the letter insists “Voting is a hard-won and sacred duty. We implore you to VOTE.”
The letter states forcefully, “We know full well how to vote. We do not need instruction from male clergy, especially from the all-male hierarchical, institutional leaders. Their claims to speak in the name of all Catholics are fiction and suspect when used to further a political agenda that many Catholics do not share and indeed find offensive.”
The letter’s authors urge voters to focus on “an intersectional agenda of justice concerns. Justice is of a piece with special emphasis on the needs of the most marginalized, especially women and dependent children.” They call for voters to support candidates committed to economic equality, ending corrupt police policies, inclusion of marginalized communities, welcoming immigration policies, and international environmental protection. Further, they call on justice voters to be active participants in get out the vote efforts and to oppose all forms of voter suppression.
The letter closes inviting “all who seek to move from the depths of medical, economic, and social despair that characterize our country today to the heights of human sharing and collective flourishing…to co-create a healthy planet and a harmonious social order.”
The letter was issued by A Critical Mass: Women Celebrating Eucharist, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Catholics for Choice, Catholics for Choice Canada, Chicago Women-Church, Greater Cincinnati Women-Church, DignityUSA, Mary’s Pence, Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA, San Francisco Bay Area Women-Church, Sisters Against Sexism (SAS), Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference, Sunday’s Bread Inclusive Catholic Community, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER), and Women’s Ordination Conference. They will be inviting individuals and organizations to endorse the letter.
CONTACT:
Kate McElwee, Executive Director, Women’s Ordination Conference (Rome, Italy)
kmcelwee@womensordination.org,
Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, Acting President, Catholics for Choice
shratcliffe@catholicsforchoice.org