Women’s Ordination Advocates Detained at Vatican

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2022

On August 29, as Pope Francis convened an extraordinary two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals, a delegation of Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) processed towards the Vatican carrying red parasols with messages of inclusion and reform. Making their way toward the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the women welcomed the prelates with the message: “Remember your sisters who remain outside.” WOW is an international leader in creative, prayerful action bringing visibility to the urgent need for the full equality of women in the Catholic church.

After respectfully greeting several cardinals, the group was detained and later escorted across St. Peter’s Square to the local police station. The parasols, which in part read: “Sexism is a cardinal sin;” “Ordain women;” “Reform means women;” and “It’s reigning men,” were confiscated and the international group of seven women were detained for more than four hours, released “pending investigation.”

Meanwhile, the male prelates met behind closed doors to discuss Pope Francis’ reorganization of the Vatican’s governing departments, which allows for the expansion of leadership roles to include women in positions once reserved for bishops and cardinals. Despite comprising more than half of the world’s 1.36 billion Catholics, no women were invited to be in dialogue with the cardinals about their own inclusion.

WOW prays that today’s witness stirs the collective conscience of church leadership to open its doors to women who long to be heard and to serve their church as equals in Christ.

CONTACT:

Kate McElwee, Executive Director, Women’s Ordination Conference

+1 607-725-1364 or +39 393 692 2100; kmcelwee@womensordination.org

Miriam Duignan, Communications Director, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research: +44 7970 926910; miriam.duignan@wijngaardsinstitute.com

Founded in 1975, the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is the oldest and largest organization working to ordain women as deacons, priests, and bishops into an inclusive and accountable Roman Catholic Church. A feminist voice for women in the church, WOC is a grassroots-driven movement that promotes activism, dialogue, and prayerful witness to call for women’s full equality in the church.

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. WOW currently includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, and the United States.