Our invitation to dialogue to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich

In a recent interview with Crux, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich (who has played a major role in organizing the Synod on Synodality) said that when talking about issues like women’s ordination, it is important to not be a “lobby group,” and instead use tools like “prayer, discussion, and listening to each other.” He repeatedly called for open dialogue, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Imagine our surprise: the invitation to dialogue has been there all along? We have sent a good faith response and request to have such a dialogue to Cardinal Hollerich, which you can read below:

Your Eminence,

We write to you as lifelong Catholics, faithful participants in the synodal process and on behalf of the community of the Women’s Ordination Conference, which we lead. We are reaching out to you after reading your recent comments to Crux on 2 August about not having “lobby groups” about issues like women’s ordained ministry, and instead using tools like “prayer, discussion, and listening to each other.” You emphasized repeatedly the need for open dialogue guided by the Holy Spirit, and we wholeheartedly agree. In that spirit, we would like to invite you to have a conversation with us so that we can hear one another as partners in synodality and companions in Christ. 

It is painful to hear our work dismissed as “lobbying” and hear calls for dialogue when any attempt at dialogue on women’s ordination has been silenced and even punished for most of the past 30 years. Priests with the courage to speak out have been removed from ministry; women have been told “the door is closed”—hardly an invitation for dialogue; and women with sincerely discerned calls to the diaconate and the priesthood have been told that they are power-hungry and clerical. If a truly open dialogue could occur between these women and yourself or other members of the hierarchy, you would hear the sacred dimension of their vocational journey and perhaps find echoes of your own. 

We are not simply a lobby group. We are a beloved community who creates a space for action, prayer, and dialogue for people who have been left on the margins of the Church because of their desire for women’s equality. And we have engaged the synodal process with enthusiasm and integrity, despite the many signals that discussion of women’s ordination would remain behind closed doors among unnamed groups. In our many listening sessions and opportunities for feedback, participants said that when it comes to the issue of women’s roles in the church, they have a deep prayer for belonging, healing, and uncomplicated equality.

We would be very willing and very grateful to have a personal conversation with you. The Synod on Synodality is an inspiring and life-giving journey, and we are grateful for the role you continue to play in shepherding it. 

Your sisters in Christ,

Kate McElwee & Katie Lacz
Women’s Ordination Conference