Women’s Ordination Conference Hosts Protest, Street Theater during U.S. Bishops Meeting
For Immediate Release: November 10, 2005
Washington, D.C. – On November 14, Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) will host a prayerful protest to advocate for women priests outside the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting. Participants will gather on the sidewalk in front of the Hyatt Regency on Capital Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave, NW from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm.
Preceding the action, there will be a press conference at the Holiday Inn on the Hill, 415 New Jersey Ave, NW from 11:00 to 11:25, with time for interviews afterward. Organizational representatives from the following U.S. Catholic Church reform groups will be present to speak about their specific areas of focus: Women’s Ordination Conference, Young Feminist Network, Women-Church Convergence, Catholics Speak Out, Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Dignity-USA and Call to Action.
"As a part of WOC’s 30th Anniversary celebration, we are standing up to call for women’s ordination and a renewal of our church to welcome all Catholics to ministry," stated Joy Barnes, WOC’s Executive Director. "Our church lacks leadership, but it does not have to! There are thousands of women who are prepared to answer the call right now as deacons, priests and bishops."
"Due to the worldwide priest shortage, Catholics in many parts of the world do not have access to Eucharist – the source and summit of life for Catholics," Barnes continued. "Yet at the October Synod on the Eucharist, the Vatican only talked about the issue instead of acting to address it. The Catholic hierarchy continue to deny ordination to the very people who could alleviate this grave priest shortage – women."
The event titled, "Shower the Bishops with Roses from St. Therese of Lisieux," will feature a street theater skit with large protest puppets, a prayer service with Eucharist led by Victoria Rue, Roman Catholic woman priest ordained on the St. Lawrence this summer, and a ritual of blessing for the hundreds of U.S. women called to ordination, represented by over 70 postcards from women around the U.S. These purple postcards will be delivered to the bishops after the blessing. The event is named after St. Thérèse because she felt called to priesthood and WOC has named her the patron saint of women’s ordination.
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Founded in 1975, Women’s Ordination Conference works for the equality of women and men in all dimensions in the Roman Catholic Church. WOC works for women’s ordination into a Roman Catholic Church that is compassionate, inclusive and empowering of all people.