Catholic activists demonstrate for women priests at bishops meeting

Catholic activists demonstrate for women priests at bishops meeting

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2006

CONTACT: Los Angeles: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, cell: 859 684-4247, National: Nidza Vazquez, office: 703 352-1006, cell (202) 422-2235

Catholic Activists Demonstrate for Women Priests at Bishops Meeting

Los Angeles, CA — From June 15-17, Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) will host a prayerful protest to advocate for women priests outside the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) meeting at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a WOC Board member, will begin witnessing at 9:00am on Thursday, June 15 th outside the bishops meeting.

“This prayerful demonstration will bring public attention to the fact that women are barred from fulfilling their God-given call to serve as priests in the Roman Catholic Church,” stated Aisha Taylor, WOC’s Executive Director. “It is organized by our Ministry of Irritation, which educates and challenges the hierarchy to ordain women. To explain the name, we use the analogy of how a pearl is made. Just like the grain of sand inside the oyster, members of this ministry gently irritate the Church to create a pearl of wisdom that will bring about full equality and justice for Catholic women.”

WOC joined A Coalition for Truth in organizing a 48-hour vigil to express concerns about clergy sexual abuse and to call for structural change in the Roman Catholic Church. Coalition members include the Survivors of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Voices of the Faithful (VOTF), Call To Action (CTA) and WOC. The vigil will begin on Thursday, June 15, at 2:00pm in Pershing Square Park and will end on Saturday, June 17, at 2:00pm.

On Friday, June 16, members of WOC’s Ministry of Irritation, led by Janice Sevre-Duszynska, will celebrate a liturgy specifically for women’s ordination in Pershing Square Park at 6:00pm during the bishops’ Mass.

Sevre-Duszynska is one of twelve women who will be ordained in Pittsburgh, Pa. on July 31, 2006 as a part of a growing movement of Roman Catholic women who are being ordained in “valid but illicit” ordinations.

“I am taking a prophetic step of obedience to God, who is calling me to ordination. My intention is to work from within my Church to transform it,” Sevre-Duszynska stated. “Now, at this meeting, it is time for the bishops speak out on behalf of women’s full inclusion in the church — on behalf of women’s ordination.”

WOC will also host a press conference in front of the Biltmore Hotel, 506 South Grand Avenue , Los Angeles, CA at 2:00pm on Thursday June 15 , and Sevre-Dusznska and other WOC members will be available for interviews afterward.

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Founded in 1975, Women’s Ordination Conference is the oldest and largest organization working solely for women to be ordained as deacons, priests and bishops into a renewed priestly ministry in the Catholic Church. For more information, visit WOC’s comprehensive website at www.womensordination.org.