Women’s Ordination Advocates to Host Parallel Synod Event in Rome
MEDIA ADVISORY
As Catholic bishops worldwide convene in Rome in October for the month-long “Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment,” Women’s Ordination Conference and supporters of women’s equality and church reform will gather to raise up the voices of women missing from the all-male gathering. Two alternative events will demonstrate that there is another, better way to realize a future for young Catholics.
“Back Row Choir” — Synod Singers Call out Bishops’ Exclusion of Women
When: Wednesday, 3 October 3:30 p.m.
Where: By the Sant’Uffizio entrance to the Vatican
What: An international chorus of women will gather outside the Vatican to use their voices to contrast the voices that will not be heard inside the Synod hall. We will offer a litany of women and other songs, as well as a “roll call” of bishops’ names as they enter the Synod, calling out: “Open the doors!” “Let Women Vote!” and “Let us in!”
“Discerning Women: Voices Outside the Synod” Panel Discussion
When: Thursday, 4 October, 3:00 PM – drinks reception to follow
Where: Casa Santa Maria alle Fornaci, Piazza Santa Maria alle Fornaci, 27
What: A panel discussion, “Discerning Women: Voices Outside the Synod,” will feature the voices, witness and testimony of women called to priesthood, international feminist theologians, and activists calling for a Church that works for justice and inclusion in the world.
Women’s Ordination Conference resists the Vatican’s attempts to silence the voices of women in decision-making and sacramental roles by lifting up all women who are called to priesthood and all people who call for equality in Church structures. The pain of this closed door is felt deeply around the world and perpetuates discrimination and injustices against women and girls in society.
“One of the things that the current crisis in the Church brings to light yet again is the reality that when you have men alone in positions of decision-making and authority, it creates a clerical culture where the reputation of priests gets prioritized over the needs of the people of God,” said Kate McElwee, Executive Director of Women’s Ordination Conference. “It is more urgent than ever to create a new way of being church that includes people of all genders together in transparent, accountable sacramental leadership.”
Panelists Include:
Jacqueline Straub: Born in 1990 in Sigmaringen in the south of Germany, Jacqueline has felt called to be a Catholic priest from the age of 15. She studied Catholic theology in Freiburg i.Br. (Germany), Fribourg (Switzerland) and had graduated with a Master’s degree in Catholic theology in Lucerne. She works as a freelance journalist, TV editor and author. Her book, Young, Catholic, Female, was released in Italian, Giovane cattolica donna. Perché voglio diventare prete and will be available from her publisher Gabrielli Editori at the event.
“Since I was 15, I have felt called to be a priest…I’m not giving up on my dream.” – Jacqueline Straub
Paola Lazzarini, Ph.D: is a sociologist, trainer and freelance journalist who wrote the Manifesto for Women for the Church (Donne Per La Chiesa), published in L’Osservatore Romano and throughout Italian media outlets. Dr. Lazzarini started several regional women’s groups throughout Italy to discuss the Manifesto and ways to take action. Dr. Lazzarini lives with her husband and daughter in Cagliari.
“What is at stake here is not only a waste of talent, a lack of respect, and blame placed on all those who do not tick the box of pious and devoted wife/mother… but above all, a profound infidelity to the Gospel.” – Paola Lazzarini
Zuzanna Radzik: is a Catholic theologian and journalist from Warsaw (Poland). Initially interested only in Jewish-Christian relations, she discovered that it is hard to do any work in the Church while being a woman. She just published Emancypantki. Kobiety, Które Zbudowały Kościół, her second book about women in the Church and Christian feminism, and continues her effort to uphold Catholic feminism in Poland.
Jamie Manson: is a columnist and books editor at the National Catholic Reporter. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. She is editor of Changing the Questions: Explorations in Christian Ethics, a collection of writings by Margaret Farley (Orbis, 2015). Her writing has won numerous awards and her activism on behalf of women in the church recently garnered her the Theresa Kane Award for Women of Courage and Vision from the Women’s Ordination Conference.
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Contact:
Kate McElwee, Executive Director
Women’s Ordination Conference
+1 607-725-1364 (USA) +39 393 692 2100 (Italy)
kmcelwee@womensordination.org