International Press Coverage of Women’s Ordination Conference Events in Rome
After brief embrace from prelates, activists clash with Italian police
National Catholic Reporter
By Jamie Manson
ROME — A peaceful protest just steps from St. Peter’s Square turned into a clash with Roman police, as bishops and cardinals were entering the opening session of the Synod of Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment on Oct. 3.
Organized by the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), the protest featured chanting by participants with the names of cardinals read out like a litany. After each name, the group responded “Let women vote!”
Read the full article – and see video of the event – on the NCR website.
Vatican’s Meeting of Bishops is Overshadowed by Abuse Allegations
NPR
By Sylvia Poggioli
…Celia Wexler, author of a book on women’s struggles in the Church, Catholic Women Confront Their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope, said that it’s hard for Catholic women to speak out because they have always been taught to obey.
“I think we have to come to the point where we don’t ask permission, we speak out and speak up and talk to one another,” she said.
And that’s exactly what some 20 women did as synod participants were entering the assembly hall. Organized by the Women’s Ordination Conference, the peaceful protest consisted in chanting the names of participating prelates as in a litany.
Read or listen to the full story here.
Around Synod of Bishops, women press for greater space
Crux
By Claire Giangravè
ROME – Women meeting around the edges of an Oct. 3-28 summit of bishops in Rome trying to press the Church, seemingly sometimes against all odds, to open up greater space for female leadership had a consistent message: “We’re not giving up our dream.”
While getting more women to have a say in the Church may appear a Quixotic quest, speakers at the event insisted on making it a reality.
“One issue I would really like [the synod of bishops] to discuss is inequality and sexism, not just outside the Church but also within,” said Zuzanna Radzik, a Polish Catholic theologian advocating for greater inclusion in the Church.
Read the full article on the Crux website.
Synod w cieniu protestów (Synod in the shadow of protests)
Fakty o Świecie TVN24 BiS
By Jakub Loska
We are more than half of the church, but we do not have the right to vote. This must change – say women on the occasion of the beginning of the synod of bishops.
See the full video (in Polish) here.
Outside Synod of Bishops, Feminist Catholics Call for Solidarity Between LGBT Communities and Catholic Women
New Ways Ministry
By Robert Shine
Catholic women and LGBT people exist almost exclusively at margins of the Synod on Youth. That common exclusion is why solidarity between these communities will be key to winning equality, said feminist panelists at an event in Rome earlier this week.
The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) sponsored a roundtable discussion entitled “Discerning Women: Voices Outside the Synod.” The event featured 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, including LGBT issues.
Catholic Women Speak network calls for church reform, focus on women
National Catholic Reporter
By Jamie Manson
…Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, offered a critique of Catholic women activists who exclude those who advocate for women priests from their events and publications, particularly out of fear that campaigning for women’s ordination will undermine their ability to make progress with church leaders.
“When we self-silence or do not listen to women who have a discernable vocation, we do our church a great harm,” she said.
“I’m not called to priesthood, but I am called to equality,” McElwee added.
Read the full article on the NCR website here.
Groups feeling excluded tell Synod of Bishops to ‘close shop or get real’
Crux
By By Claire Giangravè
…Just outside the synod hall, another group of protesters, this time women advocating for further female inclusion, called out bishops and the pope by name to open doors to women’s voices.
“Knock, Knock!” they chanted, “who’s there? More than half the Church!” before police officers ushered them away.
Read the full article on Crux here.
Il Sogno di Kate McElwee (Kate McElwee’s Dream)
Vocevangelica
Read the interview with Kate McElwee (in Italian) here.
Sex: The elephant in the room at the Vatican youth synod
New Vision
By AFP
Women from a group belonging to the Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), holding choir leaflets, sing as they call out to the Pope and the Bishops, protesting the lack of representation for women in the church.
Proteste waehrend der jugendsynode (Women’s protests during the youth synod)
Katholisches medienzentrum
The synod has begun and all eyes are now directed to Rome – at least that of the Catholics. One of them is the organization “Women’s Ordination Conference” (Woc), which does not just look, but protests locally.
They call themselves Reform Catholics, they want to reform the Catholic Church. For example: women should have something to say in the church and celibacy should be lifted.