Author: Kate McElwee

As we get closer to the Women’s Ordination Worldwide conference, I’d like to highlight some of our speakers’ work and voices over a series of posts on the WOC blog. The roster of speakers continues to grow with familiar and some less familiar names, all bringing incredible research and unique insight to the Catholic Church and its reform movements.…
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A few weeks ago I was invited to speak at the 5th annual symposium of “Donne e Religioni” called, “Sottomissione o libero arbitrio: La condizione femminile come indicatore di progresso e crescita culturale e sociale.” (Submission or free will: the status of women as an indicator of progress and cultural and social growth.)  The two-day event…
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For the second time the “Collaboration of Men and Women in Ministry,” a working group of the Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) promoters in Rome, hosted Italian theologian Marinella Perroni for a Saturday lecture. Mostly women religious and handfuls of non-religious attended the discussion, “Women and the New Testament: The Apostolic preaching…
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The Pontifical University Antonianum, with the Embassies of Chile, Great Britain, the United States, and the delegation of the European Union to the Holy See hosted a full-day program on Tuesday 28 April, titled: “Donne nella Chiesa: Prospettive in dialogo.”  The event was in Italian and Spanish (except for two presentations in English).  Sister Mary…
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Between Easter and Pentecost, International Church Reformers gathered for four days in Limerick without a strict agenda. The intention was to get to know each other, share ideas about Church reform, and explore ways of supporting each other in our work structurally and at the grassroots. We began our time together answering why we accepted this invitation,…
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An “International Network of Church Reform Movements” conference will take place next week, from Monday 13th April to Thursday 16th April, in Limerick, Ireland. Hosted by Fr. Tony Flannery, the participative conference will bring together 36 leaders of the Church Reform Movement, from 12 different countries. Fr. Tony, an Irish Redemptorist priest and writer was banned from ministry…
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During the Call To Action conference in Memphis, Tennessee, a group of young Catholic feminists decided to shake it off. Check out the video below, brought to you by the young adults of CTA, WOC, Guerrilla Communion and other progressive Catholic groups and gatherings, for some inspiration to shake it off. Late at night in Memphis,…
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Over the weekend, in addition to the groundbreaking work that took place at the Vatican, groups of interfaith feminists gathered in solidarity to proclaim: “We are Equal in Faith!” Groups prayed and fasted together, screened the Equal in Faith video, and participated in a social media campaign #EqualinFaith.  Here are some of the highlights: #equalinfaith…
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Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Voices of Faith gatherings at the Vatican, which included a mass, storytelling event, and panel held to mark International Women’s Day. In its second year, this Goetz foundation initiative has rallied around a quote from Pope Francis: “It is necessary to broaden the space within…
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Last week I had the opportunity to meet an amazing young German woman, vocal about her call to the priesthood visiting Rome with her parish. Jacqueline Straub, her parish priest and I sat down for coffee and cornetti… Jacqueline was recently featured on a “LifeLinks” series called #ForChristsSake, highlighting the stories of three people who are…
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