November 11th, 2017
This Pope is so infuriating. Do you remember the great video done a few years ago by WOC with really embarrassing Francis quotes about women? (“Vatican: It’s a Man’s World“) Things have not improved significantly in that department, unfortunately. On the other hand, he’s pastoral. That’s my conclusion in reading about the current kerfuffle involving…
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October 31st, 2017
500 years ago, in October 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to Wittenberg Castle Church asking questions and calling for debate on issues needing reform in the Catholic Church. On October 27, 2017, we celebrated that call for church renewal by posting 5 modern day theses to the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul…
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September 11th, 2017
The following are excerpts from an interview between WOC executive director, Kate McElwee (KM) and Cindi “Sam” Bowns (SB) first published in the Spring 2017 issue of New Women, New Church. Sam has discerned a vocation to the diaconate and advocates for the restoration of ordained women deacons in the Roman Catholic Church. A PDF version…
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September 6th, 2017
As Pope Francis begins his trip to Colombia (6-11 September 2017), we share this 2013 article from our journal, New Women, New Church, by Colombian woman priest Olga Lucia Álvarez Benjumea, ARCWP. I’ve been discovering that ever since I was a very young girl, without much awareness back then, that the Divine has always guided me with kindness and…
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May 13th, 2016
Yesterday, Pope Francis made headlines when he agreed to set up a commission to study opening the diaconate to women. The unexpected news brought much joy to the many women who are called to serve as deacons in the Church. Maria Angelika Fromm is one of those women. Upon hearing the news, Angelika wrote to WOC: My first…
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October 26th, 2015
Sr. Carmen Sammut, a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa originally from Malta and president of the International Union of Superior Generals (UISG) shared her experience as a non-voting auditor of the recent Synod on the Family this morning in Rome. Nearly 125 attended the public event to hear Sr. Carmen’s perspective on the…
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October 2nd, 2015
The contributors and supporters of a collection of essays called, “Catholic Women Speak: Bringing Our Gifts to the Table,” gathered yesterday at the Pontifical University, Antonianum for the landmark launch of their book. The full day affair involved support from several embassies to the Holy See, and special guests Mary McAleese, Sr. Mary Melone, and Lucetta…
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January 28th, 2015
In a connection that Roman Catholic woman priest, Diane Dougherty fostered, (she described the serendipitous networking as feeling “like Mary and Elizabeth… a baby is jumping in my womb……maybe all of ours”), I had the opportunity to sit down with Forbes writer, Cathy Huyghe on her recent trip to Rome. Cathy is a dynamic woman…
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October 5th, 2014
By all accounts, the theme of these Synod sessions should have been collegiality. Pope Francis, instead, has chosen a topic that interests and affects almost all Catholics, in some way: family. Every day, home-grown collegiality. Undoubtedly a populist, Francis has engaged the world’s Catholics in discussions of family life, the Sacraments, divorced and remarriage, family…
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May 27th, 2014
On the 20th anniversary of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, we were welcomed at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. More than 700 letters calling for discussion on women’s ordination were received by a top Vatican official, who accepted the letters and said: “This is amazing.” The stories and voices of those calling for women priests…
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