In the News

October 5th, 2016

The Tablet: Pope and Welby unity plan tries to bypass female ordination problem

Read the full story here Kate McElwee, the co-executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, said: “During this time of unity, I pray that our shared Gospel value of justice deepens to equally include ordained ministers of all genders and traditions.”

August 2nd, 2016

Pope Francis Names Commission for Women Deacons

AFP: Pope ‘opens door’ to female deacons with new panel America Magazine: Pope Francis’ Commission on Women Deacons Involves “High Stakes,” Member Says AP: Pope Sets Up Vatican Panel to Study Female Deacons Issue AP: Vatican panel to ponder if women can be deacons: The U.S.-based Women’s Ordination Conference cautiously hails the pope’s move. Baltimore Sun: For Catholic women, pope’s panel…
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July 22nd, 2016

Scenes from World Youth Day in Krakow via Crux

Crux: Scenes from World Youth Day in Krakow  

June 16th, 2016

Press for “A Church for Our Daughters”

Orange County Register: Activists march on bishops’ meeting in O.C., seeking church equality for women Religion Dispatches: DO WOMEN HAVE A FUTURE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGS PETITION BISHOPS THIS WEEK National Catholic Reporter : Mary Magdalene gets her feast National Catholic Reporter:  Reform groups challenge U.S. bishops to create ‘a church for our daughters’ Time: The…
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May 27th, 2016

Press for the “Jubilee for Women Priests”

Arts Special Day: Women Priests Project: gli scatti di Giulia Bianchi esposti per le strade di Roma Christian Today: Catholic campaigners for women’s ordination gain private meeting with Vatican official El Correo: Las mujeres sacerdotes plantan cara El Mondo: Roma concede permiso a una manifestación a favor del sacerdocio femenino por primera vez Le Figaro: Des femmes prêtres s’affichent près…
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May 13th, 2016

Pope Francis agrees to open a commission to study women deacons

The Women’s Ordination Conference and co-directors, Erin Saiz Hanna and Kate McElwee, were mentioned in the following news outlets, responding to Pope Francis’ 12 May 2016 comments agreeing to open a commission to study women deacons. Read the full WOC statement here. AFP: Pope Francis mulls opening door to female deacons in Church AP: Pope…
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April 13th, 2016

Irish Times: Mary McAleese criticises Pope Francis’s document

Read the full article in the Irish Times: Seeds of hope The Women’s Ordination Worldwide group, which has been campaigning for the ordination of women in the Catholic Church since 1996, said the document “offers seeds of hope for a church moving away from general and strict doctrinal rules to one of grace and growth”.…
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April 13th, 2016

Quotes from church leaders and observers on papal exhortation

Following is a series of quotes from Catholic leaders and observers reacting April 8 to the issuance of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “‘Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love), on Love in the Family”: “The Vatican offers seeds of hope for a church moving away from general and strict doctrinal rules to one of grace and…
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January 26th, 2016

RNS: Pope Francis opens foot-washing rite to women in gesture of inclusion

By David Gibson and Rosie Scammell | Religion News Service January 21 VATICAN CITY — In a change that quickly set the Catholic world buzzing, Pope Francis is allowing priests to wash the feet of women and anyone else in the community on Holy Thursday and not just men, as church law had previously decreed. The reform,…
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January 26th, 2016

NYTimes: Pope Changes Church Rules, Opens Foot-Washing Rite to Women

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has changed church regulations to explicitly allow women and girls to participate in the Easter Week foot-washing ritual, after having shocked many Catholics by performing the rite on women and Muslims just weeks after he was elected. Proponents of women’s ordination hailed Francis’ decree, while traditionalist Catholics warned that it…
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