"Where are the Women?' Media Statement from Women Church Convergence

Janice Sevre-Duszynska, A Roman Catholic Woman Priest at the Vatican

 

Where are the Catholic women as the Cardinals meet
in secrecy to elect from among themselves the next
leader of the Catholic Church? Where is the other half of the Conclave?

Some women are protesting in St. Peter's Square demanding an equal part in the institutional church. Other women are in the parish pews praying for the next pope. But the vast majority of young and seasoned Catholic women are making their own choices about their faith and their lives. They are working to eradicate injustice, ministering to those in need, and celebrating the goodness of creation. They are exercising their moral authority despite the exclusionary ways of the hierarchy.

Knowing that the papal election and the Roman Catholic hierarchical church are designed to exclude them, countless Catholic women are meeting their spiritual needs outside of the institution. They have discovered and developed a dynamic paradigm rooted in the message of Jesus focused on equality and community. They are moving beyond the patriarchal hierarchy, creating church communities that are meaningful and nourishing. They are acting with a love for justice that demands no less.

Catholic women invite the cardinals to take off their scarlet robes and leave their privileged places. Let them join with the people of God in a new form of Catholic community, a “discipleship of equals,” that will never again have to ask, “Where are the women?”

Contact: Janice Sevre-Duszynska, ARCWP at 859-684-4247
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP at 703-505-0004