FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Message of Blessing and Invitation to Pope Leo XIV from the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
Contact: media@arcwp.org
Website: www.arcwp.org
May 8, 2025
Sarasota, Florida
With hearts full of hope and prayer, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP), offers Pope Leo XIV our warmest blessing as he begins his ministry as Bishop of Rome and leader of a global Church yearning for healing, inclusion, and justice.
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) affirms Pope Leo XIV’s expressed desire, in his first words as pontiff, to be close to the People of God. In this moment of profound transformation, we invite Pope Leo XIV into open-hearted dialogue with women priests who are joyfully serving inclusive Catholic communities around the world. Our ministry flows from the same Spirit that animated the early Church at Pentecost—a Spirit that knows no hierarchy of gender, race, or status.
In this same spirit, we hope to share with him our lived experience in grassroots communities where the Gospel is proclaimed, the sacraments are celebrated, and the radical equality of all the baptized is honored.
Our women priests-led communities embody the Spirit-led Church that welcomes all, heals wounds, and lifts up those on the margins. Women priests offer a model of priestly ministry rooted in equality, co-responsibility, and a theology of blessing.
In our sacramental communities, all are welcomed fully, without condition or exclusion.
LGBTQ+ individuals are affirmed and celebrated. Divorced and remarried Catholics are embraced without canonical hurdles. People of every race, gender, background, and status are treated as equals at the Eucharistic table.
Leadership is collaborative, relational, and non-clerical. Decisions are made through discernment circles, not hierarchical decrees.
Ministries evolve through listening, dialogue, and shared wisdom.
Titles yield to relationships built on Gospel values of service.
Our ministry flows from the cries of the Earth and the poor: preaching and liturgy integrate justice for migrants, racial equity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and ecological conversion. We walk with the excluded, not as saviors, but as fellow disciples listening for where the Spirit speaks.
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, a founding member of ARCWP, emphasized the importance of this moment of possibility:
“Pope Leo XIV has spoken of building bridges. Our women-priests led communities have been living that vision for years—welcoming those the institutional Church has often left behind. We believe the Spirit is calling the Church to a new Pentecost of inclusion, where women’s voices and ministries are no longer silenced but celebrated as vital to the Body of Christ. We pray that his papacy will be marked by a bold commitment to co-responsibility, inclusion, and Spirit-led discernment. May the breath of the Holy Spirit guide all of us to listen deeply, speak truthfully, and co-create a Church that truly reflects the justice and compassion of Christ."
About the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP)
Founded in 2010, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) is part of the international Roman Catholic Women Priests (RCWP) movement. Our priests, ordained in Apostolic succession, serve in house churches, migrant shelters, prisons, chaplaincies, and virtual communities — wherever God's people gather in faith and hope.
To learn more or schedule an interview with ARCWP leadership,
please contact: media@arcwp.org,
Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP: sofiabmm.bmm@gmail.com
