News and Media Releases

Catholic women's network in German-speaking countries: "That's the only way forward!"

[ German ]

Catholic women of women's associations, initiatives, women religious orders and church bodies from Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland came together over the weekend to network for the very first time.

The global initiative Voices of Faith had invited the key figures to Stuttgart from 1 to 3 November 2019.

The women's network agreed that in view of the catastrophic church crisis, urgently needed reforms must now be tackled.

The network agrees with Doris Wagner's statement that we women urgently need to stop supporting violent structures. The effective participation of women is needed now, so that vulnerable and wounded people and the mortally threatened creation can once again be at the centre of church commitment. "We women no longer have time to wait. We stand up together and do our utmost to ensure that the church has a future: life-friendly and women-friendly. We call on all women: Use your positive power for change!" said Chantal Götz, Managing Director of Voices of Faith.

At this first meeting, the network identified key issues and gave working groups authority and confidence to work on these issues to overcome internal church blockages. Some of these issues discussed were: Sacrament theology and office structure, criteria and transparency in episcopal ordinations and appointments, symbolic order and vulnerability.

The network also agreed: We urgently need an international meeting at world church level. The participants empower Voices of Faith, with the support of the networks mentioned below, to take the organisation of this meeting into their own hands.

We Are Church Sees Hope for the World and the Catholic Church in Final Report of Amazon Synod;
But the perpetuation of women’s lower-class status in our Church remains a grave injustice

Contact: Marianne Duddy-Burke, +1 617-669-7810, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

October 27, 2019. We Are Church International sees reason for hope in the final document issued at the conclusion of the Amazon Synod. We Are Church International (WAC-International) stands in solidarity with all the people of the Amazon whose representatives have so bravely and passionately articulated the urgent crisis facing all of humanity due to the ecological destruction that has been underway in the region for decades. We stand with the indigenous leaders who spoke so passionately about the threats to their peoples and cultures and who stood firm against the economic imperialism that has led to the deaths of so many in the area.

September 26, 2019

For Immediate Release

[ German ]

International Catholic Reform Network (ICRN) supports the ongoing work in parishes that are calling women and men to prepare them to preside over the Eucharist. This includes being responsible for the pastoral care and sacramental life of their parish community as was practiced in the early Church before the institution of the ordained priesthood.

ICRN calls on the Polish Bishops to comply with Church teaching regarding LGBT people that calls all to respect the intrinsic dignity of each person in word, action, and law. Attached below is our Warsaw Statement on LGBT.

ICRN voted unanimously to support the charter on the Fundamental Rights and Responsibilities of all Catholics worldwide which obligates the entire church to respect the primacy of conscience; the equality of all Catholics in the church; freedom of expression, including the freedom to dissent; the right and responsibility to participate in a Eucharistic community and to receive responsible pastoral care; genuine participation in decision making, including the selection of their leaders; due and just process when accusations are made; protection of children, and others.

Jämställdhet för kvinnor är den kristna vägen framåt

För 25 år sedan publicerades den påvliga rundskrivelsen ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS den 22 maj, 1994, idag mer än när den publicerades står det klart att jämställdhet för kvinnor är den kristna vägen framåt.

Den dåvarande påven Johannes Paulus II reagerade då på att den anglikanska kyrkogemenskapen öppnat prästämbetet för kvinnor redan i mars 1994 genom att fastslå som definitiv kyrkolära att endast män kunde vigas till präster i den katolska kyrkan.

Påvens argument vilade på tre premisser

•  Kyrkan saknar idag auktoritet att viga kvinnor till präster
•  Maria, Jesu moder, vigdes aldrig till präst
• Den obrutna traditionen

Idag håller inga av dessa premisser

• Kyrkan har naturligtvis evangeliets auktoritet att viga kvinnor och sluta behandla dem som andra klassens kristna
• Jesus vigde inga präster
• Kvinnor hade ledande ställningar I kyrkan under flera århundraden

Kyrkan måste ständigt reformera sig själv för att vara trogen Kristi budskap om ömsesidig kärlek och för att urskilja tidens tecken. I dagens värld står det klart att kvinnor och män är fullt jämställda i Kristus. De måste därför vara fullt jämställda också i kyrkan.

[ Swedish ]

On the 25th Anniversary of ORDINATIO SACERDOTALIS (22 May 1994) we see even more clearly that equality for women is the Christian way forward for the Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul ll reacted to the ordination of women in the Church of England in March 1994 by declaring that only men could be ordained as priests and that his judgment should be definitively held.

The argument was based on:

• The church not having the authority to ordain women
• That Mary the mother of Jesus was never ordained a priest
• Tradition

None of these arguments stands up:

• The church has the authority to ordain women and stop treating them as second class
• Jesus did not ordain anyone
• Women were leaders in the church for many centuries

The Church must constantly reform itself to remain faithful to Christ’s message to love another and to understand the signs of the times. In the world today we see more clearly than ever that women and men are fully equal in Christ. They must also be fully equal in our Church.

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We Are Church International (WAC-I) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.