project: ordination justice
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Disrupting bad theology to free the Roman Catholic Church to ordain women as priests as God has always intended.
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PROJECT: ORDINATION JUSTICEPROJECT: ORDINATION JUSTICE was launched in November 2024 to parallel the study on women being done by the Vatican as part of the Synod on Synodality from November 2024 to June 2025.
The primary work is an audio course that explores the scripture, tradition and history related to the ordination of women as priests. Each episode comes with downloadable discussion guides and the course can be used by individuals or in parishes, by high schools and college campus ministries, or by any person or group interested in the topic. Future plans include a website featuring call stories of women from around the world who are called to priesthood, a podcast with scholars and theologians about their work on this topic, as well as educational and community organizing events. |
CONTEXT OF this work
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When Catholics were consulted during the Synod on Synodality, the role of women in the Church emerged as the most prominent topic of concern, including calls for priesthood coming from around the world.
In March 2024, Pope Francis created ten working groups to examine the major issues of the synod, and assigned working group 5 to study "the role of women in the Church." These working groups will report to the Pope in June 2025. Pope Francis assigned this work to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), treating the topic of women differently from all other issues by assigning it to the doctrine office rather than a team of experts. The Pope narrowed the study on women to lay women only, excluding holy orders from the scope of its work. Under pressure from Synod delegates, the Pope and DDF agreed to restart the 2020 Commission that studied the possibility of ordaining women to the diaconate. Priesthood, however, has been repeatedly excluded from the work of the synod, being scrubbed out of documents and taken off agendas though it continues to arise. Father Anne launched the #GodSaysNow campaign in the Spring to engage synod delegates around the world from May to September 2024 in conversation of the Spirit about ordaining women as priests. Now that the October assembly has ended, Father Anne is carrying out a parallel study on women that focuses on priesthood, picking up with the Pope and DDF are leaving off with the intention to both shine a light on the hidden information needed for a true discernment on women as well as to hold Church leadership accountable to the very synodal values and process they set up. |
