AROUND SYNOD OF BISHOPS, WOMEN PRESS FOR GREATER SPACE
Seminaries and vocational schools are bursting with women. There is no lack of women desperate to serve the Church and there is no space for them.

JESUS FOUNDED A MOVEMENT LED BY BOTH WOMEN AND MEN
Vatican statements are invariably ahistorical and biblically naive. It is embarrassing. Worse, they bear false witness to the Jesus of history.

WOMEN DEACONS WON'T SOLVE THE CHURCH'S PROBLEMS
Let's ordain women deacons--and also rethink ordained ministry in the church. Why not open up the conversation about doing away with the transitional diaconate, as well?

'AMERICA' MAGAZINE'S SURVEY OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
One of the most disturbing conclusions from the survey is that women are increasingly disengaging from the life of the Church.

DO WOMEN HAVE A FUTURE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
No denomination has suffered as acutely as the Roman Catholic Church from the changes remaking American Christianity.

BLESSED, BUT ALSO ORDAINED - THE CHANGING CONVERSATION ON WOMEN DEACONS
Based on the public comments of two commission members, it’s apparent that it strengthens the case that women “deaconesses” of ancient times were really ordained deacons.

COMMENDING PHOEBE
The discussion of female deacons should not forestall a much-needed discussion about promoting laywomen, and laymen, to leadership roles with real decision-making authority.

CATHOLIC WOMEN ARE LEAVING THE CHURCH. THIS GROUP WANTS THEM TO LEAD IT
The Catholic Church is failing to engage Catholic women. An interview with Elise Italiano, executive director of The GIVEN Institute, about what they’re doing to help Catholic women lead inside and outside the church.

CATHOLIC WOMEN; GRACIOUS TO A FAULT
What do women want from the Church? That’s a good and important question. And an international gathering of women this past Tuesday at the Vatican could have been a place to find some honest answers.

CONSTRUCTING A NEW THEOLOGY OF WOMEN
How can a church with all-male leadership develop the “deep theology of women” Pope Francis called for? Step one: Ask women.

DEACONS, WOMEN AND THE CALL TO SERVE
A special web round-table discussion sponsored by America Media and the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture.

DON'T JUST TALK ABOUT WOMEN IN THE CHURCH; TALK TO WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
Pope Francis has opened a door to new thoughts about women’s roles in the church. Since then, there have been scattered responses.

GET THE FACTS IN ORDER; A HISTORY OF WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
The church has a history of women in leadership and authority roles. Why is it hidden?

NAMING THE 333 WOMEN IN THE BIBLE
While some biblical women are nameless and silent figures, others are movers and shakers in their own rights.

'NEVER' OR 'NEVER LIKELY'?
Putting Pope Francis' comments on women's ordination in historical context

'KNOCK, KNOCK. WHO'S THERE? MORE THAN HALF THE CHURCH!'
Sidelined for too long, women aren't going away. Perhaps the utter scandal to which an all-male clerical culture has subjected the church will finally force a change.

PEW STUDY FINDS WOMEN GENERALLY MORE RELIGIOUS THAN MEN
Christian women are more likely to attend weekly religious services than men, study finds

TAKE THESE GIFTS
The numbers show advancement in leadership—but not enough. Much more can and should be done to ensure that women have meaningful leadership roles in the church today.

THE BIBLE THROUGH HER EYES
Scripture scholar Barbara Reid says women have something powerful to offer when interpreting the Bible.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOULD ENCOURAGE WOMEN LEADERS
Women should no longer be consigned to riding the bench. They have many callings—to speak, to lead, to minister.

THE HUMBLE, INDISPENSABLE WOMEN LEADING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH YOU'VE (PROBABLY) NEVER HEARD OF
Women look around in the secular world, and there’s a lot of doors open to them, but they look at the church and they see this door that is closed to them.

UNEXPECTED WOMEN
A new series of essays from U.S. Catholic Magazine highlights the voices of daring, persistent, stubborn, and defiant Catholic women.

WHAT WOMEN WANT
It’s fair to say that no one in the hierarchy has publicly asked such a question of women, who make up more than half of the church’s baptized members.

WHAT THE DEBATE OVER DEACONS GETS WRONG ABOUT CATHOLIC WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
When we focus so narrowly on the question, we fail to see the ways Catholic women can — and already do—lead.

START A NEW CHURCH? WOMEN DESERVE BETTER THAN WISE CRACKS
The church can ill-afford to be so discouraging toward women.

WOMEN & THE DIACONATE
The Catholic Church now has a stronger theology of women deacons than it did during the time of Paul VI, but the political conditions for such a development are now less auspicious.

COULD MARY MAGDALENE BE PART OF THE MODERN “#METOO” MOVEMENT?
The misunderstanding of Mary Magdalene’s identity points to a deeper problem in Catholic thought.

WOMEN IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP: 40 YEARS AFTER SR. THERESA KANE'S REQUEST TO POPE
Forty years after Kane attracted worldwide notice for her outspoken challenge, sisters have not stopped pressing for denominational reform.

THE BRONX IS BURNING
Not with arson or violence, but with the love of God and the prayers of his faithful ones. What women religious can teach us about the Church.

HOW YOUNG WOMEN RELIGIOUS ARE CHANGING THE CHURCH
Many younger religious sisters, who reflect the increasing diversity of the general population, have no peers in their home congregations. These women often feel invisible.

FRANCIS' SACRAMENTAL IMAGINATION STOPS SHORT OF WOMEN
The question is an important one because it has a profound impact on how we will be able to achieve justice for women, particularly in places like the Amazon.

WOMEN AND THE DIACONATE
Jesus knew all too well that the testimony of women would have been received as “nonsense”, but he chose them all the same for a primordial task of witness in the Church and to enlighten the apostles themselves.

WHICH CATHOLIC WOMEN INSPIRE YOU?
Inspirational Catholic women are everywhere. Just look around for women to follow. When asked to define what it means to be an inspirational Catholic woman, readers commonly mentioned living the gospel, working for peace and justice, and leading through action.

HOW LAYWOMEN CHANGED THE CHURCH AFTER VATICAN II
Catholic women changed, and they changed themselves, even if the church may not have noticed this. Women undertook these conversations when they weren’t supposed to, when they were supposed to let the church tell them who they were.

THE WOMEN WHO FOLLOWED JESUS EMBODIED UNSHAKABLE FAITH
Despite their grief, the women who followed Jesus went on planning, preparing, and acting. Their model is one of persistence, of listening, and of speaking truth.

EQUALITY DOES NOT MEAN PRAISING WOMEN TO THE SKIES. IT MEANS DOING JUSTICE TO THEM ON EARTH
Catholic power continues to be “discriminating power” no matter how much Catholic male leaders smile at and rave about women...

WORKING TO BUILD A TABLE FOR ALL: A PERSONAL APPROACH TO SYSTEMIC RACISM
In Gaudium et Spes, the Catholic Church underlines the necessity of social justice by pointing out the basis of our call to charity as social beings: “everyone must consider his every neighbor without exception as another self.” (GS 27).

WOMEN NEED NOT BE PRIESTS TO LEAD CHURCH, FRANCIS SAYS IN NEW BOOK
The pontiff brings up the issue of women serving in the church as part of a six-page reflection on the "leading role" that women have played during the pandemic.

DIACONAL MINISTRIES LINK WOMEN RELIGIOUS TO RESTORATION OF WOMEN DEACONS
The fact that many laypersons are performing diaconal ministry is reason enough to identify more people — male and female — who may have vocations to the order of deacon.

CARDINAL BURKE'S VISION OF A MANLY CHURCH, AND WHAT IT LEAVES OUT
If it's true that male egos are so fragile that having to share space with women will naturally drive them away from God, then the church really is in crisis. [Commonweal Magazine, Jan. 2015]

VOICES OF WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR MUST BE PART OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING DISCUSSION
Commentary: If Catholic social teaching is to be a starting place for a conversation about how we shape our country, who is part of that conversation?

WONDERING WHO’S DOING CHRIST’S WORK IN THE WORLD? LOOK TO THE WOMEN RELIGIOUS
Their influence may seem minuscule, but the effects of their actions ripple throughout the community and beyond, like a pebble cast into a pond.

PUTTING WOMEN BACK INTO THE PICTURE OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND THE EARLY CHURCH
It’s quite possible that women enjoyed a parity as disciples of Christ that they’ve never enjoyed since the Church became institutionalised.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
[Despite] women being appointed to important roles in the Roman Curia and in dioceses around the world... there are still many obstacles to overcoming the Church’s disparity in leadership.

HERE BEGINS THE REVOLUTION?
The Vatican's admittance that the teaching on women's ordination is not a consistently held belief among Catholics reveals a spirit of openness and accountability to the people of God.

WHY I FIND POPE’S IDEAS ON WOMEN PRIESTS DISTURBING
If the pope is really serious about fostering a culture of ‘encounter’ and ‘listening’ in the Church, he will call together women, not only religious but lay women as well, and listen to them.

THE SYNOD, THE POPE AND THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN
Allowing women only in management and not in ministry ignores church history. The church is dangerously close to losing even more members when it seems to state that women cannot image Christ. That is not a good stance for the Vatican.

IS THERE ROOM IN THE TENT?
As the Church prepares for the next phase of the Synod on Synodality, one of the most pressing issues is the relationship between women and the Church, combined with the problem of clericalism.

8 CHRISTIAN WOMEN SHAPING THE CHURCH IN 2023
These women are all united by their commitment to tell radical, inclusive stories and their belief that shaping the church and world starts in one’s own community.

WHAT CATHOLIC WOMEN NEED TO HEAR FROM POPE FRANCIS — AND WHAT THEY DON’T
We have a ways to go before our church reaches equality. But I refuse to allow my faith to stall until the Holy Father catches up to the Holy Spirit.

WHAT CONCERNS DO CATHOLIC WOMEN HAVE? AND WHY THE CARE ECONOMY IS UNEQUAL
Pope Francis opened the floodgates when he invited submissions to the Synod of Bishops to address major issues facing the church. Now, the women have spoken. Over 17,000 women, in fact, from 104 countries.

WHEN A FEMALE LENS IS ADDED TO THE EQUATION, SOMETHING NEW CAN HAPPEN
Incorporating a female lens can bring new information to church deliberations and begin to catalyze necessary change.

WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC CHURCH A MATTER OF 'MORAL URGENCY'
The leader of the umbrella organization representing Catholic Charities agencies nationwide has expressed praise for Pope Francis' efforts to expand opportunities for women's leadership in the Catholic Church.

ARE CHURCH LEADERS REALLY LISTENING TO WOMEN?
After the Synod on Synodality, women in the church are still asking to be heard. Whether or not the ongoing synod will be a step toward greater representation of women in the life of the church remains to be seen.

CATHOLIC WOMEN WORKING TO CHANGE THE CHURCH TAKE INSPIRATION FROM FEMALE SAINTS
A network of leading female scholars and experts looking for ways to promote women’s standing in the church says the key is to embrace femininity.

WOMEN ARE DOING THE WORK OF DEACONS ALL AROUND US. LET’S RECOGNIZE THEM.
What could be possible if the gifts of diaconal women were empowered through ordination?

9 CHRISTIAN WOMEN SHAPING THE CHURCH IN 2024
Peacemakers, academics, preachers, bakers, community leaders, podcasters, psychologists, and theologians — yet they are all connected by their Christian faith and vision of a more just world.

CAN YOU BE A FEMINIST AND A CATHOLIC?
While feminism has moved to address today’s discourse on gender, sexism, racism and diversity, the church “moved more slowly and stands at odds with the social conversation.

AS SERVANT LEADERS, WOMEN CONTINUE TO MOVE THE UNMOVABLE
There is an urgent need for a greater feminine voice, vision and leadership on a global level by tapping into the resources of women.

A WOMAN CALLED TO MINISTRY ASKS: WHY NOT ME?
Writer Carolyn Ancell will be 80 years old in June. Since she was a young child, she says, she felt called to be an ordained minister. But where? After searching with the Methodists, Presbyterians and Lutherans — she found herself surprisingly drawn to the Catholic Church.

MARY AND ELIZABETH: IN PRAISE OF MOTHERS
At the end of May we celebrate that wonderful, yet understated Feast of the Visitation when we see two mothers-to-be – Mary and Elizabeth – singing and dancing and embracing one another.

GROWING INTO MOTHERHOOD
Motherhood doesn’t always fit into tidy containers — it is, after all, a participation in the life-giving work of an infinite God.

(A SYMPOSIUM ON) WOMEN AND THE PRIESTHOOD
While the question of women’s ordination to the diaconate is under consideration at the synod, the Church has definitively rejected their ordination to the priesthood.

DON’T MAKE MARY THE FEMININE FACE OF GOD
Mary’s unique historical role as the mother of Jesus — so central for the entire story of salvation — does not remove her from the circle of faith-filled ones. She is not an archetype, nor an ideal, nor a feminine dimension of anything. She is her own person with her own life to live.

LOVE, HOPE, AND “ADELANTE!”: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHURCH ON THE DIACONATE FOR WOMEN
"So many of us women feel called to this something that doesn’t exist. Why is the spirit moving us? We don’t know."

WOMEN IN THE CHURCH: SPARE ME THIS PLATITUDINOUS WAFFLE
The process goes on — delays, deferrals, further reflections, unpublished reports — while the platitudinous waffle about women’s charisms and gifts drones on year after year.

CATHOLIC WOMEN FORGE PATHWAYS OF FAITH ON INSTAGRAM
Religious and spiritual women are experiencing incredibly varied interactions on Instagram — and these interactions have consequential effects on their identities, faith practices and sense of community.

4 WOMEN DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH AND ONE BIG LESSON THEY TAUGHT
These four holy women show us how to live in dark and troubled times—not unlike our own—without losing hope in God and his goodness.

WOMEN FOR ALL SEASONS
Women are everywhere in the Bible. Truly, the Bible could not work without the women who populate its pages.

WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN THE LECTIONARY
There are many strong and faithful women in the Bible whose stories Catholics never hear in the Sunday morning readings.

LCWR ASSEMBLY INVITES SISTERS TO BECOME 'CATALYST FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION'
However religious life evolves, whatever new religious life emerges, consecrated women will continue to answer God's call with a courageous "YES," sisters heard Aug. 14.

KASPER WADES INTO DEBATE OVER WOMEN DEACONS, CALLING MOVE 'PASTORALLY SENSIBLE'
Cardinal Walter Kasper, a respected German theologian and an influential voice at the Vatican, told a German church journal that he is in favor of allowing women to become permanent deacons.

‘THE MYSTICS WOULD LIKE A WORD’ REDEFINES CATHOLIC WOMANHOOD
In Shannon K. Evans' new book, the women mystics were anything but demure defenders of the patriarchy.

POPE FRANCIS' GAME-CHANGING APPROACH TO WOMEN'S ROLE IN THE CHURCH
Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has appointed around 20 women to positions of responsibility in the Vatican, reaching previously unheard-of levels.

JESUS CALLS WOMEN TO LEAD. SOMEDAY THE CHURCH WILL, TOO.
This jubilee year, don’t lose hope that change in the church will come.