Catholic women pray for inclusion in the church

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This article was published 11/10/2024 (371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Catholic women gathered for a prayer service Friday, beneath the towering archway doors of the façade of the historic Saint Boniface Cathedral, to call for greater inclusion of women in the church.

The 18 women, many of them from religious orders in the city, expressed solidarity with Canadian women who are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Synod of Synodality, a month-long meeting to discuss the church’s future.

During the service, the women prayed for a church where “all vocations are welcomed, celebrated, and nurtured,” and women are fully included in all ministries, even ordination.

Noting the many women from religious orders are buried in the nearby cathedral cemetery, they asked God to guide Catholic women today as they dared to “address the inequalities faced by women, especially those who have been marginalized in the church. Our hope is that the voice of all women will be heard.”

The service concluded with the reading of the minutes of a meeting of the Canadian Catholic Conference in 1971, when 65 of Canada’s bishops met with 60 women to talk about the status of women in the Catholic church.

The meeting resulted in a set of recommendations that included declaring “clearly and unequivocally that women are full and equal members of the church, with the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as men,” that “all discriminatory barriers against women in canon law and tradition be removed,” and that qualified women should be ordained for ministry.

And yet, as Sister Veronica Dunne noted, despite that call from over 50 years ago, women are still waiting for the Catholic Church to change.

“We are often rendered invisible in the church, our influence in decision-making limited,” said Dunne, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions for 60 years.

At the same time, she welcomed efforts by Pope Francis, through the synod, to highlight the issue of women’s involvement in the church, even if discussion about it has been sidelined from the official assembly.

“I celebrate what Pope Francis is doing,” she said, adding the focus of the synod is listening to people on the margins. The question for her is: “Are women being listened to?”

Louise Dowhan was also at the service. “I feel strongly that women need to be treated equally in the Catholic Church,” she said.

It should do this because of the inherent dignity of women, for the gifts they bring, and for “the survival of the church,” she said, adding she worries the next generation of Catholics won’t be interested in it if women are excluded.

The service ended with participants listening to a song that quoted Indian author Arundhati Roy: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

“Something is happening,” said Dunne about how she has hope that change is coming, despite the slow pace. “Something new.”

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