Catholic women urged to strike over ‘betrayal’ on ordination
Originally published by Joanna Moorhead for the Guardian
Catholic women whose hopes of ordination were dashed at a recent worldwide synod in Rome are being urged to go on strike from church duties in protest at inertia on a reform that many now see as not only just but also inevitable.
Catholic Women Strike: Global Witness for Equality was launched this month and is calling on women who are regular churchgoers, who work for the church on a voluntary basis or who have paid jobs with Catholic organisations to withhold their labour through Lent next year (5 March to 20 April). “We believe the time is ripe to demand what is right … Instead of waiting for a papal ‘yes’, we issue forth our ‘no’ to the systems of misogyny, sexism and patriarchy,” says the campaign’s website.
For the last three years the Catholic church has been engaged in a worldwide synod on synodality, with people encouraged to take part in meetings at parish and diocesan level to focus on the future of the church. Women’s issues, especially the need to allow women greater leadership roles and give them more of a voice in the running of the church, topped the agenda across the world.