Catholic Women Strike

Call To Action supports a global coalition of reform groups that has launched the Catholic Women Strike campaign! We have signed on as a partner organization because we are firmly committed to the equality of women and girls in our global church. 

Catholic women are initiating a global strike from Church participation, attendance, and financial contributions throughout the month of May. Organized by a network of 12 progressive Catholic organizations, the Catholic Women Strike campaign will begin on May 3rd, the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations,” and will nonviolently disrupt “business as usual” to demand women’s equal place at the altar and in Church governance. 

“Women are the lifeblood of the Church. They lead and coordinate the vast majority of parish ministries around the world. Without their presence and labor, vital work would be left undone, and pews would be empty,” said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference. “Despite women’s essential role, we are left out of decision-making structures and sacramental leadership through ordained ministry. This injustice cannot continue.” 

Inspired by the German “Maria 2.0” movement, Catholic Women Strike will commemorate the one-year anniversary of the on-going movement in Germany, and encourage those participating in the strikes to wear white as a unifying color of women’s suffrage. 

The month-long demonstrations calls upon the institutional Church to: 

• To remove all barriers to ministry and governance for women;

• To reform church teaching on sexuality to reflect the complex reality of lived experience, primacy of conscience, and pastoral needs of the people of God;

• To transform church teaching and practice to end all oppression of LGBTI+ people, persons of color, impoverished people , and all currently on the margins in the wholeness of their personhood.

• To create structures and processes that bring the expertise of all Catholics -- especially women -- to call our entire church to a just reckoning of clerical sex abuse and cover up.

As we look forward to our 2020 National Campaign, we encourage members to participate in this parallel effort to escalate organizing in the Catholic reform movement! Learn how you can get involved here. The Catholic Women Strike campaign is offering extensive resources that can help you organize your own local event! And be sure to follow the campaign on social media for the latest updates.