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WAC Press Release: The People of God lead – and Pope follows belatedly
Colm Holmes • 13 January 2021
Press Release
The People of God lead – and Pope follows belatedly
13 January 2021
We welcome the recent announcement by Pope Francis that women will now officially be allowed to act as Acolytes and Lectors.
For more than 50 years women have been carrying out these roles. Now rather belatedly Pope Francis makes it official. Real change comes from the People of God at the grassroots and not from the curia in the Vatican.
Women remain officially excluded from:
• Reading the gospel at mass
• Preaching at mass
• Presiding at the Eucharist
• All ordained ministries
• Decision making at all levels
For centuries women have been treated as inferior to men by the patriarchal leaders in the Catholic Church. The full equality of women in the Catholic Church is still officially being denied, but the People of God know it is a reality in our church all around the world.
Sadly, the announcement by Pope Francis did not include any apology to women for having officially been denied these roles for decades.
Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
E colmholmes2020@gmail.com
M +353 86 606 3636
W www.we-are-church.org
We Are Church International (WAC) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.
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We Are Church Ireland
C/O 49 Rockfield Avenue,
Perrystown,
Dublin 12.
D12H6F6
Ireland