The ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church

Welcome to the largest international website on
women and sacred ministry!

We are Roman Catholic theologians who firmly believe that the discussion on women priests should be left open.

We love our family, the Catholic Church. We fully accept the authority of the Pope. We respect his personal integrity as an outstanding spiritual leader. But we are convinced that the Pope and his advisors in Rome are making a serious mistake by dismissing women as priests. We feel obliged in conscience to make our carefully considered reasons known.
“All the faithful, both clerical and lay, should be accorded a lawful freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought and freedom of expression.”
Gaudium et Spes, no 62; Canon Law no 212 § 3.
We do not in any way promote illegal ordinations.
Our aim is to enable the Church to reform its way of thinking and its practice
so that women, as much as men,
will be admitted to all the ordained ministries.


Eight out of ten Catholic scholars in the world support the ordination of women.

Read here the complete texts of many contemporary Catholic theologians who give their reasons in favour of women priests.		 Our site is unique in providing in full all Roman documents that ban the ordination of women .

Judge for yourself the arguments of the Congregation for Doctrine in Rome.

We offer thousands of documents in English relevant to the ordination of women. They cover decrees of councils and synods, statements by the Fathers of the Church and medieval theologians, historical records, contemporary articles, classical publications, discussions on scripture, tradition and the teaching authority, picture galleries and much more.		 Jackie Clackson - Trustee

You can view our introductory pages in two modes

   

You can either choose the ‘key point presentation’ mode - which provides a quick overview

Enter ‘key point presentation’! 		 

OR you can choose the academic mode - which is more precise and detailed.

Enter the academic mode!
* SEVEN REASONS WHY - Seven indisputable arguments in favour of admitting women to the priestly ministry
* THE TEACHING AUTHORITY Why we dare and must challenge it.
   * OUR DEBATE WITH ROME - Why do the Pope & the Congregation for Doctrine reject women priests?
Links Women Deacons Sister Churches Speaking up Body, Sex and Gender
For related online Libraries see:  

The ORDINATION OF WOMEN in the Catholic Church

Catherine of Siena VIRTUAL COLLEGE
THE BODY IS SACRED MYSTERY AND BEYOND

We hope that you have found this document helpful. It costs our small charity on average £10 / $20 / Euro15 to make such a document freely available to you. This is because we have to identify the best scholarship available, retrieve texts, obtain permissions, scan, edit, link and convert documents to html format and run a small office base to make this all possible. We can do this only because we are run almost entirely by volunteers. Please help us build our online library of resources so that more people can access the debate and make up their own minds about women priests. Having benefited from the online library, any donation, small or large, that you can make to support our work would be gratefully appreciated. Click here to learn how to make a donation now.

Find links to related websites in your own country! Make this site one of your favourites Recommend this website to a friend Let us have your ideas and suggestions Create a button and link to our site from your webpage Women's Ongoing Internet Consultation 'Friends' give us a regular contribution We need your financial support!