Women, make your presence in the Church known by your absence.

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Catholic Women Strike. This global witness for equality during Lent is an invitation to withdraw from systems of oppression and prepare the way for renewal and transformation.

We have been deeply inspired by the thoughtful conversations, courageous leadership, and creative spirit that has helped us arrive at this moment. The Catholic Women Strike has truly created a spark, and women around the world are coming together to issue their "no more" to a church that denies their equal place. The time is now!

So as we enter this sacred season, we remember:

  • Striking from sexism is a spiritual act. When we refuse to uphold unjust systems, we make space for something new. Let us break the chains that bind!

  • Resistance to patriarchy is obedience to God. Prophetic obedience is deep within our tradition. Obedience means listening. If we’re listening, if we’re paying attention, we’re called to resist.

  • Solidarity is our strength. The Catholic church has worked hard to disempower and divide women. Now is the time to come together and claim our power.

  • The Holy Spirit guides our creative resistance. Disruption of the status quo will look different for different people and different communities. Each witness has value and "counts" towards the greater movement.

We hold to the words of Pope Francis as we continue to pray for his health: "To stay close to God, we need to know how to set out; we must not be afraid to set out.” And so, our siblings in striking - onward!

OUR MISSION

 A project of the Women’s Ordination Conference, Catholic Women Strike seeks to remove all barriers to ministry and governance—including Holy Orders—for women and people of all genders, through withholding women’s time, labor, and resources from the Catholic Church for the duration of Lent 2025.

“If women do not feel comfortable in the church, we have failed.”

— Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich

Why support the Catholic Women Strike?

  • "I support the strike because women are equally valuable members of the Catholic church but they are far from being equal or even equally valued."

  • “The Risen Christ gave women the task of telling our brothers about the resurrection and our brothers have been denying us the ability to fulfill that command. They need to stop getting in Christ's way!”

  • “Sostengo uno sciopero delle donne cattoliche perché le responsabilità che portiamo nella Chiesa ogni giorno non corrispondono alla potestà di cui disponiamo per portarle. Il nostro impegno e la nostra esperienza ecclesiale e umana valgono e sono minimizzate rispetto a quelle del clero e dei maschi. Tutto questo è semplicemente assurdo. Forse lo sciopero è un modo per ottenere l'attenzione sulla questione.”

  • “If the church wants our money and service, we should be allowed equal rights within the church.”

  • “Ich unterstütze einen Streik für katholische Frauen, denn Frauen haben andere Erfahrungen im Sozialbereich und sind daher wichtiger denn je in der Kirche.”

  • “Women have always been the backbone of the Catholic church, since the time of Jesus. At least Jesus acknowledged their contribution. The church of today is dismissive and misogynist. This needs to stop if the Catholic church is to survive and flourish.”

  • “Because I am tired of belonging to a church that does not recognize women as equals, that denies rights to LGBTQ+ Catholics.”

  • “We all have an inherent dignity, and we are all equally beloved in the heart of God. We are all worthy of love and belonging no matter the gender.”

  • “No one is listening to women and without women we have no church!”

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because our value is not noticed unless a man says it. I’m done with female voices meaning less. “

  • «Apoyo una huelga de mujeres católicas porque somos más de la mitad de las personas que forman parte de la iglesia y la iglesia es la institución que menos respeta nuestra igualdad real.»

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because, having been stricken from ordained ministry in and by the Catholic Church, it's time for Catholic women to do some striking of their own.”

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because I believe in the power of activism to affect change. Women have been marginalized in the Church for far too long, and I am thrilled to take a stand and participate in this initiative for religious/social justice.”

  • “I have supported women's ordination for decades.”

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because it is a way to have a just faith response in community with those of like minded gospel values.”

  • “I support the CWS because I know it will work.  It will highlight how much women do for the Church. It will be a challenge not to volunteer during Lent, I have to say, but it's important work.”

  • “Women carry the Church. They should also be a part of its hierarchy. It is past time.”

  • “Women are the backbone of the church and are inherently ready and well equipped to assume significant leadership roles. For years, we have been made to feel like unworthy second class citizens even during years of unspeakable corrupt institutional behaviors.”

  • “Anything we can do to let people know about the discrimination and exclusion that women experience in the Catholic Church is vitally important.”

  • «Yo apoyo la lucha de las mujeres católicas, para ser reconocidas en justicia e igualdad.»

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because it is time to include women to the diaconate/priesthood. How do we continue to explain this inequality to ourselves and the world? I do this for my three granddaughters who no longer attend Catholic services and because I love Holy Mother Church.”

  • “Aderisco allo sciopero perché la mia dignità non è rispettata.”

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because I am a Catholic woman working for the Catholic church and I believe in an intersectional feminism that supports everyone to have the same rights and choices.”

  • “Because women are real people too, made in the image and likeness of G-D, and hence should have all  the rights and privileges of the male.”

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because I want to see women become deacons and ordained priests in the Catholic church.”

  • “I've thought this was a key way to impact the church for a long time.”

  • “I support the strike for Catholic women because Christ first told the women to tell others about the resurrection ... and our brothers have been denying us the ability to fulfill this command. It's time they got out of the way!!”

  • “I am more than what I perform. I am a  human being. Redirecting my gifts, finances and time over fifty years isn't changing the status quo, even when working in community. Enough is enough. Our children deserve better of the body of Christ on Earth now. “

  • “I support a strike for Catholic women because Catholic men in power aren't listening and acting in a way that honors equality of souls.”

  • “I support a strike for Catholic Women only because the bishops do not respond to cogent arguments, Church history, or the obvious irreplaceable work women do in the Church in terms of giving women a just, equal role in the liturgy and governance of the Catholic Church.”

  • “I want to belong to a truly equitable and fully inclusive church.”

  • “I'd be embarrassed to belong to an organization that doesn't give women equal rights...then I remember I belong to and work for one!”

  • «Apoyo una huelga de mujeres católicas porque pertenezco a la revuelta de las mujeres en la iglesia y creo firmemente en la igualdad.»

  • “Because I am a woman who has been denied equal access all of my life. Our church is dying and needs to change rapidly.”

See where we’re striking:

 

In the news

 

Katholisch: Catholic women's groups call for global strike in the church

"The Catholic Women's Strike transforms frustration into creative resistance," said CWC European Chairwoman Regina Franken. During last year's Synod on Synodality in the Vatican, women learnt how enriching the solidarity of women is and that they have a right to equality. The synod had raised hopes that the church could finally move towards the equal inclusion of women in the life of the church. However, the consultations ended without any clear reform steps for women in church ministry.

Read the article.

Religion News Service: Catholic women go on Lenten strike to highlight their work in the church

(RNS) — As Lent began on Ash Wednesday (March 5), Catholic women frustrated over being disenfranchised by the church despite promises of greater recognition are going on strike, withholding numerous services and ministries to their Catholic parishes, schools and universities.

Organized by the Women’s Ordination Conference, a 50-year-old group based in Rome that advocates for women to be made priests, bishops and deacons, the Catholic Women Strike is planned to go through Easter, April 20. It also includes a day of action on March 9, where women are invited to protest and advocate for greater inclusion and influence in the church.

“We’re calling the women of the Catholic Church to join together in striking from sexism by withholding labor, time and financial resources from the church during Lent,” said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference.

Read the article

National Catholic Reporter: Catholic women urged to 'strike' over inequality in the church

What would the Catholic Church do without women? If some activists have their way, we're about to find out.

A new project is urging women to strike by withholding time, labor and financial resources from the church during Lent, which begins March 5. The planned action is in response to the Vatican's synod on synodality, which concluded in October without action on women's leadership, including the opening of ordination to the diaconate or priesthood.

"The strike is for Catholics who are looking for a way to express their disappointment, frustration or anger at an institution that refuses to recognize the equal dignity of half of its members," said Kate McElwee, executive director of the Women's Ordination Conference, which is organizing the strike.

VG: Katolske kvinner oppfordres til streik

Katolske kvinner verden over oppfordres nå til å gå til streik mot kirken i protest mot manglende fremgang i spørsmålet om kvinnelige prester, skriver The Guardian.

Kampanjen «Catholic Women Strike: Global Witness for Equality» ble lansert tidligere denne måneden.

Den oppfordrer kvinner som går regelmessig i katolske kirker, jobber frivillig eller har betalte stillinger i katolske organisasjoner, til å holde tilbake sin arbeidskraft gjennom hele fasten neste år, fra 5. mars til 20. april.

Guardian/Observer: Catholic women urged to strike over ‘betrayal’ on ordination


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.