Written by What are the needs of women and Catholic women at this time? What do we need to ask them?
Summary: Women want to feel as though they are being listened to and also get reassurance that they are doing well. Women need to feel empowered to act independently of their parish priest – ie without feeling the need to run everything past their parish priest. They need time to develop their thoughts and would like help in using their voices. Women would like support in faith formation and education, as well as help using their voices and creating spaces within their communities.
- Reassurance for women that what they are doing is fine
- Women like being listened to and appreciated
- Lack of confidence is significant
- An opportunity to share how they think and feel in the church
- Affirming women – be listened to and appreciated
- Encouragement and attention to their views leads to positivity
- Enabling them to be able to use their voices
- Women want to engage
- How can we give women the tools to speak with authority?
- How can we create spaces in our churches?
- Board and organisations have a role to play as things can happen in their own parish
- Are you frightened of speaking up and being thought of as a trouble maker?
- Does it need to be top-down?
- Need time and space to think and develop their thoughts
- Time and space to develop their own skills and thoughts
- Younger women are still feeling that they must ask their parish priest – traditionalism is creeping into the seminaries
- Create communities not dependant on affirmation from the clergy
- Trust in His dignity through Baptism which gives us validity
- What is He saying to us as a holy people
- Women’s views are not valued where there is a dominant culture of men
- What barriers prevent you being engaged and answering your baptismal calling?
- How can women develop a relationship with a priest?
- Discernment needs an ongoing process
- Hurts experienced by women in the past and now
- Catholic guilt carried by women – need to ask them “tell me your experience of being a women in the church”
- “Tell me your experience of being a women in the Church”
- Two sides to the Catholic women. The individual and the Church.
- Study days and networking
- Be brave and put faith into action
- They are asking for formation and education
- We need to define the Church as much bigger
- Women reaching out – the marginalised teen as such a way of being. Church as in the building.
- The most important community is outside the church structure
- Women’s experience of synodality and how it is put in practice for them
- Experience of synodality
- One individual in society
- In the Church
- Concern about reaction of the October 2023 Synod
What are your hopes and aspirations in the Church? What is your experience of the Church?
- Indifference.. Mildly encouraging when I’m being ‘useful’ . ‘The Church’ meaning ‘clergy’. Women are wonderful, encouraging, supportive.
- It has been variable. Often dependent on the parish priest. Currently he is very clerical. We are partly to blame for pandering to this. Hard to form a relationship with him. In the past it has been a beautiful community with sacraments for families; a loving place.
- Why do you remain silent? How can we find a voice?
What is the priority for your Committee / Diocesan links?
E.g Diocesan links – plan a programme of meetings to connect each other
Science/Health/Bioethics
- Surrogacy
- Assisted suicide
- Abortions
- Palliative care
- Social care
- AI & technology
- Webinars and information on the topics – monthly programme shared by committees
Day Diocesan Retreat
Develop synodal ways of working with others.
Education
- Lesson plans for sixth formers
- Speakers – Catholic values
- Ongoing formation leaflet for leavers
- A nursery in every catholic primary school
- Catholic SEND schools
Participation & Mission
- The world is a very confusing place. The Church is in turmoil. Huge variations within the Church
- World-wide Church. Generations of: Conservative; Not Catechised; Post Vatican II.
- Issues with how the church teaches self-censorship and boundaries
- The need to speak our truth in and to the Church following our conscience
- The world is becoming de-personalised and commercialised.
- Children as commodities
- The world needs the Church’s message that you can have a true value as a person
- Women need to be acknowledged and valued for who we are and the contributions we make
- Safe spaces for women to explore their faith
- Priest, prophet, King. A greater freedom of speech – Parrhesia
- Be open about who speaks for women. Who and how we speaks for us.
- The Church needs to be a witness for wider world for human
Communion
- How do we build further communion?
- Focus group questions in diocese
- Develop ecumenical exploration with other Christian women
- Work synodally
- More interfaith dialogue
- More communication
- Link groups with Dioceses (eg SVP, CWL, UCM, Legion of Mary, CARITAS, CSAN, Newman – all organisations)
- Together we make a difference and make us stronger. Work together!
What do we need to see on the new website?
E.g The history of the NBCW – our stories
- “Position papers” on topics we are working on to inform and engage
- Explanation of the work of each committee
- An invitation to get involved in a variety of ways
- Inclusive pictures (generation, disability, race etc)
- Links to other Catholic organisations that would be of interest to women
- Links to other Christian organisations
- List of publications and how to access them
- Better publicity for events and publications – more pictures, maybe videos/podcasts?
- More on Diocesean links – the role and individuals
- Podcasts
- Signposting to organisations/resources
- Book reviews/event reviews/recommendations
- Media ‘highlights’
- Advance programme of ‘events’ with plenty of warning