Women-Church Convergence Celebrates Diversity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2018.
Women-Church Convergence Celebrates Diversity
On the first anniversary of the Women’s Marches around the world, and in light of the violent and vulgar words of the President of the United States, Women-Church Convergence celebrates the glorious diversity of our global community. We reject racism and xenophobia, not just in speech, but also in all of its forms as contrary to the common good, contradictions to our values, and disruptions to world peace.
“Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) is a coalition of autonomous Catholic-rooted groups. The Convergence builds “just social and ecclesial structures with shared power for everyone, especially women and those whom church and society marginalize.” We seek to “amplify diverse feminist, faith-filled voices”…as we “create spaces in which all can live out their vision of full inclusion in church and society.” There are no exceptions. Our energies are focused especially with black and brown people who bear the brunt of the racist, xenophobic oppression we seek to end.
Women-Church Convergence Opposes Trump’s Reversal of DACA and Calls for Passage of Legislation to Protect Dreamers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2017
Women-Church Convergence Opposes Trump’s Reversal of DACA and Calls for Passage of Legislation to Protect Dreamers
The undersigned groups of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) issued the following statement:
As Catholic women living in these perilous political times, Women-Church Convergence, a coalition of Catholic-rooted feminist organizations, stands with all communities of recent immigrants for the protection of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients. We call for permanent legislative protection that allows these Dreamers, as they are called, a path to full citizenship. We also support citizenship paths for their families, because family unification keeps children and families healthy and strong, and greatly reflects our values.
President Obama signed the DACA executive order in 2012 to protect these young people whose stable lives stand to be up-ended without this protection. DACA provided a right to live in the United States, to work, gain an education, and raise a family here. Without this protection recipients are subject to being separated from family and community, and returned to a country where they may have been at risk, and where they may have few, if any, local connections. Many countries that would receive these people have very poor economies with few available jobs, and have very limited resources to absorb the hundreds of thousands of people that will be deported.
A Moment and a Movement: Women-Church says #MeToo, #WeToo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15 2017
A Moment and a Movement: Women-Church says #MeToo, #WeToo
The undersigned groups of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) issued the following statement:
As a Catholic-rooted, feminist coalition, Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) resoundingly stands with those who have come forward to share their stories of sexual harassment, assault, and violence. We mark this #MeToo moment as a renewed call to listen to the experiences and voices of victims/survivors and enforce sanctions on those who abuse. While this is a painful dialogue, we pledge to transform this moment into an inclusive and unstoppable movement for safety, respect, and equality. #MeToo must become #WeToo.
Sexual assault is a pervasive crime that thrives in environments of unchecked patriarchal power regardless of identity or industry. In the #MeToo movement, we must refuse to replicate oppressive power structures. Therefore, we underscore the experiences of people of color, the LGBTIQA community, and those who risk economic and social consequences for their courage. Breaking one's silence carries disproportionate risks for those who do not share in racial, economic, and gender privilege. We are working to create safe spaces for more stories to be told by attending to these structural problems as well as to the needs of those who have been harmed.
Read more: A Moment and a Movement: Women-Church says #MeToo, #WeToo
Title IX Sexual Assault Rollback
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2017
Title IX Sexual Assault Rollback
The undersigned groups of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) issued the following statement:
Women-Church Convergence, a coalition of 30 Roman Catholic rooted feminist organizations, holds that no individual, female, male or transgender should be forced or coerced into unwanted sexual activity. A person who is drugged or drunk is not able to give consent. Diluting the Title IX regulations on reporting rape, increases the risk that vulnerable students will become the prey of sexual predators.
Title IX is a landmark legislation for women and transgender individuals insuring equal opportunity to education and freedom from discrimination. It reads, “The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students’ right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime.”
A Pastoral Letter to the People of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2017
A Pastoral Letter to the People of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois
The undersigned groups of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) issued the following letter:
Dear Friends in Faith,
Our hearts go out to you who have been subjected to pastorally inadequate and insensitive theology in the recent DECREE “Regarding Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and Related Pastoral Issues” given by your bishop the Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki. You deserve better because our Catholic faith teaches us to embrace everyone.
We who join in sending you this letter rejoice in the many Catholic groups that are living proof of the inclusive, welcoming message of the Gospel.
Please let our words of comfort, solidarity, and encouragement be balm for your souls and strength for your actions at this trying time.
We offer words of comfort to those of you who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and their allies and family members. It is simply counter to our Catholic faith to single out any group for exclusion. It is especially egregious to use our sacramental system as a basis for rewards and punishments.
Read more: A Pastoral Letter to the People of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois
Women-Church Convergence expresses solidarity with LGBTQI+ community during Pride Month, June 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2017
Women-Church Convergence expresses solidarity with LGBTQI+ community during Pride Month, June 2017
The undersigned groups of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) issued the following statement:
Women-Church Convergence (W-CC), a coalition of Catholic-rooted feminist organizations, expresses our unwavering solidarity with members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Ally (LGBTQI+) community during Pride Month, June 2017. We celebrate the monumental legal, social, and religious achievements on issues of sex and gender, and pledge our energies to ensure that more justice, more love will emerge.
At a time when discrimination and violence including murders of LGBTQI+ people are rising, we call for an end to all oppression based on sexual orientation or gender identity. We decry the use of religion to justify any violation of human rights.
Catholic Leaders Urge Continued Funding for Planned Parenthood
Catholic Leaders Urge Continued Funding for Planned Parenthood
As a matter of faith, conscience, equality, and dignity, we, the members of Women-Church Convergence (W-CC) rebuke and condemn efforts to curtail access to critical healthcare with the current move to defund Planned Parenthood. As a Catholic-rooted, feminist coalition committed to social justice, we stand in solidarity with the millions of Catholic women—in the U.S. and around the globe--who use and need the services and care provided by Planned Parenthood for their cancer screenings, access to contraception, and other critical health care.
The core of the Catholic faith prizes justice and fairness for all of creation. It is therefore not an option to ignore the rights and voices of women. Women deserve safe and accessible healthcare. Our faith teaches us that healthcare should not simply be the providence of those with means; nor should healthcare be dependent on the whims of a market. Rather, healthcare is a human right and reproductive healthcare is integral to healthcare. Cutting off federal funds from Planned Parenthood for health care reduces the ability of individual women to access needed health care. It perpetuates racial injustice and gender-based violence by disproportionately targeting women of color and restricting access to reproductive freedom. Women’s health is both domestically and globally undervalued and underfunded, and these efforts to defund Planned Parenthood—following the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule and its disastrous consequences—would further prove that women’s lives are not valued by this administration and our elected representatives in Congress.
Read more: Catholic Leaders Urge Continued Funding for Planned Parenthood