Ongoing - WATER Teleconference Survey

Please take time to complete this brief survey on WATER’s teleconferences. Your thoughts and suggestions are important to us. The seven-question survey may be found here. We look forward to hearing from you!

February 11 WATER’s Statement on the Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

Let an Inclusive Church Rise! WATER welcomes the news of the Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation and wishes him a peaceful and dignified future. The Pope’s conscience-based decision reflects an honest assessment of his diminished capacity and an enlightened view of the job. We support freedom of conscience in this and in all things, including reproductive and sexual choices. The Pope demonstrated by his abdication that change is afoot in the Catholic community. Rather than business as usual in the election of his successor, we take this as an opportunity to develop new forms of participatory leadership reflecting the diversity and maturity of the Catholic community. Let an inclusive church rise! If substantive structural changes in the church begin to emerge, history will record Pope Benedict XVI with more than an asterisk for having retired. Rather, he will be remembered for ending a period of patriarchal rule and making way for a new era of equality. This is our prayer.

Cynthia Moe-Lobeda Teleconference Recommended Resources

All excerpts from "Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-…

Ongoing Support WATER through GoodSearch!

You can give a gift to WATER each time you search the web, shop online or dine out. It is free for you: simply click "support us" on WATER's GoodSearch page and sign up. You can also make GoodSearch your default search engine by downloading this add-on.

November 27 #GivingTuesday: A Day to Give Back to WATER

#GivingTuesday™ is a national day of giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to start the holiday season in the spirit of giving back. Show your support by giving to WATER on #GivingTuesday, November 27! On #GivingTuesday, WATER will give back by hosting a seminary class on the intersecting oppressions of race, class, gender, and sexuality. The next day, we will guest teach a university class on how we live feminist theology. YOU can make a difference by giving back for what you have received from WATER.

October 18 Executive Summary from A Report of Catholic Feminist Movement Building Conference

Call To Action (CTA) and the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) co-convened a group of Catholic feminist thought leaders at the Retreat and Conference Center at Bon Secours in Maryland from July 8-11, 2012. With theologians, media professionals, ministers, and activists at the table, the convening created the environment for a broad analysis of the current Catholic feminist movement and the creative cultivation of ideas for the movement’s future.

Ongoing - WATER CFC Approved Charity #23819

If you participate in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), please consider designating WATER, the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, as a recipient of your generosity. The CFC allows federal employees to make cost-efficient donations to support its approved charities.

October 7 WATER Honors Sister Joan Chatfield!

At the request of her dear friend Renate Rose, WATER honors Sr. Joan Chatfield, MM for her ecumenical work. Joan celebrated her 80th Birthday on October 7, 2012. Happy Birthday, Joan!

October 5 Mary E. Hunt Highlighted on Feminism and Religion Blog

As a Catholic feminist theologian, activist, teacher, and writerMary Hunt has made a massive impact in the field of feminism and religion. Following the completion of her graduate education (MA, Harvard Divinity School, M.Div., Jesuit School of Theology, Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union), Mary recognized a strong need for theological, liturgical, and ethical development by and for women and responded by co-foundingWATER (The Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Water) in 1983. Over the last 3+ decades, she has been instrumental in addressing social injustice and creating change in religion and community.

May 7 Mary E. Hunt on Interfaith Voices Radio

Mary E. Hunt was a featured guest on the radio program Interfaith Voices. Her segment of the show, entitled "The Vatican's Crackdown on American Nuns: Two Views," is available for listening here. The show was blurbed on the Interfaith Voices' website as follows: “Serious doctrinal problems.” That was the Vatican’s official verdict on the largest leadership group of nuns in America, the Leadership Council for Women Religious. Among the complaints: the group is silent on core issues like abortion and homosexuality. Reactions are mixed: some say that nuns, as vowed members of the Catholic Church, must first be obedient to the Vatican. Others say the church is changing, and that nuns are following their consciences. Two Catholic women - a feminist theologian and conservative journalist – debate the validity of the Vatican’s April statement.