We Are Church in Ireland has made the inclusion of women, in full sacramental equality, their first priority for the Irish national as well as the global synodal process now ongoing.

To go to the complete WAC synodal submission, click here.

Three priorities.

1. Equality for Women. The exclusion of women from the ordained ministries of deacon/ priest/ bishop/ cardinal/ pope is a major source of grievance for members. Many speakers called for women to be given full access to all the sacraments available to men and for an end to the second class status of women in the Church.

2. Review all church teaching on human sexuality: Members called for a reexamination of the church’s understanding of human sexuality in the light of modern scientific and sociological research and the lived reality of LGBT+ couples. They also called for the removal of compulsory celibacy in the priesthood and the harmful and offensive language the church uses about LGBT+ people in its Catechism and other formal documents (i.e. “objectively disordered” and “intrinsically evil”).

3. Shared Decision Making. Members called for new structures to ensure greater representation of, and consultation with, all baptised women and men in the church. Members expressed frustration and anger at clericalist attitudes in the church and the exclusivist, sexist language still used in the liturgy, lectionary and Bible readings. Members also wish to have a greater say in the appointment of their bishops and in the running of their parishes. They wish to be part of a church that is a communion of equals rather than one that is a hierarchy of men.