Our Mission
As women and men rooted in faith, we call for justice, equality and full partnership in ministry. We are committed to Church renewal and to the transformation of a structure which uses gender rather than gifts as its criterion for ministry.

Our local WOC chapter meets regularly in Center City Philadelphia. All women and men are welcome to join our friendly and engaging group. We meet to discuss, plan and pray for women’s ordination to the priesthood. For information about meetings and membership, contact mejann@verizon.net .

In the News
To read about the upcoming July 18-20, 2008 ordination in Boston, please click here.

Over 600 cheer at Ordination of two Roman Catholic Women in St. Louis. To read WOC's press release, click here. To read about the ordination in the Herald Tribune, click here.

On Saturday, July 14, 2007, in New York City, two women were ordained as Roman Catholic priests and two as deacons. The Joint Conference has recently received written evidence showing that an influential Vatican adviser was instrumental in convincing the pastor of Saint Peter’s Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), that hosting the ordination there would result in “very serious damage to the relationship” between the ELCA and the Roman Catholic Church. Because of this interference, the location of the ordination was changed to the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village.

In July 2006, SEPAWOC member Eileen McCafferty DiFranco, a Philadelphia resident and a lifelong Catholic, was ordained a Catholic priest along with seven other women in a special ceremony on the Mononghahela River in Pittsburgh. Eileen presides in two communities, a weekly community, St. Mary Magdalene Community and a monthly community, Santuary of Peace. For more information on St. Mary Magdalene click here.

Subscribe to EqualwRites
The EqualwRites newsletter is published by the core committee of the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Women’s Ordination Conference. We are inspired by, but independent of, the National Office of the Women’s Ordination Conference. To receive EqualwRites, email your contact information to mejann@verizon.net. To view previous issues, click here.

For More Information

Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) - Philadelphia - SEPA/WOC is part of this coalition of individuals and groups in the Philadelphia area strongly committed to the renewal of the church we love even as we sometimes despair of its direction. Click here for more details and events.

Women's Justice Coalition - A coalition of organizations working for reform and renewal within the Roman Catholic Church. Click here to learn more.

Danube Ordination Updates: Most Reverend Bishop Christine Mayr-Lunetzberger of Austria, Most Reverend Bishop Gisela Forster of Germany, and Reverend Patrician Fresen of South Africe publish a newsletter and postorla letter that can be found at www.virtuelle-dioezese.de. Once on the web site, click “newsletter” then “English.”

Why Ordain Women – for more information why women should be ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood. Please join us in these endeavors as we continue to work toward renewal of our Church.