Spreading the message of gender equality at the RE Congress

"Sexism is a Sin" and " Ordain Women Now" read the signs and now the wristbands worn by hundreds who attended the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, CA. Over 500 wristbands, as well as 100s more flyers and prayer cards, were handed out during the lunch hour at the Congress, which is attended by thousands of Catholic religious educators each year.

The CTA chapters in Southern California, and their friends with WOC and RCWP have had an annual presence at the Congress for years. Tom Honoré, who began attending as a participant years ago and now helps organize the CTA presence, says the response was very positive. They ran out of wristbands after only an hour and he said many of the people they spoke with came back again to get materials to share with friends and colleagues. During the lunch time break outside the Congress, about 40 supporters of women's ordination prayed for those women called to the priesthood and for our Church leaders to recognize the need for equality.  

The Southern CA chapter has made women's equality a focus of their studies and actions this year and Tom says it becomes obvious when you look at the issues that the Church's relegation of women to second class status must be addressed if we are truly working to protect women from abuse, or create the economic justice the Pope so often talks about. Send a card to your favorite religious educator here.