The World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO) and the Latin American Academy of Catholic Leaders have called an International Conference on “Women in the Church: The Challenge of Synodality,” in which Sister Nathalie Becquart will intervene, who is Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops and the first woman with the right to vote in it.
According to the Latin American Academy of Catholic Leaders, the event will be commented by Monsignor Jorge Eduardo Lozano, Secretary-General of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), by Dr. Gadima, Minister of State of Africa and only Catholic with this office in a Muslim government, and by Christine Murray, the first woman to be Vice-Press Director of the Holy See.
Men’s and Women’s Equal Dignity
WUCWO’s President, Maria Lia Zevino, expressed her joy that the Holy Father, “is succeeding with delicacy and firmness, in making more real, in the concrete life of the whole Church, what Catholic doctrine has always upheld regarding men’s and women’s equal dignity.”
In this connection, “the appointment of Sister Nathalie Becquart as Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops is a highly significant gesture. This Conference will be a great opportunity to talk with Sister Becquart about what the future role of lay and consecrated women should be in the Church, to advance in line with Pope Francis,” she continued.
International Meeting Between Christians
The informative note points out that Jose Antonio Rosas, Director, and Founder of the Academy of Catholic Leaders and one of the organizers of the Conference, expressed the hope that, “taking advantage of the new technologies, this event will be the opportunity to bring about an international meeting among Christians of four Continents, in a genuine global dialogue on women and synodality in the Church.”
In this connection, he explained, not only will they hear the speakers, “but there will also be a very rich and valuable time for debate among the thousands of participants.” “During the Conference” there will be “simultaneous translation into Spanish, English, and French so that the participants’ activity is an expression of synodality and of following a path together.”
Hours and Connection
The International Conference will take place on Friday, June 18, and will last two hours. It will begin at 8:00 am in Central America, then move to Mexico, Peru, and Colombia at 9:00 am, to Chile and the United States (New York) at 10:00 am, to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay at 11:00 am, to Portugal and Nigeria at 3:00 pm to Spain, France, Italy, and Germany at 4:00 pm and to Kenya at 5:00 pm.
The Conference will be broadcast on the Academy’s YouTube channel. For further information write to: [email protected]. To register, access the following link: www.liderescatolicos,net/mujeress.
As a means associated to the International Conference, Exaudi will broadcast the event through its Facebook accounts in Spanish (www.facebook.com/ExaudiNoticias) and English (www.facebook.com/ExaudiNews).
Latin American Academy of Catholic Leaders
As its Webpage indicates, the Academy is a non-profit Foundation of private right, which seeks to form Catholics so that from their Christian experience they can develop their political vocation with the help of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Its mission is to form Catholic leaders in a Catholic perspective, rooted in the faith of the Church, to transform the social, political, and economic world in the light of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Its vision is to form a new generation of Latin American Catholics with political and social responsibilities so that they can transform the face of the Continent at the service of its peoples, in the light of the Magisterium of the Church and in face of the Jubilees of the 5th centenary of Guadalupe and the two thousand years of the Redemption.
WUCWO
The World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations states on its Webpage that it was founded in 1910 and at present represents almost 100 women’s organizations worldwide, active in over 50 countries in all the Continents, representing over eight million Catholic women in all stages of life.
The WUCWO’s objective is to promote the presence, participation, and co-responsibility of Catholic women in society and in the Church so that they can carry out their evangelizing mission and work for the development of peoples, particularly by increasing opportunities for education, reducing poverty, and promoting human rights, beginning with the fundamental right to life.
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
