IMWAC Press Release: April 14, 2005

Contact: Christian Weisner, 0049-511-800.010

Today, during a presentation sponsored by the International Movement We Are
Church (IMWAC), at the Auditorium Cavour, in Rome, Adriana Valerio, President of
the European Society of Women in Theological Research, told reporters the next
papacy must address the question of how women are perceived and treated in the
church.

This is not a marginal question, says Valerio, because the "atmosphere of silence
and threat in church institutions has increased to such an extent that it has
stifled freedom of thought, research, and speech, making it impossible to
dialogue or work together. Once again, women have been reduced to silence
and invisibility."

She says the next pope faces five major challenges with regard to women.

1. A new anthropology of sex.
2. The revision of theological disciplines.
3. Open admission of women to the theological faculties worldwide.
4. Renewal of ministries.
5. Decision-making roles for women throughout the church.

• Anthropology of Sex: There needs to be a new understanding of partnership between
  the sexes, rather than a complementary anthropology in which men are given public
  and political power and women are relegated to home and family. Negative
  attitudes about women's bodies led church officials to exclude women from the
  holy and ascribe to them passive attributes. Today, feminine attributes should be
  seen in a more positive light, worthy of association with the divine.
• Revision of Theological Disciplines: The church's core theological disciplines
  must be revised in order to respect the dignity of both men and women. The
  use of feminine metaphors such as "womb, nourishment, care, welcome, proximity,
  tenderness, sharing, weakness, Wisdom and Mother, will help overcome the
  patriarchal concepts that exclude women from the realm of the holy," Valerio
  says. Male clerical teaching cannot lay down the law about reproductive roles.
  Instead, women must be considered as active and responsible persons in the
  development of church teachings on sexual issues.

  Church history must reveal the hidden aspects of women's roles in the church and
  in scriptures. "Women do not appear at all in the text books adopted in
  theological faculties," Valerio points out. "The new pope has the duty of
  encouraging research and preservation of the female memory and tradition, so that
  it may become the patrimony of the whole church… the memory of women has to
  be given back to Christians so that we can revive the history of theology, of
  spirituality, of the institutions."

• Open Admission: Women scholars have published widely, yet their work has not been
  sufficiently acknowledged and used, nor have women been appointed to theological
  faculties in a manner commensurate with their contributions to the field.
• Renewal of Ministries: "No one ministry can be considered incompatible to women."
  Valerio adds: "The acknowledgement of the dignity and authority of the human
  person means to acquaint the person with decision-making power. The inclusive
  sharing model and the ethos of equality do not exclude the exertion of authority
  and of ministry. They demand it."

Professor Adriana Valerio is Professor of History of Christianity at the
University of Naples, "Federico II." She has specialized in role of women
in the history of Christianity.

For further information, Valerio may be reached at: 0039-0-81-1957-3401 (office).
Cell:0039-333-41-18-082

IMWAC is the international movement We Are Church, founded in Rome in 1996. it is
committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church on the basis of the Second
Vatican Council (1962-65) and the theological spirit developed from it. We
Are Church is represented in more than 20 countries on all continents, and is
networking worldwide with similar-minded reform groups. As international
studies of renowned religion sociologists confirm, We Are Church as a reform
movement within the Church represents the "voice of the people in the pews" and
has demonstrated this in several Shadow Synods in Rome.

Conclave Project Team/contact in Rome


Luigi De Paoli (Italian/Spanish/English) Tel 39-06-56.47.06.68 luigi.depaoli@liberio.it

Mobile 39-333-178.4147

Isaac Wust (Dutch/Spanish/English/German) mobile 31-(0)6-1509.2185, Isaac.wust@wxs.nl

Sr. Maureen Fiedler, SL,(English/Spanish) faithmatters@quixote.org,
01-301-699-0042

Rea Howarth, (English) cso@quixote.org,
01-301-699-0042, cell 01-301-538-4420

Anthony Padovano, (English/Italian) tpadovan@optonline.net

Tobias Raschke (German/English/French/Spanish/Hebrew) 49-(0)171-5464 950 media@we-are-church.org

Chair of the International Movement We Are Church

Christian Weisner (German/Engllish) Tel: 49-(0) 511-80 00 10 mobile
+49-(0)172-518-40 82

Internet: www.we-are-church.org
www.somos-iglesia.org